Preview

Psychological Perspectives for Aggression

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
379 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Psychological Perspectives for Aggression
Psychological Perspectives for Aggression
Psychology is composed of a lot of different branches such as biological psychology, cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, social-cultural psychology, etc and they all have different justifications pertaining to behavior. Biologically speaking, aggression can be inherited by genes of past generations. If aggression was a quality of the ancestors or relatives of a person then it is likely that the person will also be aggressive. Additionally, if a person was raised with aggressive parents then that person will have the mind set of an aggressive character and therefore will act with violence and force instead of being reasonable.
Moreover, in the cognitive perspective if the person is constantly watching aggressive actions then these actions will be stored in their memories. Eventually, when they are faced with a problem or situation they will remember one of the many aggressive memories that they have and the end result will be them acting hostile. Also a pessimist is more likely to act in a contentious manner because of all their negative thoughts. The way someone thinks will reflect in their actions.
Furthermore, aggression was developed as a survival instinct, and even today some people still have this characteristic. “Survival of the fittest” plays a very important role in the evolutionary perspective, only the strongest survive. It is highly doubtful that someone who isn’t aggressive will rise to the top, with aggression they receive fear, and respect and they surpass others. Just like in the biological perspective the aggressive trait may be passed down by genes, because one’s ancestors may have been dominant and aggressive to survive.
Consequently, one can be easily influenced by their environment, and that’s when the social-cultural perspective comes into view. Depending on who one may surround themselves with can affect the way one acts, the music that one listens to can also be the catalyst to an

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Patterson’s study was conducted using interviews and questionnaires and comparing families with at least one highly aggressive child to other families. His findings suggested that a coercive home enviroment may cause aggressiveness. This is an enviroment which little affection is shown as they don’t use social reinforcement they use punishment and shouting and other aggressive tactics for behavioural control.…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The instinct theory of aggression states that aggression is natural and involves innate tendencies that are stable and enduring, meaning they are difficult to modify. It proposes the idea that aggression is a result of survival instinct to protect or survive. Aggression is said to occur in high arousal situations where stressful cues act as triggers for that aggression, often caused by others as a result of retaliation. However, not all people show aggression as a result of high arousal or stressful cues, so this theory lacks some validity when explaining aggression. Also, aggression is shown by different…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Aggression is something that people will experience throughout life whether they are experiencing it directly or indirectly. Throughout the years, aggression has been studied in many different forms and ways. It ranges greatly and can range all the way from destructive behavior down to an insulting remark. Direct aggression would be referred to as a physical altercation or incident and indirect aggression would someone spreading gossip throughout a group of people Aggression comes in many different shapes and sizes. Defining the term aggression has been a major argument throughout the scientific community for many years. The most widely accepted definition of the term aggression was defined by Buss ( 1961: 1) as “a response that delivers noxious…

    • 149 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another theory behind aggression is sexual selection, because in some cultures there are fewer females than males. In order for males to attract a female they must compete with each other, and one of the ways they do this is by taking part in war. Male warriors in traditional societies tend to have more sexual…

    • 625 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One social psychological theory of aggression is Bandura’s social learning theory, in which he combines both social and cognitive psychology in his social cognitive perspective of human behaviour. Bandura believed that behaviour was not only motivated by psychological factors but also by more socio-environmental factors. He argued that the individual and the environment were linked, something which he called reciprocal determinism. Bandura believed that the presence of a role model from whom behaviour could be imitated was the key part of the social learning theory, and that this role model would either be similar to the person imitating the behaviour (e.g. same age or gender) or is in a position of power (e.g. celebrities or parents). Despite this the individual imitating the behaviour still needs to have a level of self confidence in order to imitate, which Bandura referred to as self-efficacy.…

    • 731 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Bandura’s Social Learning Theory suggests that acts of aggression are learnt through the observation of role models. His original “Bobo Doll” study showed that when exposed to aggressive behaviour small children copied this behaviour, not just by being physically aggressive but even copying the verbally aggressive behaviour. However this study focuses on children who are supposed to learn in this manner, this doesn’t demonstrate that this would also be true in older children or adults who already have a set moral compass that would interfere with copying aggressive behaviours. However Bandura’s later study showed that if children saw someone get punished for aggressive behaviour they were less likely to be aggressive themselves when they were allowed to play with the bobo doll but if they saw someone get rewarded for this aggressive behaviour then they were much more likely to act aggressively themselves, this shows that vicarious reinforcement is important to the learning of aggression through the social learning theory, as receiving direct positive reinforcement leads to people having high self efficacy making them very likely to repeat the aggressive behaviour that they were rewarded for. In terms of aggression this reward could come in many forms such as acceptance from a violent gang they want to be a part of or just attention from a parent or teacher. Moreover, Walter and Thomas' study in 1963 further supported this theory as the results of the study demonstrated that aggressive behaviour was a result of imitation of role models. However, the social learning theory does not explain what triggers aggression. Additionally, the study emphasises nurture and learning through observation - ignoring nature and biological explanations.…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Deindividuation theory is a social psychological explanation of aggression. It explains how rational individuals can become aggressive hooligans in a mob or crowd as it suggests that losing their sense of identity and self awareness deindividuates people. Individuals in groups fail to see the consequences of their actions, and the social norms they would normally follow are forgotten and this is when aggressive behaviour occurs. Deindividuation causes people unquestioningly to follow group norms instead of personal norms and sometimes these group norms lead to aggression. According to Zimbardo, in a crowd we feel anonymous and unaccountable and thus are less concerned about negative evaluations by…

