PSYC 3480 Lecture Notes - Machismo, Deindividuation
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6. 2) imagine the following scenario: the college basketball team has just lost an important game leading up to the play-offs. The players and the head coach are in the dressing room and the coach clearly shows his displeasure for the team"s performance. I feel that this scenario is closer to instrumental aggression. Instrumental aggression involves intent to injure, but the primary goal is a means to an end rather than an end in itself. In the above scenario, the coach is the aggressor, and the aggressor, who is angry, is willing to hurt other people in order to attain his goal. In this case, the goal is to out the blame on someone other than himself for the loss of the game. The coach has a need to put the blame on someone else in order to justify the loss, so he will not be blamed for bad coaching, or other factors.