Реферат: Aggression Essay Research Paper Aggression 1Running Head

2. Young people who play lots of violent video games behave more violently that those who do not.

3. Experimental studies have shown that playing a violent video game causes an increase in aggressive thinking.

4. Experimental studies have shown that playing a violent video game causes an increase in retaliatory aggression.

5. Experimental and correlation studies have shown that playing violent video games leads to a decrease in prosocial (helping) behaviors (Anderson 2000).

From infancy, humans learn how to perceive, interpret, judge, and respond to events in the physical and social environment (Anderson 2000). We learn about the world around us by observation, and by acting on that world. We also learn about the social world and how it works. We develop these observations by the day-to-day interactions

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that we other people doing whether it is real or imagined. Of course, our knowledge develops and expands over time. Children who are exposed to a lot of violent media learn a number of lessons that change them into more aggressive people (Anderson 2000). They believe that there are many bad people in this world that will hurt them. They learn to interpret negative events that occur to them as intentional harm, rather than as an accidental mistake (Anderson 2000). As these structures develop over time, they become imprinted and harder to change.

The definition of aggression portrays two distinct types of aggression, hostile and instrumental. Hostile aggression is aggression driven by anger and performed as an end in itself. Instrumental aggression is aggression that is a means to some other end (Myers 1999). Distinguishing between the two can be difficult at times. In studying these types of aggression, psychologists have focused on three main ideas: (1)There is an inborn aggressive drive, (2)Aggression is a natural response to frustration and (3)Aggressive behavior is learned (Myers 1999). The perfect example of this is sports in today’s society. In professional football, two worlds collide. “We” meets “me”(Kee and Grossman 1998). In a game in 1997, the helmet of Reggie Brown met Lamont Burns in a freak accidental hit

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during a game. He slumped unconscious, stopped breathing, and players from both teams gathered to cry and pray for the motionless Brown (Kee and Grossman 1998). We all know how much emphasis is put on sports and winning in today’s society. Is aggression one of the means required to win? Before games, teams organize chapel services in the NFL. In every sport, religion brings an element of redemption, the promise of delivery from a loss one day and a win the next (Kee and Grossman 1998). Present player Reggie White commented on football’s violence and religion. “What makes you think it is violent?” he asked. “Football is not violent. When a kid puts a gun up to another guy’s head and blows it off, that’s violence….Our game is aggression. We don’t go out to kill each other. We go out to win” (Kee and Grossman 1998). Instinctive behavior, an innate, unlearned behavior pattern exhibited by all members of a species can also come into play here.

Aggression has numerous reasons and consequences that must be analyzed in order to see what it arises from. A good example is the strength of nature and nurture. The features of nature are:

Genetic Inheritance of behavioral capacity for aggression

Physiological Control of aggression by brain,

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blood and hormones

Organism Why animals aggress. Control by genetic and physiological factors

The next aspect looked at was that of nurture. How our learning is influenced.

Society Societal organization, cultural and political determinants of aggression.

Ecology Large scale population characteristics and availability of natural resources (Ghiselli 2000).

These were just some of the determinants of human aggression that Dr. Ghiselli came up with. The information on the far right side was what he felt was a relevant contribution to the nature nurture aspects of aggression.

There are many sub-topics that can fall under aggression. The first example is the culturally prescribed passivity for females’ contrasts sharply with the masculine premium on aggressiveness and physical strength (Henry and Short Jr. 1954). This is when our society perceives men to be more aggressive than women. The next example is when a couple is about to get a divorce. If we make the assumptions (1) that the act of divorce is evidence of the expression of aggression against the spouse, and (2) that

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prior to the divorce, the spouse was a primary source of nurturance and love. We are able to suggest that for the divorced, the consequence of aggression was the loss of nurturance (Henry and Short Jr. 1954). In the widow’s eye, the loss of love was a consequence of death independent of aggression against the spouse. Another example is suicide or homicide. Clinical investigations of the psychoanalysts have suggested that suicide is aggression directed against the self. Both Menninger and Fenichel see suicide as the end of an unfulfilled wish to murder another person (Henry and Short Jr. 1954). In stating the frustration-aggression hypothesis, the same authors assume as a point of departure that “aggression is always a consequence of frustration,” and define frustration as “that condition which exists when a goal response suffers interference” (Henry and Short Jr. 1954).

Many cultures have expresses concern about the impact of excessive alcohol ingestion on human violence (Feshbach and Zagrodzka 1997). I have argued elsewhere, however, that the popular ’simple’ view that alcohol ingestion causes hostile behavior and, hence leads to violent crime, is based on a number of over-simplifications (Feshbach and Zagrodzka 1997). While much of this is society’s perception of alcohol and aggression, there may be no direct correlation.

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One strong argument supports that people have built-in aggression. Much like the theories of Freud, that people have instinctual aggression, whether sexual or violent, a multitude of scientists and psychologists believe that biology is crucial in the development of aggression (Myers 1995). Differences in physical strength also have provided for differences in aggression levels between the two sexes. Another important factor involving aggression of people are other people. Very few times does an aggressive act stand alone. There is almost always a mutual fault or shared blame. In half of the reported cases of domestic violence it was found that both spouses were violent, it just tended to be that one person was considerably stronger than the other (Baumeister 1997). Aggressive behavior has been a huge part of mankind since people first starting walking. Aggression follows us wherever we go.

How concerned are we really with human happiness and self-development? Aggressive expression of anger can cause permanent damage to relationships. Here are some action methods for reducing anger:

1. THINK–”Aggression will drive a wedge between us”

2. BE ASSERTIVE–Seek “Win-Win” Solutions