Social Aggression : Interpersonal Relationships, Social Goals, And Self Image

Many studies show that children are more prone to violence due to a child’s undeveloped brain. “Children who are regularly exposed to more violent media have an increased probability of behaving more aggressively in real life (Anderson).” Furthermore, children nowadays are exposed to excessive amounts of violence in media, increasing their risks of violence when older (Anderson). Anderson explains, children are likely to become “emotionally desensitized to the violence” being portrayed. Negative actions may happen without concern or acknowledgement that something is wrong (Anderson). According to Anderson, young children will be meaner and more aggressive. The more contact with media violence a child gets, the more likely they are to be aggressive, as he or she gets older

Comstock, G. (2008). A Sociological Perspective on Television Violence and Aggression. American Behavioral Scientist, 51(8), 1184-1211. doi:10.1177/0002764207312009

Relational aggression’s importance can be shown in a study done by McQuade, Achufusi, Shoulberg, and Murray‐Close (2014) that discusses the role of peer status and popularity

One theory that prompted research on how boys and girls differ in the expression of aggression was that boys are more aggressive than girls’ theory. Several researchers in the past suggest that boys act in aggressive way within the peer group context for physical dominance (Crick, gropeter 2012). The idea was the exploratory examination of gender differences in patterns of association between physical aggression and the social interaction revealed that the relationships were only true for boys. In other word,

In this article, PhD. Brad J. Bushman and PhD. L. Rowell Huesmann have tested the results of the accumulated studies on media violence and its impact on children and adults. Those tests showed positive connection among violence in the media and short-term and long-term aggressive acts. As I have explained in my argument, human have an innate tendency to imitate their social learning. Children who observe a specific aggressive behavior are more likely to perform the same aggressive behavior immediately.

Relational aggression can’t be full responsibility of the schools it’s also important for the parents to know that being a good role model often affect a lot of the teen girl’s actions, for example if a parent usually gossips about another parent the teen girl may think that her parent’s actions are okay and that child will do as seen. A parent in a teenager’s life plays a big role because I believe that as a parent, you need to teach your child to be a leader not a follower, and that is very important in relational aggression due to the child having to stand against it instead of joining or being a bystander.

For a child, almost any type of conflict, such as a heated discussion on a radio talk show or between two experts during a newscast, may seem as aggressive as two comic book characters throwing anvils. As of yet, we do not have a clear explanation of what causes violence and aggression in our youth, whether we analyze media content or explore the everyday aggressive behavior that may cause violent behavior, Individual studies define these notions in a lot of different ways; Thus, the rules of the game are constantly changing for those who try to analyze the situation as a whole. The difficulty in quantifying aggression and violence in ways that make it almost impossible to answer the following question: "Does violence in the media cause people to commit acts of violence? "

Other related theories, such as the Social Learning theory (Bandura, 1977), states that people gain aggressive behaviour by either direct experience or by observation. The Script theory by Huesmann (1994) is similar to the Social Learning theory, however it assumes that children learn aggressive ‘scripts’ or behaviour by observing violence in the mass media and video games. Scripts are unconsciously learned and re-enacted in similar situations (Huesmann, 1994).

"These boys may internalize the idea that aggression, popularity and control naturally go together, and they may not hesitate to use physical aggression as a social strategy because it has always worked," Rodkin said. "But there will come a point in these boys' lives when this turns from an adaptive and fun to a lonely and potentially dangerous characteristic."

These results correlate highly with the social learning theory on aggressive behavior. Those exposed to substantial violence and aggression were likely to imitate it later on in life. However, while an observational study can elicit enlightening results, they do not provide much on practical, empirical evidence. What the researchers did was observe behavior exhibited by the individuals they studied; they did not control the amount of violence the individuals were being exposed nor were they preventing others from being exposed to such programming. Thus, this study can not be deemed as an “experiment”. While they tried eliminating the lurking variables that may plague the results of their findings, it would be impossible to eliminate every possible influence other than the television exposure through an observational study.

As Humans, we use the word aggression in our day to day conversation to characterize our behavior and perhaps behaviors of others. We conclude that people are aggressive if they scream at or hit another individual, however, other harmful acts such as the killing of enemy soldiers during the war might be regarded as an aggressive act by everyone. Social psychologists have spent lots of time trying to determine what should be considered aggression and reasons why individuals exhibit aggressive behaviors towards other. Hence, for many decades social psychologists have carried out various psychological research on aggression and new evidence has emerged on the problems that researchers are exploring the fundamental construct of aggression for a long time continue to experience, raising new questions and posing new perspectives about aggressive behaviors.

Some may perceive aggression as unhealthy and anti social but managed in a positive way can be empowering and enabling to individuals, groups and society as a whole.

Relational aggression (RA) is defined as nonphysical behaviors that aim to deliberately cause harm to another individual by destroying relationships, harming social status or self-esteem, or public embarrassment (Crick, Werner, Casas, O’Brien, Nelson, Grotpeter, & Markon, 1999). Examples include behaviors such as purposely ignoring a peer, spreading rumors, creating undesirable gossip, and excluding a peer from group activities, (Crick, 1996; Crick & Grotpeter, 1995; Crick, Ostrov, & Werner, 2006). RA can occur as early as preschool years, and plays a huge role in the interactions among this population with behaviors such as covering one’s ears as a sign of ignoring another peer (Bonica, Arnold, Fisher, Zeljo, & Yershova, 2003; Crick et al.,

A range of studies assert that causes of violent behavior are complex at the level of environmental influence and compare other learning, modelling and disinhibiting factors. This is an area where opposition to the hypothesis is more common. Two longitudinal studies assessing levels of violence pre-and post the introduction of television found a positive correlation, however

          Due to violence on television, children become less sensitive to that pain and suffering of others or to become more aggressive to others. It also makes children more fearful to the world around them. (Abelard 1) Viewing habits of children observed for many decades deduced that violence on TV is associated with aggressive behavior, more than poverty, race, or parental behavior. It also reported that a TV show contains about 20 acts of violence an hour.