PSY311H1 Lecture 8: Lecture 8-What is Aggression Nov 4
Chapter 9: Aggression & Antisocial Conduct
Nov 4th, 2008-11-04
Notes
What is Aggression?
- Thanatos
o &µ[vu(}]v}vo(-destructive instincts which all human have
o Anger build up and releases once it passes a critical point in the form of aggression
- Behavioural definition of aggression
o Any action that delivers noxious stimuli to another organism
- Intentional definition of aggression
o The act is aggressive provided the actor had a hostile intent
o Hostile intent
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o Instrumental aggression
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Theories of Aggression
- Frustration/aggression hypothesis
o Frustration triggers aggression and that all aggressive acts can be traced to frustration
- Proactive aggressor
o High level of aggression children who find aggressive acts easy to perform and who rely
on aggression as a mean of solving social problems or achieving their goals
- Reactive aggressors
o High level of aggression children b/c they overattribute hostile intent of others and cant
control their anger long enough to seek non-hostile solutions
o Hostile attribution bias
Tendency to view harm done under ambiguous circumstances as hostile and
attribute that to the actor
Developmental Trends in Aggression
- Conflict
o Circumstances in which two or more persons have incompatible needs, goals, and
desires
- Retaliatory aggression
o Aggressive acts elicited by real or imagined provocations
o Happens b/c it is the norm for school children
- Passive victims
o Socially withdrawn and anxious children whom bullies torment even though they appear
to have done nothing to trigger the abuse
- Provocative victims
o Hot tempered children who are victimized b/c they are disliked and irritate their peers
- Chronic persistence trajectory
o Highly aggressive early in life and display same or escalating aggression throughout
childhood and adolescnece
- High level desister trajectory
o Highly aggressive early on then drecrease
- Moderate-level desister trajectory
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