Aggression has emerged as a social and public health issue that calls for advanced understanding, as well as the adoption of appropriate interventions. Its contemporary prominence has attracted an immense focus from social scientists and clinical experts. In explaining what aggression entails, the concerned groups have advanced diverse perspectives; on the one hand, theorists have always sought to explain why individuals express aggressive behavior as part of their core personality traits. On the other hand, biologists have been investigating possible neural basis of aggression, arguing that aggressive behavior is innate; whereas a majority of psychologists hold that aggression attitudes are a product of social and environmental interactions. Based on these diverse perspectives, an unprecedented debate, the nature versus nurture controversy, has emerged to explain the causes of aggression. Surprisingly, clear disagreements over the origin of aggression exist among psychologists. Some have upheld the tenets of psychodynamic approach to describe human aggressive behavior as an instinctive construct hence innate, whereas cognitive theorists hold that aggression is learnt. Despite the lack of consensus on the basis of human aggression, it is explicit that this behavior bears undesirable consequences. Of great concern is bullying, an aspect that has become a serious social problem among the global community, and which will be interrogated in depth in this discussion. According to Swearer, Wang, Berry and Myers, bullying has emerged as a disastrous social relationship problem. In theory, bullying can be described as a form of aggression that is characterized by a systematic and repeated abuse of power. Over the past few decades, bullying has been blamed for an increase in suicidal cases and delinquency, especially among the youth. In summary, this paper focuses on discussing the social psychological basis of bullying behavior in a manner that is consistent with the principles of aggression theories.
At a glance
- Grade: 1.0 (1.0 is the best grade)
- Examines Huesmann et al.’s 15-year follow-up study of violence exposure and aggression
- Examines Baldry’s study of 1,059 Italian elementary and middle school pupils
- 10 sources in the bibliography
Contents
1. Aggression and the Problem of Bullying
2. Bullying and Its Consequences
3. Violence Exposure and Aggressive Behavior
4. Domestic Violence and School Bullying
5. Conclusion
Objectives and Themes
This work examines the social psychological basis of bullying through theories of aggression, asking how exposure to violence and observational learning may contribute to aggressive behavior. It discusses competing accounts of aggression and evaluates research on media violence and domestic violence.
- Nature and nurture in explanations of aggression
- Bullying as a social and public health concern
- Media violence and aggression across development
- Domestic violence and bullying among schoolchildren
- Social learning theory and observational learning
- Strengths and limitations of selected studies
Excerpt from the Book
Principles of Aggression Theories and the Underlying Cause of Bullying Behavior
In order to investigate the relationship between exposure to violence and the development of aggressive behavior, Huesmann et al. (2003) carried out a 15 years follow-up study. This study sought to investigate how exposure to violence in childhood may contribute to expression of aggressive behavior during adulthood. They examined the longitudinal correlation between TV-violence viewing at tender ages and aggression behavior in later stages of development. Therefore, this study comprised of a cohort group that was growing up over the study period of 15 years. Additionally, sample for this study comprised of both boys and girls, unlike previous studies that had demonstrated TV-violence viewing as an underlying cause of childhood aggression. According to the results of this study, it became apparent that exposure to media violence among children was correlated with aggressive behavior in young adulthood. In this case, both males and females showed significant correlations of these parameters. As such, findings of this study refuted suggestions by previous studies that showed significant correlations between exposure to media violence and aggression as a phenomenon that exists in boys only to be false. In this study, both interview data (N=329) and archival data (N=450) showed that exposure to media violence during childhood was correlated to the expression of aggressive behavior in young adults. This relationship was found to exist even in the absence of other social factors that are linked to aggressive behavior, including parenting, intellectual ability, and socioeconomic status. Therefore, this study can be considered as a landmark one in investigating the cause of aggression; demonstrating the relevance of social learning theory in explaining human aggressive behavior. In particular, observational learning explains why bullying occurs. From a critical perspective, therefore, there is the likelihood that exposure to violence plays a significant role in the development of aggressive behavior.
The study above appears to reflect validity in measuring study variables. First, it was a controlled cohort study that investigated the behavior of the group over 15 years. The cohort comprised of members of the same age group; thus, reflecting homogeneity in social parameters of the study population. One of the key strengths of this study was that it was longitudinal in nature. As such, it was possible to infer a temporal relationship between exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior.
Section Summaries
Aggression and the Problem of Bullying: The work introduces contrasting perspectives on the origins of aggression and identifies bullying as a repeated abuse of power.
Bullying and Its Consequences: Reported cases illustrate the effects of bullying and the attention it has attracted from communities and policymakers.
Violence Exposure and Aggressive Behavior: The discussion examines a longitudinal study of childhood exposure to television violence, considering its design and limitations.
Domestic Violence and School Bullying: A cross-sectional study of Italian schoolchildren is discussed in relation to interparental violence, bullying and observational learning.
Conclusion: The author favors a social learning explanation of bullying while acknowledging that biological factors can also contribute to aggressive behavior.
Keywords
aggression, bullying, social psychology, social learning theory, observational learning, media violence, domestic violence, school bullying, victimization, longitudinal research, cross-sectional research, nature versus nurture
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this work about?
It discusses bullying as a form of aggression and examines possible social psychological explanations for it.
What are its central themes?
The central themes include theories of aggression, exposure to violence, observational learning, school bullying and the consequences of victimization.
What is the main objective?
The objective is to discuss the social psychological basis of bullying in relation to principles of aggression theories.
What research method does the author use?
The author discusses and critically evaluates published research, including a longitudinal study and a cross-sectional study. The work does not present a new survey or experiment conducted by the author.
What does the main discussion cover?
It considers reported bullying cases and examines research on media violence, domestic violence and aggressive behavior.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include aggression, bullying, social learning theory, observational learning, media violence and domestic violence.
How is the study by Huesmann and colleagues used?
The author examines its longitudinal approach to childhood television violence exposure and later aggression, as well as its strengths and limitations.
What role does Baldry’s study play in the discussion?
It provides a basis for discussing school bullying in relation to exposure to interparental violence and the limitations of self-reported data.
- Quote paper
- Patrick Kimuyu (Author), 2018, Principles of Aggression Theories and the Underlying Cause of Bullying Behavior, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/421307
