SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF AGGRESSION

 What are the various social factors that lead to aggression?

Write an explanatory note on social causes or determinants of aggression.

Aggression is defined as a behavior with a goal to harm other living beings.

Social determinants of aggression are all those social conditions that are conditions of external environments which either lead to or increase the intensity of aggression.

The following are the various social causes that lead to aggression:

Frustration: It is experienced when we encounter a hurdle / obstacle in the attainment of our goal. It is usually defined as the way we feel when something or someone prevents us from getting what we want or expect ot get in some situation. In 1939, Dolland coined a hypothesis to study the impact of frustration on aggression known as the Frustration-Aggression-Hypothesis. This hypothesis assumes the following: frustration always leads to some form of aggression and aggression always stems for frustration.

In other words, the theory held that frustrated persons always engage in some type of aggression and that all acts of aggression, in turn, results from frustration. Later research proved that these statements are bit too extreme as frustration can lead to despair on depressions. It is also felt that not all aggression results from frustration. People aggress for many different reasons and in response to many different factors or boxers hit their opponents because they wish to win valued prizes and not because of frustration.

Frustration sometimes produces aggression because of a basic relationship between negative affect and aggression behavior. Frustration leads to negative affect and negative affect in turn leads to aggression. (Frustration can be classified into unexpected, illegitimate and expected, legitimate – the impact of negative affect on aggression can be observed). Unexpected and illegitimate frustration generates greater amount of negative affect than frustration that is expected or received as legitimate that is greater negative affect, therefore greater amount of aggression.

 

Direct provocation: Provocation is defined as actions by others that tend to trigger aggression in the recipient often because they are perceived as stemming form malicious intent that is aggression leads to aggression.

Harris (1993) conducted a research:

Aim – To find what actions of others are most provoking and do gender differences exist in response to provocation.

Research design – Research isolated certain behaviors to be included in the study. The factors / behaviors studied are as follows:1. physical aggression, 2. verbal aggression, 3. insensitivity, 4. arrogance, 5. dishonesty and 6. inefficiency.

Male and female subjects were asked to report which of the above factors they find extremely provoking or in other words which behavior makes them very angry and also state which are least annoying.

Results – It was observed that males and females both found the first two factors as highly provoking. However, gender differences were observed regarding factors three and four.

Observation revealed that females showed greater amount of anger regarding these factors (three and four) whereas males hardly found these factors provoking. As regards, factors such as five and six, they showed agreement between genders (that is same trends were observed) both males and females saw these factors as least provoking.

 

Exposure to violent media – This may indeed be one factor contributing to the high and rising levels of violence. Three different types of research to find out whether viewing aggression and violent films can lead to an increase in such behavior. Research conducted were:

Short term laboratory experiment: This research usually makes use of the experimental method where exposure to violent media is for a short time and then impact on aggression is assessed.

Aim – To find out whether short term exposure to violent media leads to aggression.

Research – Subject divided into two groups S1 exposed to violent media and S2 exposed to neutral media.

Children were exposed to movies where aggressive adults were shows stamping and beating a BOBO doll.

After this, the children were put in the same situation with many toys in a room including the BOBO doll.

Results – It was observed that the children internalize the same violent behavior (stamping and beating) of the adults, hence they responded by an increase in aggression.

The control group which was not exposed to violent media were neutral and did not show aggression.

 

Static observation: (Millen 1994) It makes use of correlational techniques. Two factors were checked that is the current amount of exposer to violent movies (approximately) and level of current aggression in a child (as rated by peers / teachers or checked by a questionnaire).

Results – It was observed that those who were exposed to greater amount of media violence showed higher amount of aggression. Hence research proved that positive co-relation exists between exposure to violent media and level of aggression. Thus, the exposure to violent media, higher the aggression.

 

Longitudinal studies: The same subjects are studied over a long period of time. Eron (1984-86) conduced a research with subjects at different age intervals – 8 years, 18 years and 30 years.

Contacted subjects first at 8 years – assessed – exposure to violence and level of aggression.

He found that all those children who among the group had level of exposure to violent media showed high level of aggression while the children who had low violent media exposure showed lower aggression.

Same subjects were contacted after a gap of ten years when they were 18 years. Assessed again for exposure to violent media and level of aggression.

Concluded that those who had greater exposure to violence as children also showed higher aggressive tendencies and teenagers.

Finally the same group was followed up at the age of 30 years. It was observed that the amount of aggression viewed by the subjects as children was associated with their current level of aggression.

