![]() ![]() ![]() In addition, each of the children was given a roster of the other students in their class and was asked to check off the names of the children who were most aggressive and most helpful. Salmivalli, Ojanen, Haanpaa, and Peets (2005) asked fifth- and sixth-grade children to complete a number of measures describing themselves and their preferred relationships with others. Underlying these observed individual differences in aggression are the fundamental motives of self-concern and other-concern. Figure 9.11 Self-Perceptions, Aggression, and AltruismĬhildren who saw themselves, and who were seen by peers, as having self-concerned motives were more aggressive and less altruistic than were children who were rated as more caring of others. Research has found that individuals with inflated or unstable self-esteem are more prone to anger and are highly aggressive when their high self-image is threatened (Kernis, Brockner, & Frankel, 1989 Baumeister et al., 1996). For instance, classroom bullies are those who always want to be the center of attention, who think a lot of themselves, and who cannot take criticism (Salmivalli & Nieminen, 2002). It appears that these people are highly motivated to protect their inflated self-concepts and react with anger and aggression when it is threatened. Perhaps you believe that people with low self-esteem would be more aggressive than those with high self-esteem. For these individuals, the important goals are to be respected and feared, and engaging in violence is an accepted means to this end (Horowitz & Schwartz, 1974). Members of youth gangs find violence to be acceptable and normal (Baumeister, Smart, & Boden, 1996), and membership in the gang reinforces these beliefs. For many people, violence is a perfectly acceptable method of dealing with interpersonal conflict, and these people are more aggressive (Anderson, 1997 Dill, Anderson, & Deuser, 1997). The social situation that surrounds people also helps determine their beliefs about aggression. Some people are simply more likely to believe in the value of using aggression as a means of solving problems than are others. People also differ in their general attitudes toward the appropriateness of using violence. Aggression is particularly likely among people who feel that they are being rejected by others whom they care about (Downey, Irwin, Ramsay, & Ayduk, 2004). In addition, people who experience a lot of negative affect, and particularly those who tend to perceive others as threatening, are likely to be aggressive (Crick & Dodge, 1994). When these people see behavior that may or may not be hostile in intent, they tend to perceive it as aggressive, and these perceptions can increase their aggression. Individual Differences in AggressionĪggression occurs when we feel that we are being threatened by others, and thus personality variables that relate to perceived threat also predict aggression. Let’s consider in this section the personality variables that are known to relate to aggression and how these variables may interact with the influence of the social situation. ![]() The problem is that we don’t know if we are going to be affected until it is too late. Just as we may know some people who smoked cigarettes all their lives but never got lung cancer, I would still not recommend that anyone start smoking. On the other hand, other people may not be so lucky-remember that, on average, watching violence does increase aggression. You may be able to watch a lot of violent television and play a lot of violent video games without ever being aggressive yourself. Although the social situation is extremely important, it does not influence everyone equally-not all people become aggressive when they view violence. The occurrence of aggression is still another example of the interaction between person variables and situation variables. Give examples of some cultural differences in aggression.Explain how men and women differ, on average, in terms of aggression.Summarize the individual difference variables related to aggression. ![]()
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