Aggression Is It ‘Nature’ or ‘Nurture’ - 2434 Words

Aggression is it ‘Nature’ or ‘Nurture’ During our lifetime every one of us feels anger and aggression occasionally, some more than others, maybe as a child in the play ground or later as an adult when somebody cuts you up when you are driving along. But what causes anger and aggression and why do we all suffer from it? Well there are lots of different theories to what causes aggression and where aggressive behaviour comes from. So throughout this essay I will examine the different concepts and theories from different psychologist and develop and show an understanding of Aggression Aggression is defined as behaviour directed towards another living being with the intent of harming or injuring them in someway, and can be defined as either†¦show more content†¦Males will either fight the current alpha male for the role of leadership or submit to him and become a follower of that gang and follows the orders of the alpha male (gang leader) for fear of reprisals. Humans are likely to develop similar behaviour patterns to that of other animals, Lorenz listed the four main drives which are what makes us do what we do and these are: (hunger, reproduction, fear, and aggression). McIlveen, Gross (1998, pp124) Hogg, Vaughan (2002, pp449) The trouble with these two theories is that they are both very hard to prove through research, for example Freud’s theory is difficult to test empirically. As Mummendey (1996) has quoted ‘the essential concepts such as that of destructive energy are so global and inexact that one can derive no precise predictions or hypotheses that can then be tested. The psychoanalytic approach is really only able to attempt an explanation of events or behaviour that have already taken place’. McIlveen, Gross. (1998, pp125) Anthropologist John Dollard and his psychologist colleagues Doob, Miller, Mowrer and Sears believed the Frustration and Aggression hypothesis and according to Dollard et al. ‘aggression is always a consequence of frustration and, contrariwise†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ the existence of frustration always leads to some form or aggression’. He believed there was a link between frustration and anger. Frustration or some kind of frustrating situation or event always leads to anger and anger is alwaysShow MoreRelated The Nature of Aggression (or is it Nurture?) Essay1462 Words   |  6 PagesThe Nature of Aggression (or is it Nurture?) Every night on the news there are reports about murders, wars, and rapes. But the news isnt the only place where people encounter violent or aggressive behavior. Driving home from work, people get cut off and cussed at on a daily basis. At school, children fight over who will be the first in the lunch line. 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