Psychology Class 12 Chapter 8 | Part - 5
Chapter 8: Psychology and Life
Part 5: Aggression, Violence and Peace and Health
Aggression and Violence
- Aggression is referred to any behavior by one person that is intended to cause harm to another person. It can be demonstrated in actual action or through the use of hard words or criticism.
- Violence is forceful destructive behavior towards another person or object.
- Aggressive behavior involves the intention to harm or injure another person, whereas violence may or may not involve such an intention.
- Instrumental aggression is the act of aggression that is meant to obtain a certain goal or object.
- Hostile aggression is shown as an expression of anger towards the target with the intention of harming them even if the aggressor does not wish to obtain anything from the victim.
Causes of aggression
- Inborn tendency- Aggressiveness is an inborn tendency among human beings. Biologically this is meant for Self Defence.
- Physiological mechanisms- Aggression could also be indirectly triggered by physiological mechanisms like activation of the brain.
- Child-rearing- The way an individual is brought up often influences their aggressiveness.
- Frustration- Aggression is an expression and consequence of frustration that is an emotional state that arises when a person is prevented from reaching a goal or attaining an object that they want.
Frustration-aggression theory
a) The frustration aggression theory was proposed by American psychologist John Dollard, along with his collaborators.
b) This theory proposes that it is the frustration that leads to aggression.
c) Frustrated people are more likely to show aggression, especially towards a weaker person who is unlikely to react to aggression. This is called displacement.
d) Being frustrated does not necessarily make a person aggressive.
e) Many other situational factors may lead to aggression, which are described as follows:
- Learning- Learning of aggression can take place in more than one mode. Learning could happen through reinforcement or modeling.
- Observing an aggressive model- Albert Bandura conducted various studies which show the role of modeling in learning aggression.
- Anger provoking actions by others- Provoking the person and making them angry was one way of inducing frustration.
- Availability of weapons of aggression- Some researchers have found that observing violence leads to a greater likelihood of aggression on the part of the observer only if weapons of aggression are easily available.
- Personality factors- Some people are naturally hot tempered. Or have such personality factors, which make them more prone to aggression.
- Cultural factors- The culture in which one grows up can teach its members to be aggressive or not by encouraging and praising aggressive behavior or discouraging and criticizing such behavior.
Strategies for peace
- Parents and teachers should be especially careful not to encourage or reward aggression in any form.
- Opportunities to observe and imitate the behavior of aggressive models should be reduced drastically.
- Poverty and social injustice may be a prominent cause of aggression because of frustration. Social justice and equality may help to reduce aggression and frustration.
- It is important to inculcate a positive attitude towards peace at the level of community or society.
- The most prominent example of peace was given by Mahatma Gandhi through non violence in India. He called it an active force of the highest order.
- Mahatma Gandhi called for Satyagraha (path of truth) and Ahimsa (non-violence) for restoring peace.
Health
- The definition of health provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) includes biological, psychological and social aspects of Health.
- One may be suffering from a physically disabling disease, but may be quite healthy, otherwise, for example, Stephen Hawking.
- Culture creates differences in the notion of Health. There are traditional cultures like Chinese, Indian and Latin American who hold the view that good health results from the harmonious balance of various elements in the body. On the contrary, western cultures view health as a result of a fully functioning machine, which has no blockage.
- The World Health reports by the World Health Organization, show that in developing countries like Asia, Africa and Latin America, more people die due to communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, respiratory infections and nutritional deficiencies.In the developed countries, the leading causes are various cardiovascular diseases, cancers and psychiatric disorders.These differences arise due to economically and socially structured settings of Culture.
Factors contributing to health
- Cognitions- The variations in seeking help are due to differences in mental representations, people make related to diseases. The level of awareness or information about disease and belief about how it is caused and possible ways of relieving the distress cause changes in cognitions.
- Behaviour- There is strong evidence that behaviors we engage in or our lifestyles influence our health. For example, substance abuse.A new discipline called behavior medicine has emerged, which seeks to alleviate distress due to diseases through modification in behavior.
- Social and cultural factors- Social and cultural differences may influence our physiological responses.For example, The status of women in health and medical advice.In India, due to their less valued discrimination.
Impact of television on behaviour
- Television has both positive and negative effects on behavior.
- Researchers suggest that television provides a large amount of infotainment in an attractive form and in the visual mode for which it became a powerful medium of instruction.
- Children spend huge amounts of time watching them.This reduces their habit of reading and writing and playing outdoor games.
- Watching television may have an effect on children's ability to concentrate on one target, their creativity and ability to understand.
- On one hand, there are excellent programs that emphasize positive interpersonal attitudes and provide factual information.On the other hand, there are programs that distract young viewers and interfere with their ability to concentrate.
- About 40 years ago, a serious debate was raised in the USA. And Canada regarding the effect of television viewing on aggressiveness and violence among the viewers, especially children. Television violence is indeed linked to greater aggressiveness.
- There is another phenomenon, which is called Catharsis.It shows that watching violence may actually reduce the natural aggressive tendency of the viewers. What is bottled up gets an outlet and thus cleans the system like a choked drain pipe being cleaned.
- A consumerist attitude has developed in others, and children due to television watching.
