Chapter 17 part 2

Situational influences.

Take a moment now to think back the last time you engaged in aggressive behavior.
It may not have been physical aggression :
You may just have been verbally abusive towards some other individual, with the
intent of causing psychological distress.
How would you explain why that particular situation gave rise to aggression ? Did
you have a long history of conflict with the person , or was it just a one time
interaction ? Were you inclined towards an aggressive act because of something very
specific or were you just feeling frustrated at that moment ? These are of the
questions researchers have asked when they are examined the links between
situations and aggression. So, to learn more about this we are going to see some
components of situational influences :

• Frustration aggression hypothesis

• Temperature and aggression
• Direct provocation and escalation

Frustration-aggression hypothesis

According to this hypothesis, frustration occurs in situations in which people are

prevented or blocked from attaining their goals ; a rise in frustration then leads
to a greater probability of aggression.

For example, if a man is disrespected and humiliated at his work, but cannot
respond to this for fear of losing his job, he may go home and take his anger and
frustration out on his family.

Temperature and aggression

The temperature–aggression hypothesis refers to the theoretical statement that

uncomfortable temperatures cause increases in aggressive motivation and in
aggressive behavior.
For example, many people become more aggressive in warm conditions because their
body temperature also increases.

Direct provocation and escalation

Supposed that you were sitting in the library trying to get some work done. Two
girls were having a loud conversation that was bothering a lot of people. You asked
them to quieten down and they much ignored you. You asked again about 5 min later
and they started talking louder. Finally you told them they were both stupid, ugly,
idiot and that if they didn’t shut up you were going to pick them out of the
library.
It is not just going to surprise you that direct provocation will also give rise to
aggression. When someone behaves in a way that makes you angry or upset. You are
more likely to respond with some form of physical or verbal aggression. So, the
effect of aggression are consistent with the general idea that situations that
produce negative affect will lead to aggression.