    • 1337 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aggression is the feeling of anger and hatred that may result in threatening or violent behavior. It is also a physical or emotional expression of the feelings of dissatisfaction arising out of the comparison between what people presently have and what they believe they should have, what they ought to have or what they believe is ideal. The theories of aggression assert that aggression is the inevitable result of frustration or conflict, they affirm that aggression results out of an innate instinct flowing towards destructive tendencies and maintain that aggression arises out of social dysfunction. According to Dollard (1939) the frustration-aggression theory of aggression asserts that aggression is always an inevitable result of frustration.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    M1 Unit 27

    • 605 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Aggressive behaviour can take place as a result of an individual wanting to have their own way/get what they want or as a response to stress i.e. too much noise surrounding their environment.…

    • 605 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first factor is brain damage. “ … This depends on when the damage occurs, it is a very precise thing. All of the killers and psychopaths had damage to their orbital cortex, right above the eyes.” All of the brains that Mr. Fallon looked at had this in common. The second factor is genetics, there is actually a gene for violence, MAOA. This gene is only on the X chromosome so it is passed from mothers. This is why men tend to be more aggressive because in females this gene is diluted . However this factor leads to the next factor. “In order for boys to show this gene they have to go through something really traumatic usually before puberty.” Fallon goes on to say that “ Either being involved or seeing violence...so, if you have this gene and you see a lot of violence it could be a recipe for disaster.”…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many social psychological explanations for aggression that try and explain the cause of aggression. The social learning theory originated from work by Tarde who looked at key characteristics of imitation and the ways in which our social behaviours and responses could be shaped by the actions of others.…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aggression is an act of hostility with deliberate intention to harm another person against his or her will. Some psychologists believe that aggression is an important aspect of our evolutionary ancestry and it is understood better in that context, whereas others believe that aggression is best explained in physiological terms e.g. the imbalance of hormones or neurotransmitters in the brain. There are many definitions used to explain why humans/ animals become aggressive (http://www.essortment.com/all/whatisaggress_rxeo.htm).…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The social learning theory is based on operant conditioning which suggests that children learn to be aggressive by observing the behaviour of those around them, particularly the behaviour of significant others, such as parents or elder siblings. By seeing others being rewarded or punished for their behaviour, the child experiences vicarious reinforcement. From these models, children therefore learn about the nature of aggressive behaviour, the situations it is appropriate and its likely consequences. In addition to learning about the likely outcomes of aggressive behaviour, children also develop confidence in their ability to use aggressive behaviour to get what they want. Children who are confident that they will be able to use aggressive behaviour effectively to achieve their ends are high in self-efficacy; those with less confidence in their ability to use aggression are low in self-efficiency and may decide to use other methods.…

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    M1 Challenging behaviour

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A person portraying aggressive behaviour may fight with people when frustrated or speak in an abusive manner. Particularly this behaviour is often shown when a person is becoming frustrated with a certain situation. For example, a boy with Aspergers may be asked to read something aloud in front of his class, however due to his syndrome he does not feel comfortable in social situations. He may feel personally victimised and under pressure which may cause him to behave aggressively towards his teacher or his peers. He may refuse to do the task or be distracted while doing the task and then become violent within the classroom after. Another example is people with ADHD, as the simplest of issues can be a blown up infuriation for them. They are naturally aggressive and impulsive which makes it difficult for them to stay calm in every day frustrations. It is their neurochemical make up that causes them to behave this way as it is different to that of people without ADHD. An example of a trigger for aggressive behaviour of an ADHD person would be if the person was concentrating on a television programme and they were interrupted by someone. They would tend to lash out or portray abusive language towards the person who interrupted them. Aggression can be triggered by frustration. If a child is unable to solve a maths problem at school then this may cause them to have a tantrum and they may fight with their peers or be violent. Also another cause/trigger of aggression could be if a child’s peer would not share a toy and this could trigger the child to behave violently and either lash out or throw objects in rejection of their peer. This could be challenging for a teacher to control, especially if that child has a condition which causes them to be particularly more frustrated than other children without conditions. Autism is a condition that often means…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    There are two social psychological approaches to aggression. These are social learning theory (SLT) and deindividuation theory (DT). Both these theories stress that aggression is a learnt process, they believe that aggression is due to our nurture and not in our nature. They dispute the biological approach to aggression.…

    • 1198 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics