Aggression

Situational Factors

Four of the most heavily studied situational causes of aggression are when a person (1) is verbally or physically attacked, (2) perceives that he or she is being blocked from obtaining a goal and feels frustrated, (3) feels physically uncomfortable or in pain, and (4) is exposed to violent media. Insults and physical attacks from others are, of course, a main cause of retaliatory aggression. Research has clearly shown that situations that evoke frustration, such as when a person cannot solve a jigsaw puzzle or when the car in front of a person fails to move after the traffic light turns green, often result in increased aggression. Frustration effects on aggression are exacerbated when coupled with a provocation (e.g., an insult).

Similarly, uncomfortable environments, such as those that are hot, painful, or noisy or that cause sleep deprivation, also often result in enhanced irritability and aggression. For example, many archival studies of[Page 53] the relation between heat and violent crime (i.e., murder, rape, assault) have found that hot days, months, years, and locations are associated with higher violent crime rates than are comfortably cool days, months, years, and locations. Aggression is less likely to occur in uncomfortable situations if the individual thinks that he or she can control the cause of the discomfort. For example, when participants are given opportunities to turn off a loud noise, they act less aggressively than participants exposed to noise that they cannot turn off. Often, the aggression that results when a person is uncomfortable is impulsive; the person “lashes out” at another person without provocation.

Watching violent television and movies, playing violent video games, and listening to music with violent lyrics have all been shown to increase aggressive thoughts and feelings and sometimes result in aggressive behavior. Early research on media violence revealed significant positive correlations between watching violent television and aggressive behavior, but these findings were criticized because the correlational nature of the data did not allow for conclusions to be drawn about the causal role of violent television. That is, these studies found that people (mostly school-age children) who watched a lot of violent television were reported as acting more aggressively by peers, parents, teachers, and even the children themselves, than those who watched less or no violent television programs. However, the higher aggression in those who watched violent television could be explained by many other causes, such as that people with aggressive personalities tend to aggress more (and also tend to watch violent television).

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