The concept of human behavior has formed the lacuna of many critical debates as well as studies since the traditional times. More important than concept of behavior are the factors which affect the behavior of the human beings and also the reasons why the human beings react to certain events or incidents for that matter in certain particular ways (Li et al., 2016). In this particular context it needs to be said that aggression is one of the most commonly witnessed behavioral traits of the human beings and it is generally seen that in almost all the human beings there is a tendency towards the use of this particular behavioral traits in dominant or suppressive form (Overall et al., 2016). In the recent times it is seen that various psychologists as well as scholars have tried to explain the aggressive behavior of the human beings on the basis of various kinds of hypotheses. One of the most important hypotheses on the basis of which the psychologists try to explain the aggressive behavior of the human beings are the situational causes which in their opinion are most likely to propel the human beings to aggressive kind of behaviors (Overall et al., 2016). This essay will try to analyze the extent to which situational causes propel the human beings to aggressive kind of behavior.
The 21st century researchers as well as psychologists have tried to pin down the aggressive behavior of the human to the various kinds of situational causes which propels them to various kinds of aggressive behaviors. However, scholars as early as in the 16th century like Thomas Hobbes have stated that the human beings by their very nature are evil and that the various refineries of the society help the human beings to keep the aggressive traits of these human beings in check (Kovácsová, Lajunen & Rošková, 2016). Jean-Jacques Rousseau, on the other hand, had a milder view of the nature of the human beings and stated that the human beings by their very nature are meek and mild and it is only the injustices and also the nature of the society which tries to curb down the liberties and other natural rights of the human beings which compels them to resort to various kinds of aggressive behaviors (Kovácsová, Lajunen & Rošková, 2016). However, the major change in this debate with the articulation of Sigmund Freud of the concept that human beings just the “life instinct” which they posses they also have a “death instinct” and it is this particular instinct of the human beings that propels them to various kinds of aggressive behaviors as was evident during the First World War (Kovácsová, Lajunen & Rošková, 2016).
A detailed analysis of the factors which contributes to the aggressive behavior on the part of the human beings becomes especially important in the light of the terrorist activities that are plaguing the world at the current moment. The most important hypothesis which tries to interpret the aggressive behavior on the part of the human beings is the situational causes. Some of the most important situational causes which beget these kinds of behavior on the part of the human beings are the deprivation of liberty, autonomy, goods, heterosexual relationships, security, the right to live their lives on their own terms and others (Wyer Jr, 2014). For example, the scholar Sykes has famously defined the situational causes which propel the human beings to various kinds of aggressive behavior are the various kinds of environmental deprivations (Wyer Jr, 2014). The comment made by Jean-Jacques Rousseau during the eve of the French Revolution is important to note in this particular context when he said that “Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains” (Kovácsová, Lajunen & Rošková, 2016). Thus, it would be apt to say that the deprivation of some of the most important fundamental as well as basic rights is one of the major causes for the demonstration of the aggressive behavior on the part of the human beings.
The modern world it is true not only provides better quality of financial opportunities and has at the same time much improved the standard on life of the human beings. However, one of the banes of the modern civilization is the fact that it deprives the human beings of some of most basic rights and utilizes them for furthering the interests of the society (Greitemeyer & Sagioglou, 2016). The most pertinent example of this particular aspect finds expression in the works of Jacques Lacan wherein he states that the modern society suppresses the free will of the individuals and uses the same to further the interests of the capitalist society (Greitemeyer & Sagioglou, 2016). It is a reflection of this particular aspect that a close analysis of the major terrorists of the world would reveal the fact that the most of them have been the victims of the evil machinery of society and also that they have been the victims of society. Furthermore, another important factor which can explain the correlation between situational causes and aggressive behavior on the part of the human beings is the behavioral aspect and also the inherent desire of the human beings to resort to aggressive actions (Anderson & Bushman, 2002). A pertinent example of this particular fact was the results which were derived by Bandura and his colleagues in the 1960s after the “The Bobo Doll Studies” which were conducted by them on a group of 72 children of both the sexes (Bandura, 1978). The results of the studies conducted by Bandura and his colleagues clearly indicated that violence begets violence and that the people who have witnessed aggressive behaviour are more likely to resort to it than others and also the fact that gender plays a significant part in the process (Bandura, 1978). For example, boys are more likely to adopt aggressive behaviour towards other boys rather than girls and vice versa.
