ASSIGNMENT – II

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

AGGRESSION

Submitted to Submitted by

Dr. M. Vinoth Kumar, D. Indhu Priya

(19PSYB18),

Assistant- professor, I M.Sc., Applied Psychology,

Department of Psychology, Department of Psychology,

Bharathiar University. Bharathiar University.

AGGRESSION – INTRODUCTION

 Aggression is derived from Latin word Aggredi meaning “to approach, attack, or
undertake.”
 Human aggression is any behavior directed toward another individual that is carried out
with the proximate (immediate) intent to cause harm. In addition, the perpetrator must
believe that the behavior will harm the target, and that the target is motivated to avoid the
behavior (Bushman & Anderson 2001, Baron & Richardson 1994, Berkowitz 1993, Geen
2001).
 Baron and Richardson (1994. p. 7). They suggesting that the term "aggression" should be
used to describe any form of behavior directed toward the goal of harming or injuring
another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment. 
 “Aggression refers to a response that delivers noxious stimuli to another organism” –
Buss (1961, p.1)
 In psychology, the term aggression refers to a range of behaviors that can result in both
physical and psychological harm to oneself, others, or objects in the environment. This
type of behavior centers on harming another person either physically or mentally.
 Accidental harm is not aggressive because it is not intended. Harm that is an incidental
by-product of helpful actions is also not aggressive. Violence is aggression that has
extreme harm as its goal (e.g., death). All violence is aggression, but many instances of
aggression are not violent.

AGGRESSION – NATURE

 Aggression can take make forms.

ASPECTS EXAMPLES
Response modality
Verbal Shouting or swearing at someone
Physical Hitting or shooting someone
Postural Making threatening gestures
relational Giving someone the silent treatment
Immediacy
direct Punching someone in the face
Indirect Spreading rumors about someone behind
their back
Response quality
Action Making another person engage in unwanted
sexual acts
Failure to act Withholding important information from a
colleague at work
Visibility
Overt Humiliating someone in the front of others
Covert Sending threatening text messages to a
classmate
Instigation
Proactive/ unprovoked Grabbing a toy from another child
Reactive/ retaliative Yelling at someone after having been
physically attacked
Goal direction
Hostile Hitting someone out of danger or
frustration
Instrumental Taking a hostage to secure a ransom
Type of harm
Physical Broken bones
Psychological Fears or nightmares
Duration of effects
Transient Minor bruises
Lasting Long-term inability to form relationships
Social norms involved
Individuals Intimate partner violence
Groups Riots and wars
 Hostile aggression is impulsive, thoughtless (i.e., unplanned), driven by anger, having the
ultimate motive of harming the target, and occurring as a reaction to some perceived
provocation. It is sometimes called affective, impulsive, or reactive aggression.
 Instrumental aggression is conceived as a premeditated means of obtaining some goal
other than harming the victim, and being proactive rather than reactive (Berkowitz 1993,
Geen 2001).

AGGRESSION – CAUSES

1. Biological causes
 Amygdala
 Testosterone
 Serotonin
 Nutritional deficiency
i. Amygdala:
Aggression is controlled in large part by the amygdale (emotional brain). The
prefrontal cortex is in effect a control center for aggression- when it is more
highly activated, we are more able to control our aggressive impulses.

Research has found that the cerebral cortex is less active in murderers and death
row inmates, suggesting that violent crime may be caused at least in part by a
failure or reduced ability to regulate emotions (Davidson, Jackson, & Kalin, 2000;
Davidson, Putnam, & Larson, 2000).
ii. Testosterone:
Sex hormones appear to play a role in shaping aggressive behaviour. Aggressive,
violent offenders have been found to have significantly higher levels of
testosterone than controls.
Males with high testosterone levels are more prone to delinquency, hard drug use,
and aggressive responses when provoked.
iii. Serotonin:
Serotonin tends to inhibit aggression.
 Both animal and human research has shown that aggressors have lower levels of
the neurotransmitter serotonin.

iv. Nutritional deficiency:

Factors include food additives, hypoglycemia, cholesterol, and deficiencies in
protein, iron, and zinc. These are found to increase the likelihood of aggression.
It is believed that early malnutrition negatively impacts brain growth and
development, and that brain impairments predispose individuals to antisocial and
violent behaviour by impacting cognitive functions (Liu, Raine, Venables, &
Mednick, 2004).
2. Psychological causes
 Type A personality
 Sensation- seeking personality
 Narcissism
 Frustration
a. Type A personality:
Type A behaviour pattern is a pattern of behaviour consisting primarily of high
levels of competitiveness, time urgency and hostility.
Type A individuals are prone to aggressive and hostile behaviours. Type A
individuals are hostile because aggressing against others is a useful means for
reaching one's goals, such as furthering one’s career or winning in athletic
competitions (This is called as instrumental aggression).
b. Sensation- seeking personality:
Sensation seekers are ones who are highly impulsive, adventurous, seeks new
experiences and gets bored quickly.
According to Zuckerman such individuals are high in aggression.
c. Narcissism:
Narcissistic individuals are highly self-centered and hold an over-inflated view of
one’s own virtues or accomplishments. It has been found that high levels of
Narcissism are associated with aggressive behavior.
Bushman and Baumeister (1998) found that individuals who have high levels of
Narcissism often react with exceptionally high levels of aggression to slights from
others, i.e., feedback that threatens their inflated self-image.
d. Frustration:
The blocking of goal directed behavior is called frustration. It creates a
motive for aggression.
Fear of punishment or disapproval may cause the
aggressive behavior to be displaced against some other target, or oneself.
AGRESSION – THEORIES

Approaches/ theories Aggression conceptualized as

Biological approaches

Ethology internal energy released by external

cues; steam-boiler model

Behaviour genetics transmitted as part of genetic 

make-up

Hormonal explanations influenced by male sex hormones and

cholesterol

Psychological approaches

Frustration-aggression  as a likely response to frustration,

hypothesis likelihood enhanced by aggressive cues

Cognitive neo-associationist  as a result of affect elicited by aversive

model and excitation transfer stimulation that is interpreted as anger

Learning theory as a result of reinforcement, either

direct or indirect (observed)

Social cognitive approaches as a result of social information

processing, enactment of learned scripts

General Aggression Model A result of personal and situational input variables eliciting
(GAM) affective, cognitive and psychological responses.

These theories and approaches have their own unique way of explaining aggression and the
concluding summary is that no one theory would be sufficient enough to explain the occurrence
of aggression. Depending on the situation, it varies and deeper researches and knowledge are
expected in order to explain aggression in one single theory. As far now, aggression occurs due
to various reasons and more accepted theories are learning theory, frustration-aggression
hypothesis and hormonal explanations. This does not mean that other theories are useless, but the
wide popularity and various empirical evidences make these theories exclusive out of other
theories.

REFERENCE

Aggression. (n.d.) in Merriam-webster. https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/aggress#note-1

Cherry. K. (2020, January, 18). Factors that lead to Aggression. Verywellmind.

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-aggression-2794818

Krahé, B. (2013). The Social Psychology of Aggression. (2nd ed.), 8-40. NY: Psychology Press.

Anderson, C.A. & Bushman, B.J. (2002). Human Aggression. Annual Review of Psychology, 53,

27-51. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135231

Baron, R. A., & Branscombe, N. R. (2011). Social Psychology. (13th ed.). Pearson Education,

Inc.
Biological and social causes of aggression. Retrieved from http://homepages.rpi.edu

/~verwyc/oh10.htm