Abstract
Aggression is something that psychologists all over are fascinated with. Will anyone ever have the same answer? Is aggression caused by nature or nurture? Are we made with aggression in us from the time we are born, or is this something that we learn as survival mechanisms? How do we eliminate aggressive outbursts, as they have become a huge part of the society that we live in?
Aggression is a long-time topic in psychology. The question remains: Is aggression biological or is aggression a learned behavior? For starters, aggression is defined as a psychological behavior that people use to cause harm. Aggression includes kicking, slapping, insults, rude gestures, lying, destroying property, and all other behaviors that are solely intended to hurt. However, aggressive acts that are not intended to cause pain, but do, are not considered aggression. For example, a doctor giving a shot may cause hurt, but it is not intended to cause pain, but to help, therefor this is not considered aggression. There are two different types of aggression. Hostile aggression is something that derives from anger and intends to injure someone. Most murders are considered hostile aggression. Nearly half of all murders are caused by arguments and the other half are caused from the result of romantic issues. Murders can also be caused from a brawl and some murders will also be closely linked with the consumption of alcohol and/or involve being under the influence of drugs. Murders, such as the ones listed, are considered impulsive outbursts of hostile aggression. The other type of aggression includes “instrumental aggression”. Instrumental aggression also aims to injure but is committed as something that is in regard to a bigger goal. A form of instrumental aggression would be terrorism. A terrorist would be someone who seeks personal significance or becomes someone “important”. Terrorism is considered a tool to use in conflict. Wars would also be considered instrumental aggression, as they are aimed to injure, however, serves a bigger purpose. The way instrumental aggression looks in children would be bullying. This bullying can occur physically or verbally. The children who exhibit bullying behavior often seek to insert dominance or to obtain a higher status from their peers. The goal of a psychologist is to dig deeper into the cause of aggression. In order to minimize aggression and aggressive outbursts, one must first identify the cause of aggression. There are three possible influences one can look at biological influences, frustrations, and learned behaviors. Is it all three? Jean Jaques Rousseau, a French Philosopher, says the problem is society! Rousseau states that society is responsible for social evils and it is not just human nature. In contrast, the English Philosopher Thomas Hobbes states that society is responsible for “restraining the human brute”. Hobbes says the “brutish view” is a view that states that aggression is born inside of us and is inevitable. This philosophy of “brutish view” is argued by Sigmund Freud. Freud’s argument is that human aggression is a self-destructive impulse. Lorenz, an animal behavior expert, agrees with Freud that aggression should be considered instinctive. Instinctive would mean that aggression is unlearned and universal. Although human aggression can be influenced by biological factors, aggression should not be qualified as instinctive because instinctive does not compensate for the variations of aggression. I believe that aggression is affected both by nature and nurture. Aggression is affected by biology and social influences from the moment you are born. Both biological components and social influence play a huge role and how are brains and bodies react to conflict. A study was conducted in Sweden with siblings. The study resulted in those with a sibling who shares genes convicted of a violent crime, were four times more likely to be convicted themselves. On the contrary, rates were significantly lower for siblings of adoption. This research shows that genes are significant, but so is the social aspect in which one is raised. Aggression can vary in severity among several different people can look different in every person. A person’s temperament typically endures from childhood, which is why it is important to teach children from a young age how to handle their emotions. Children cannot simply be affected by “bad genes” or a “bad” environment. However, “bad” genes, can predispose children for behavior that would be considered anti-social rather than children who have genes that could make them more social. Nature and nurture interact with each other to help create temperaments. Alcohol, testosterone, and poor diet can all affect biology and therefore affect behavior. Higher levels of testosterone are known for increasing aggressive behavior. However, aggression can cause high testosterone as well. Therefore, high testosterone can become environmental. The social learning theory of aggression says that we learn aggression by observing others. Children who exhibit physically aggressive behavior tend to have physically aggressive parents who use screaming, slapping, or beating as punishment. These parents, more often than not, also had parents with the same punishment style. Aggression often includes an adverse experience such as pain, attack, overcrowding, or even uncomfortable heat.
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So, if aggression can be caused by nature and nurture, can it also be purged by nature and nurture as well? Scientist feels that in order to eliminate explosive aggression episodes, we should be allowed to vent our anger safely. The Hydraulic model would suggest that accumulated aggressive energy would not to be released, similar to dammed-up water. Aristotle stated that we can rid of emotions by experiencing them. Assuming that it is correct that aggressive action drains the pent-up aggression, therapists occasionally suggest acting out aggression by hitting each other with foam bats, hitting a punching bag, or screaming. Some therapists encourage parents to release tension by letting children exhibit aggressive play. This strategy is assuming that catharsis is therapeutic. However, the results of the study showed that doing nothing at all effectively reduced aggression more than those who actively attempted to reduce it by aggressive acts. Venting anger caused more anger rather than reducing it. Expressing hostility typically will bread more hostility and decreased happiness. If you look at this from a nurture perspective, you will find it effective to reinforce cooperative, non-aggressive behavior, as studies show that children become less aggressive when caretakers ignore their aggressive behavior and only reinforce their positive behaviors. Punishing the aggressor tends to be less effective. I have come to the conclusion that aggression is a factor of both nature and nurture. Healing aggression seems to also come from biological standpoints and social standpoints. So, the question is, how do we eliminate aggression? Do we look biologically, or do we look socially? We will need to look socially. We must prevent aggression before it happens. We must educate. We must teach nonaggressive behaviors and self-conflict resolution strategies. If we can effectively teach problem-solving skills, emotion control strategies, and conflict resolution techniques, we can reduce aggression in adolescents. As parents, educators, or caretakers, we could model and reward sensitive behavior and cooperation beginning at a young age. We could train parents, educators, and caretakers to discipline without anger or violence. The likelihood that a behavior will increase if you reinforce it is high. Therefore, when you reinforce positive behaviors, they will increase and the undesirable behaviors will, in turn, decrease. Also, if observing aggression increases aggression, we should undoubtedly lower the aggression reporting in the widespread media. If we do this, would reduce brutal and dehumanizing behaviors. We might could even reduce racist and sexist behaviors. The answer to aggression is not a cookie-cutter answer. There are several components of identifying the cause, effect and eliminated of aggression. It is important to study aggression to better understand it for ourselves, others, and our children. Aggression is caused by nature and nurture and most also be healed through nature and nurture.
Citations
- Rief, A. (2019). Nature and Nurture Predispose To Violent Behavior. [online] Nature.com. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/1301359.pdf [Accessed 22 Sep. 2019].
- Myers, D. and Twenge, J. (2016). Social Psychology. 12th ed. p.296-329
- Opotow, S. (2006). Aggression and violence. In M. Deutsch, P. T. Coleman, & E. C. Marcus (Eds.), The handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice (pp. 509-532). Hoboken, NJ, US: Wiley Publishing.
- Montagu, A. (1976). The nature of human aggression. Oxford, England: Oxford U Press.
- Berkowitz, L. (1962). Aggression: A social psychological analysis. New York, NY, US: McGraw-Hill.
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