PSY 376 Aggression

From WolfWikis

Aggression

A behavior between two species intending to inflict physical or emotional harm and/or pain. "Aggression begins in late infancy and by the early preschool years, two general types of aggression emerge: instrumental aggression and hostile aggression (Berk, 2007)." It oftentimes comes about following a large disappointment or frustration outside of one's own control. It is usually characterized by irrational behavior, including hostility.

Instrumental Aggression

"Instrumental aggression is the most common type of aggression in which children want an object, privilege, or space and, in trying to get, push, shout at, or otherwise attack a person who is in the way (Berk, 2007)." Unlike hostile aggression, physical harm to others is not the overall goal of instrumental aggression. Instead, it is a means to achieve a specific goal, toy, or reward. Bold text

Hostile Aggression

"Hostile aggression is a type of aggression meant to hurt another person. Hostile aggression comes in three varieties: physical aggression, verbal aggression, and relational aggression (Berk, 2007)." People who experience hostile aggression thrive on inflicting harm on their victims (both mentally and physically). This form of aggression, unlike instrumental aggression, is often aided by intent and anger.

"Physical Aggression harms others through physical injury- pushing, hitting, kicking, or punching others or destroying another's property (Berk, 2007)."

"Verbal Aggression harms others through threats of physical aggression, name-calling, or hostile teasing (Berk, 2007)."

"Relational Aggression damages another's peer relationships through social exclusion, malicious gossip, or friendship manipulation (Berk, 2007)."

Family Influence in Relation to Aggression

The environment that a child is raised has a big influence on how that child will develop, especially in regards to aggression. Children learn from parental interactions between their parents and how their parents interact with them. Parents who fight a lot and respond to their child in anger, set a negative example for their child. They are modeling aggression as a normal way of dealing with issues. By the parents’ example, the child learns that aggression is the appropriate way to solve disputes and thus adopts an aggressive attitude when interacting with others (Berk, 2007).

The process is cyclical. The parent responds negatively to a child through some form of aggression and the child reacts with aggressive defense. This cycle can often lead to very hostile interactions between family members (Berk, 2007).

Not only is family aggression detrimental to the parent – child relationship, it also hinders the child in his or her social interactions at school and outside the home. A child may find it appropriate to be aggressive either verbally or physically when interacting with peers. This can lead to social isolation and the child to seek out other deviant behaviors and deviant groups to find acceptance (Berk, 2007).

Violence on TV in Relation to Aggression

Numerous studies have been done in regards to the correlation between aggression and television violence. The consensus is that there is a positive correlation between the two. Children see violence on TV and reenact what they see, thus increasing aggression. In longitudinal studies, it was found that children and adolescents who acted more aggressively tended to watch more violent television, thus supporting the idea of violent TV promoting aggression. Another effect that violence on television has on children is that it numbs them to aggression and violence in real life. In addition, violent television depicts characters committing acts of violence with very few consequences, if any (Berk, 2007). TV violence plays a big role in child aggression because children are easily influenced. With that said, it is easy for a child to integrate aggression into their life when they see it every time they turn on the TV.

Albert Bandura

Albert Bandura was a psychologist who specialized in social-cognitive theory and self-efficacy. Bandura studied social learning and aggression with a doctoral student, Richard Walters. Both Bandura and Walters worked on a research program doing observational research on aggression in younger children and conducted the Bobo Doll experiment in 1961.

Bobo Doll Experiment- Albert Bandura, Dorothea Ross, and Sheila A. Ross conducted the bobo doll experiment with 36 boys and 36 girls in the Stanford University Nursery School. The subjects were individually lead into a room and designated a certain corner of the room to play in. After the child had settled in their corner, a model (male or female adult) was brought into the room and placed in the opposite corner which contained a mallet, tinker-toy set, a table and chair, and the bobo doll. The experimenter then left the room. In the nonaggressive condition, the model played quietly with the toys and ignored the bobo doll. In the aggressive condition, the model sat on the bobo doll, hit the doll with the mallet, threw the doll in the air, and repeatedly shouted aggressive phrases such as "Pow...," "Kick him...," "Throw him in the air...,". After about 10 minutes in the same room with the model, the experimenter came back in the room and led the child to a separate room. In this separate room there were both aggressive and nonaggressive toys such as teddy bears, plastic guns, a bobo doll, dress-up clothes, a mallet, a ball, tea set, crayons and coloring paper, etc. The child was placed in this room and the experimenter remained in the room as well, but acted like they were filling out papers to remain inconspicuous. The child played in the room for 20 minutes while someone stood behind a one-way mirror scoring the child on imitation behavior. Three measures of imitation were obtained:

Imitation of physical aggression: This category included acts of striking the Bobo doll with the mallet, sitting on the doll and punching it in the nose, kicking the doll, and tossing it in the air.

