Aggreession as a Learnt Behaviour
Are humans innately aggressive or do we learn to be aggressive?
From time in memorial, there has always been conflict. As the world developed so did the scale of these conflicts. This hunger for violence and aggression has been questioned by many psychologists and as a result led to one of the more important questions of nature versus nurture. On the one hand some have argued that aggression is innate and on the other hand, it has been argued that aggression is a learned behavior and that our social environment influences us to be aggressive. In trying to answer the question of whether humans are innately aggressive this essay will look at theories that favor the nature argument and include ethology, evolutionary social psychology, psychodynamic theory and Freud’s theory of aggression. This paper will also evaluate the theories that support the idea of aggression being a learned phenomenon. That is the social learning theory. Before we proceed however, it is essential that we fully understand what is meant by the term aggression.
James Davies (Davies, 1970, p. 613) states that “aggressiveness implies a predisposition, an attitude of mind, an underlying characteristic whose likely product is a tendency for violent action, injury or damage”. Whereas Eron’s definition due to the difficulty of measuring intent restricts it to merely an act that injures or irritates another person. Citation. It has been observed that the definitions are linked to the theoretical position that one takes, so for instance theorists like Eron who believe aggression is a learned behaviour define it as an action. Whereas the theorists who believe in aggression as an inborn trait define aggression as an instinct. However, all theories of aggression do have one thing in common in that there is some form of injury as a result of aggression. One of the forerunners of aggression being an instinct was Sigmund Freud.
Freud argued that Thanatos, the death instinct that we are born with was
From time in memorial, there has always been conflict. As the world developed so did the scale of these conflicts. This hunger for violence and aggression has been questioned by many psychologists and as a result led to one of the more important questions of nature versus nurture. On the one hand some have argued that aggression is innate and on the other hand, it has been argued that aggression is a learned behavior and that our social environment influences us to be aggressive. In trying to answer the question of whether humans are innately aggressive this essay will look at theories that favor the nature argument and include ethology, evolutionary social psychology, psychodynamic theory and Freud’s theory of aggression. This paper will also evaluate the theories that support the idea of aggression being a learned phenomenon. That is the social learning theory. Before we proceed however, it is essential that we fully understand what is meant by the term aggression.
James Davies (Davies, 1970, p. 613) states that “aggressiveness implies a predisposition, an attitude of mind, an underlying characteristic whose likely product is a tendency for violent action, injury or damage”. Whereas Eron’s definition due to the difficulty of measuring intent restricts it to merely an act that injures or irritates another person. Citation. It has been observed that the definitions are linked to the theoretical position that one takes, so for instance theorists like Eron who believe aggression is a learned behaviour define it as an action. Whereas the theorists who believe in aggression as an inborn trait define aggression as an instinct. However, all theories of aggression do have one thing in common in that there is some form of injury as a result of aggression. One of the forerunners of aggression being an instinct was Sigmund Freud.
Freud argued that Thanatos, the death instinct that we are born with was
References: Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1963). Vicarious Reinforcement and Imitative Learning. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 67 (6), 601-607. Eron, L. D. (1987). The Development of Aggressive Behavior From the Perspective of a Developing Behaviourism. The American Psychologist , 42, 435-442. Davies, J. C. (1970). Violence and Aggression: Innate or Not? The Western Political Quarterly , 23, 611-623. Fraser, C., & Burchell, B. (2001). Introducing Social Psychology. Cambridge: Polity Press. Hogg, M. A., & Vaughan, G. M. (2011). Social Psychology. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Mitchell, P., & Ziegler, F. (2007). Fundamentals of Development :The Psychology of Childhod. Hove, East Sussex: Psychology Press.