PSYCH 037: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Student Activity Sheet #9

Name: _FRANY MARIE L. GRACIA _ Class number: _

Section: BSPSY 3-C1 _ Schedule: THU, FRI, SAT _ Date: 22- 04 - 23 _

Lesson title: Aggression Materials:

Lesson Objectives: Marker/s and Highlighter/s
At the end of the session, the students are expected to: Film: Whiplash
1. identify and describe forms aggression can take.
2. outline dispositional reasons why we aggress. References:
3. outline situational reasons why we aggress. Myers, D. G. (2016). Myers, David
G. Social psychology.

Hogg, M., & Vaughan, G.

(2009). Essentials of social psy-
chology. Pearson Education.

Productivity Tip:
Be Creative! Think big! Apply all the theories you have learned in your previous subjects in actual setting. Your
creativity in solving the problem is the limit.

A. LESSON PREVIEW/REVIEW

Introduction

Aggression can be defined as any behavior, whether physical or verbal, that is carried out with the intent to
harm another person. The key here is determining the intention or motive for the aggressive behavior.
Aggression should also be distinguished from being angry, which is an emotional reaction to an event but
can just stay that – an emotion. Just because someone is angry does not mean they will necessarily act on
it and engage in aggressive behavior. If they do aggress, how intense is the behavior? To understand that,
consider that aggressive acts occur along a continuum of least harmful to most harmful. On the extreme
side are violent acts or violence. The World Health Organization (WHO) defined violence in their 2002 World
Report on Violence and Health, as “The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual,
against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high
likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation” (pg. 5). They
state that violence can be self-directed in the form of suicidal behavior or self-abuse, interpersonal and
between family members or individuals who are unrelated, or collective in terms of social, political, and
economic and suggest motives for violence. They add that violence acts can be physical, sexual,
psychological, or involve deprivation or neglect. For more on the report, and to view the 2014 report on
violence prevention, please visit: https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en/

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 PSYCH 037: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Student Activity Sheet #9

Check for Understanding

Encircle your answer. Rationalization will be done by your course instructor during remote coaching
sessions. This will be recorded as your quiz. One (1) point will be given to correct answer . As much as
possible, avoid looking on the answers in the key to corrections section you could test your learning.

1. The teacher insulted Diego for not reporting properly the assigned topic and made him cry. What
explains the behavior of the teacher?
a. Social aggression b. Silent aggression c. Hostile aggression d. Instrumental aggression

2. During the celebration, Diego got drunk and started to sexually take advantage on women in the area.
What theory explains Diego’s behavior?
a. Genetic influences b. Biochemical influences c. Instinctive behavior d. Neural influences

3. The protesters are staying under the heat of the sun, suddenly they are throwing stones to the
government office. What influence on aggression is this?
a. Arousal b. Aggression cues c. Aversive incidents d. Media

4. Dora has been informed many times that her boyfriend has been seen with different women. In order
for Dora to be mindful of the situation, Dory slapped her face and told her to wake up to the reality.
What kind of aggression Dory manifested?
a. Social aggression b. Silent aggression c. Instrumental aggression d. Hostile aggression

5. Diego fell off in the stairs, after seeing him, his classmates laugh at him. Diego got angry. What
influence on aggression Diego experiences?
a. Aggression cues b. Aversive incidents c. Arousal d. Media influences

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 PSYCH 037: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Student Activity Sheet #9

B. LESSON WRAP-UP

FAQs

1. What theory best explains aggression?

Answer: Theories are explanations of things. They may true at times, sometimes they are not. In one
phenomenon, there are several theories that can explain them. There is no competition on what theory
is the best. It depends on the one who explains the phenomenon on what perspective one prefers to
use.

2. What is the difference between hostile and physical aggression?

Answer: Hostile and physical aggression complement each other. Social psychology only classified
them to define such behavior. Hostile involves severe feelings. When a person is hurting others, it is
possible it involves hostile and physical aggression at the same time. Not all physical aggression are
hostile.

Module Recap

In this module, we defined aggression as any behavior, whether physical or verbal, that is carried out with
the intent to harm another person. Aggression can be instrumental and focused on obtaining a resource,
hostile and intending to harm another, relational and attacking another’s relationships, or involve
cyberbullying through the use of social media, e-mail, and other online tools. When we think of aggressive
acts, crimes like homicide come to mind and the ever-increasing workplace or school violence. But also
important are domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment, and bullying. So why do people engage in
aggressive behavior? When trying to attribute a cause to such behavior we can point a finger at something
inside the person that makes them act aggressive, called a dispositional attribution, or something outside
them, or a situational attribution. We explored several reasons under each. For example, rumination,
instincts, mood, personality, and arousal are considered dispositional reasons while one’s culture, alcohol,
the media, socialization, crowding, and temperature are situational factors on aggression. With these
issues addressed we proposed ways to reduce bullying, offer punishment and the threat of it as a
deterrence to violence, focused on self-distancing, and proposed experiencing catharsis could reduce
aggression.

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