Imitative verbal aggression: Subject repeats the phrases, "Sock him," "Hit him down," "Kick him," "Throw him in the air," or "Pow"

Imitative nonaggressive verbal responses: Subject repeats, "He keeps coming back for more," or "He sure is a tough fella." (Christopher Green)

The results obtained showed that the children in the aggressive condition imitated a fair amount of physical and verbal aggression that the model had performed. The children placed in the nonaggressive condition showed very little imitation to that of the model. Through this experiment, Bandura and colleges found that children exposed to aggression are more likely to display aggressive behavior and children that are not exposed to aggression are less likely to display aggressive behavior.

Relational Aggression

Aggression as earlier stated is a behavior between two species intending to inflict physical or emotional harm and/or pain. (Berk, 2007).

Relational Aggression refers to the behaviors that harm others and thus damages their relationships, feelings of acceptance, social inclusion, and friendships. Sometimes this aggression is intended to be unfriendly so to hurt another in a non-physical method.

An article released by Psychology in the Schools in cooperation with the University of Oregon reviewed "Relational Aggression in Children and Adolescents." The article overviews relational aggression of school aged children and adolescents.

The most intriguing aspect of this article is the "Importance of the School Context." The author writes that "schools provide an ideal laboratory in which to study relational aggression as well as a proving ground for social assessment and intervention efforts" (Merrell 6).

This form of aggression relates to Bronfenbrenner's [Ecological Systems Theory] as we can term schools as both a part of the microsystem and the mesosystem. Schools allows children to learn social skills, respect, expectations, and conflict.

Studies have shown that relational aggression contributes to gender relations. In fact girls may show more relational aggression than boys (Crick 1995). Girls tend to gossip about other girls, seek attention, social inclusion, and take revenge against others and thus form an emotional relational aggression towards others than a physical one.

Rose, Swenson, and Waller (2004) stated that "regardless of the gender of the aggressor, a certain social status is a prerequisite for the effectiveness of relational aggression" (Merrell 10). This follows up on the psycho-social adjustment span of relational aggression. Thus, a school-aged child suffers from relational aggression when he or she is not socially accepted. This lack of social acceptance can be caused by a number of things including: low income, attractiveness, loss of self-confidence, gender (Merrell 11). The effects of this form of relational aggression is outlined below.

In summary, the two major categories for Relational Aggression among Adolescents in a school environment include:

1) Gender Relations (Are Girls worse than boys because they are emotionally hurtful? Or are Boys worse than girls because they are physically hurtful?)

2) Psycho-social Adjustment (Effects). - Confusion and Denial - Psychological Pain - Fear and Anxiety - Efforts to escape situations (Potential thoughts to leave school or even worse, Suicide).

Unfortunately, there is no easy way out of aggression and more specifically, Relational Aggression. This is a phase that every child most face especially when in a school environment like Merrell noted.

A Boy (Bully) Physically Hurting the Child through Relational Aggression

A Girl Emotionally Hurting the Girl on the Right through Gossiping

Resources

Berk, L. E. (2007). Development Through the Lifespan. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Crick, N. R., & Grotpeter, J. K. (1996). Children's treatment by peers: Victims of relational and overt aggression. Developmental and Psychopathology, 8, 367–380.

Green, C. D. (n.d.). TRANSMISSION OF AGGRESSION THROUGH IMITATION OF AGGRESSIVE MODELS [1] Albert Bandura, Dorothea Ross, and Sheila A. Ross [2] (1961). Retrieved Feb. , 2009, from http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Bandura/bobo.htm

Merrell, K. W. (2001). Assessment of children’s social skills: Recent developments, best practices, and new directions. Exceptionality, 9, 3–18.

Merrell, K. W., Buchanan, Rohanna, Tran Oanh K. (2006). Relational Aggression in Children and Adolescents: A Review with Implications for School Settings, In Press, Psychology in the Schools, 1-35.

Rose, A. L., Swenson, L. P., & Waller, E. M. (2004). Overt and relational aggression and perceived popularity: Developmental differences in concurrent and prospective relations. Developmental Psychology, 40, 378–387.

Wikipedia free encyclopedia.. (n.d.). Bobo doll experiment. Retrieved . , , from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_doll_experiment