- There is evidence to pose a warning to unlimited television watching.
Chapter 8: Psychology and Life
Part 5: Aggression, Violence and Peace and Health
Aggression and Violence
- Aggression is referred to any behavior by one person that is intended to cause harm to another person. It can be demonstrated in actual action or through the use of hard words or criticism.
- Violence is forceful destructive behavior towards another person or object.
- Aggressive behavior involves the intention to harm or injure another person, whereas violence may or may not involve such an intention.
- Instrumental aggression is the act of aggression that is meant to obtain a certain goal or object.
- Hostile aggression is shown as an expression of anger towards the target with the intention of harming them even if the aggressor does not wish to obtain anything from the victim.
Causes of aggression
- Inborn tendency- Aggressiveness is an inborn tendency among human beings. Biologically this is meant for Self Defence.
- Physiological mechanisms- Aggression could also be indirectly triggered by physiological mechanisms like activation of the brain.
- Child-rearing- The way an individual is brought up often influences their aggressiveness.
- Frustration- Aggression is an expression and consequence of frustration that is an emotional state that arises when a person is prevented from reaching a goal or attaining an object that they want.
Frustration-aggression theory
a) The frustration aggression theory was proposed by American psychologist John Dollard, along with his collaborators.
b) This theory proposes that it is the frustration that leads to aggression.
c) Frustrated people are more likely to show aggression, especially towards a weaker person who is unlikely to react to aggression. This is called displacement.
d) Being frustrated does not necessarily make a person aggressive.
e) Many other situational factors may lead to aggression, which are described as follows:
- Learning- Learning of aggression can take place in more than one mode. Learning could happen through reinforcement or modeling.
- Observing an aggressive model- Albert Bandura conducted various studies which show the role of modeling in learning aggression.
- Anger provoking actions by others- Provoking the person and making them angry was one way of inducing frustration.
- Availability of weapons of aggression- Some researchers have found that observing violence leads to a greater likelihood of aggression on the part of the observer only if weapons of aggression are easily available.
- Personality factors- Some people are naturally hot tempered. Or have such personality factors, which make them more prone to aggression.
- Cultural factors- The culture in which one grows up can teach its members to be aggressive or not by encouraging and praising aggressive behavior or discouraging and criticizing such behavior.
Strategies for peace
- Parents and teachers should be especially careful not to encourage or reward aggression in any form.
- Opportunities to observe and imitate the behavior of aggressive models should be reduced drastically.
- Poverty and social injustice may be a prominent cause of aggression because of frustration. Social justice and equality may help to reduce aggression and frustration.
- It is important to inculcate a positive attitude towards peace at the level of community or society.
- The most prominent example of peace was given by Mahatma Gandhi through non violence in India. He called it an active force of the highest order.
- Mahatma Gandhi called for Satyagraha (path of truth) and Ahimsa (non-violence) for restoring peace.
Health
- The definition of health provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) includes biological, psychological and social aspects of Health.
- One may be suffering from a physically disabling disease, but may be quite healthy, otherwise, for example, Stephen Hawking.
- Culture creates differences in the notion of Health. There are traditional cultures like Chinese, Indian and Latin American who hold the view that good health results from the harmonious balance of various elements in the body. On the contrary, western cultures view health as a result of a fully functioning machine, which has no blockage.
- The World Health reports by the World Health Organization, show that in developing countries like Asia, Africa and Latin America, more people die due to communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, respiratory infections and nutritional deficiencies.In the developed countries, the leading causes are various cardiovascular diseases, cancers and psychiatric disorders.These differences arise due to economically and socially structured settings of Culture.
Factors contributing to health
- Cognitions- The variations in seeking help are due to differences in mental representations, people make related to diseases. The level of awareness or information about disease and belief about how it is caused and possible ways of relieving the distress cause changes in cognitions.
- Behaviour- There is strong evidence that behaviors we engage in or our lifestyles influence our health. For example, substance abuse.A new discipline called behavior medicine has emerged, which seeks to alleviate distress due to diseases through modification in behavior.
- Social and cultural factors- Social and cultural differences may influence our physiological responses.For example, The status of women in health and medical advice.In India, due to their less valued discrimination.
Impact of television on behaviour
- Television has both positive and negative effects on behavior.
- Researchers suggest that television provides a large amount of infotainment in an attractive form and in the visual mode for which it became a powerful medium of instruction.
- Children spend huge amounts of time watching them.This reduces their habit of reading and writing and playing outdoor games.
- Watching television may have an effect on children's ability to concentrate on one target, their creativity and ability to understand.
- On one hand, there are excellent programs that emphasize positive interpersonal attitudes and provide factual information.On the other hand, there are programs that distract young viewers and interfere with their ability to concentrate.
- About 40 years ago, a serious debate was raised in the USA. And Canada regarding the effect of television viewing on aggressiveness and violence among the viewers, especially children. Television violence is indeed linked to greater aggressiveness.
- There is another phenomenon, which is called Catharsis.It shows that watching violence may actually reduce the natural aggressive tendency of the viewers. What is bottled up gets an outlet and thus cleans the system like a choked drain pipe being cleaned.
- A consumerist attitude has developed in others, and children due to television watching.
- There is evidence to pose a warning to unlimited television watching.
