Aggressive Tendencies

3 Pages 813 Words

It’s difficult to think about why people intentionally harm other individuals, however, several theories attempt to explain human aggression. Some hypothesize that aggressive behaviour is not simply an innate quality but a part of our personality that is learned. The belief that all humans are instinctively aggressive offers little insight into methods of reducing anti-social behaviour. By looking at how aggression is formed through experience, however, we can make inferences into what type of people are more likely to aggress and the factors that perpetuate an aggressive personality. I believe that aggression is most predominant under 3 conditions: (1) under high levels of frustration (2) when there is a payoff in response to acting out and (3) when it is learned through observation. Because the frustration-aggression theory and the social learning theory offer insightful clues into the development of aggression, I will discuss them in detail.
The frustration-aggression theory posits that feelings of aggression are brought on when we are prevented from obtaining a goal. This theory basically claims that the loss of control and lack of power, emotions that typify frustration, lead to aggression. Several factors can increase frustration and, accordingly, will increase the probability that some form of aggression will occur. “The closer the goal, the greater the expectation of pleasure that is thwarted; the greater the expectation, the more likely the aggression.”
This theory explains both road-rage and sky-rage most appropriately, in which individuals strike out in an effort to gain control over uncontrollable circumstances. Their lack of patience fuels their temper and aggression results, as they try to control the external environment. This frustration can be so intense that a person is unable to look into the future and measure the costs of aggression. In the case of sky-rage, a frustrated person will often chose the imme...