The significance of the research lies in the fact that it informs us that exposure to violent media can have long lasting effects.

 

Heightened arousal: Impact of physiological arousal on aggression can be explained by the example below:

Suppose a man ‘X’ wants to fetch his friend from the airport. On the way he has an accident – this increases his heart rate and other body functions also changes. Therefore, the body is in a state of heightened arousal. Eh reaches the airport where there is a queue, and an old man delays him.  Hence, he yells at the old man. Here he is showing his aggression but the cause is not the mildly frustrating current situation, but the heightened arousal created in the first situation (accident) that he got transferred into the next situation. Thus, aggression occurs as a result of that.

Under some conditions in heightened arousal – whatever its original source – can enhance aggression in response to frustration or provocation.

 

Excitation transfer theory (Zillmann 1983, 1988): This theory suggests that arousal produced in one ‘situation’ tends to dissipate slowly over time. as a result some portion of such arousal may persist as a person moves from one situation to another. It is therefore this arousal (created in situation 1) that leads to aggressive behavior in situation 2.

Complex interplay between emotions and cognition. Our thoughts can lead us to appraise various emotions – provoking events e.g., if persons are worried in advance that someone with whom they will soon interact is very upset, they experience less anger in response to rudeness by this individual.

Even our level of arousal influences our thoughts about others behavior. Therefore, if we consider (the behavior of the old man) mildly frustrating situation, we may not be aggressive. Levels of arousal also influence our tendencies to aggress to others and this is known as cognitive deficit i.e., reduced ability to formulate rational means of action or reduced ability to evaluate the possible outcome of various behaviors.

e.g., A man dashes a girl – the girl sees the man hurrying to work and he said sorry – thus she passes it off and says okay! – Therefore, her thought process was different i.e., positive about the stimuli.

 

Sexual arousal: It appears that relatively mild levels of sexual arousal can reduce overt aggression relationship.

2 component model by Zilmann (1983)

Research conducted by Zilmann (1983)

Aim – To see the impact of sexual arousal on the level of aggression.

Subjects were annoyed by a stranger (who was a female and subjects were males).

S1 were exposed to a film (with sexual content) which was mildly sexual arousing.

S2 were exposed to a film with neutral content.

Both S1 and S2 were given an opportunity to retaliate against the stranger.

Results: It was found that in S1 who experienced mild sexual arousal. There was low level of aggression in comparison to S2.

Zillmann (1984) who conducted a research that highlights the relationship between sexual arousal and aggression as Curvilinear in nature. Research reports that mild sexual arousal reduces aggression to a level below that shown in the absence of such arousal.

This has been proved by research conducted by Zillmann. He further highlights the facts that if arousal continues to increase above mild level the impact of aggression changes. That is heightened (increase) sexual arousal leads to high level of aggression.

All this happens as mild erotic materials generate weak levels of arousal but high levels of positive effects. Thus, in other words – mild sexual arousal puts us in a good mood and therefore reduces overt aggression. However, strong levels of arousal generate high negative effect (mood). Therefore, negative mood leads to tendency towards aggression.

 

Sexual jealousy (Kalma): It is a perception of a threat to a romantic relationship by a rival for one’s partner.

Does sexual jealousy lead to aggression?

Gender differences in sexual jealousy:

Aim – To find out differential aggressive behavior shown by males and females in response to sexual jealousy.

Research – College students were asked to indicate how they would react if they learn that their current lover was having an affair with another person.

Subjects were asked as to which type of behavior they show out fo the following

Verbal aggression

Physical aggression

Crying

Getting drunk

Results – Kalma et al (1993) found that large differences between males and females

Behavior                    females               males

Verbal Aggression       96%                  65%

Physical aggression     94%                  67%

Crying                         100%               59%

Getting drunk             74%                  89%

 

These results show that females are more likely than males to show that first three types of behavior in response to sexual jealousy.

 

Exposure to violent pornography: Social psychologist has adopted several different research methods to study this topic. One of these involves the use of short-term lab experiments. This was adopted in a research by Zilmann (1984)

Aim – To study impact of violent pornography on the level of aggression.

Research: S1 were exposed to violent pornography

S2 were exposed to pornography that involves sexual behavior

S3 neutral film

Results: These highlighted that the level of aggression was greatest in S! lowest in S2 and mild in S3. Also it was found that violent pornography led to callous attitude towards sexual violence as it has desensitizing effect in which viewers react less negatively to the violence in these films as they match more and more of them i.e., they get used to them. Mild pornography leads to mild sexual arousal and therefore reduces aggression.