Aggression

Aggression

1. Situational determinants

   • Hostile aggression is motivated by anger and hostility and has the primary aim of harming others. Instrumental aggression is behavior intended to harm others to achieve a goal
   • Weather
     • Hotter cities have higher rates of violent crimes 
   • Media violence
     • Watching violent tv shows can lead to more aggressive behaviors 
   • Social rejection
     • Social rejection and isolation are powerful triggers of aggression 
   • Income inequality
     • Strongly predicts every kind of aggression 

2. Construal processes

   • Anger related thoughts of blame and revenge make people more likely to respond aggressively when prompted by cues like weapons 
   • Dehumanization
     • Extreme forms of violence are accompanied by dehumanization as well as group loyalty 

3. Culture

   • Culture of honor
     • Inclined to respond to insults and actions that convey malicious intent with violence or threats of violence 
   • Rape prone cultures
     • Levels of violence tend to be high in general and rape is used as a weapon. It is also used as a ritual acts and threat to keep women subservient to men

4. Evolution

   • Evolutionary theory
     • Provides a perspective on family violence, such as step children being more subject to abuse 
   • Precarious manhood model
     • A mans gender identity is variable and vulnerable which makes men more reactive to threats to their identity and more likely to behave aggressively to prove their manhood 

5. Conflict and peacemaking

   • Complex reasoning
     • Involves more evidence and integration of ideas 
   • Simplistic reasoning
     • Involve fewer arguments and fewer connections between arguments