In the recent times, psychologists as well as scholars use various kinds of theories to explain the correlation between the aggressive behaviour on the part of the human beings and the situational causes. For example, the “Cognitive Neoassociation Theory” of Berkowitz (1989, 1990, 1993) have showed that there is a direct correlation between the various kinds of situational causes like “frustrations, provocations, loud noises, uncomfortable temperatures, and unpleasant odor” and others and the aggressive behavior of the human beings (Caspi, 2015). Berkowitz was of the opinion that the individuals generally consider these situational causes to be unjust events which the modern society has inflicted and it directly affects the cognition of the individuals as well (Caspi, 2015). The net result is that the concerned individual comes to the conclusion that the violent or aggressive behavior which he or she is adopting towards the other individuals is totally justified on the score of the injustices which has been meted out to them (Caspi, 2015). The “Social Learning Theory”, on the other hand, emphasis on the role of the society as well as the individuals who are a part of the society for the aggressive actions of the human beings (Rajchert, Konopka & Huesmann, 2017). The theory states that the human beings acquire the trait of aggression from the society to which they belong in the same manner in which they acquire the other important traits of their character (Rajchert, Konopka & Huesmann, 2017). Thus, it would be apt to say that the learning ability as well as the social behavior of not only the individuals but of the society as a whole is responsible for the aggressive actions of the human beings. The “Script Theory” of Huesmann (1986, 1998) is another important theory which tries to explain the aggressive behavior of the human beings (Breuer, Scharkow & Quandt, 2015). The theory states that the human beings and more particularly the children learn various kinds of aggressive behavior from the diverse kinds of mass media. Thus, after watching a particular violent event over the mass media they try to recreate the same situation in their mind and come up with their own form of aggressive behavior for dealing with the situation (Predic & Stojanovic, 2015). These responses keep on accumulating in the mind of the concerned individual and get manifested in similar kinds of situations.
To conclude, aggression is one of the most manifested behavioural traits of the human beings and in most cases is generally seen as a character flaw. Psychologists as well as scholars have given various reasons as well as theories for the aggressive behaviour which the human beings often resort in their daily lives. One of the most important hypotheses is the correlation between the aggressive behaviour adopted by the human beings and the various situational causes. In the modern world, it is generally seen that the human beings are deprived of their fundamental as well as the basic rights and this causes a sense of resentment as well as a sense of injustice among the individuals. Thus, the various forms of aggressive behaviours adopted by the human beings can be seen as a response to these kinds of situational causes that deters them to lead their lives as per own wishes. Therefore, it would be apt to say that there is a direct correlation between the situational causes and the aggressive behaviour of the human beings.
References
Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2002). Human aggression. Annual review of psychology, 53.
Bandura, A. (1978). Social learning theory of aggression. Journal of communication, 28(3), 12-29.
Breuer, J., Scharkow, M., & Quandt, T. (2015). Sore losers? A reexamination of the frustration–aggression hypothesis for colocated video game play. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 4(2), 126.
Caspi, E. (2015). Aggressive behaviors between residents with dementia in an assisted living residence. Dementia, 14(4), 528-546.
Greitemeyer, T., & Sagioglou, C. (2016). Subjective socioeconomic status causes aggression: A test of the theory of social deprivation. Journal of personality and social psychology, 111(2), 178.
Kovácsová, N., Lajunen, T., & Rošková, E. (2016). Aggression on the road: Relationships between dysfunctional impulsivity, forgiveness, negative emotions, and aggressive driving. Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour, 42, 286-298.
Li, C., Sun, Y., Ho, M. Y., You, J., Shaver, P. R., & Wang, Z. (2016). State narcissism and aggression: The mediating roles of anger and hostile attributional bias. Aggressive behavior, 42(4), 333-345.
Møller, M., & Haustein, S. (2018). Road anger expression—Changes over time and attributed reasons. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 119, 29-36.
Overall, N. C., Hammond, M. D., McNulty, J. K., & Finkel, E. J. (2016). When power shapes interpersonal behavior: Low relationship power predicts men’s aggressive responses to low situational power. Journal of personality and social psychology, 111(2), 195.
Predic, B., & Stojanovic, D. (2015). Enhancing driver situational awareness through crowd intelligence. Expert Systems with Applications, 42(11), 4892-4909.
Rajchert, J., Konopka, K., & Huesmann, L. R. (2017). It is more than thought that counts: the role of readiness for aggression in the relationship between ostracism and displaced aggression. Current Psychology, 36(3), 417-427.
Wyer Jr, R. S. (2014). The Automaticity of Everyday Life: Advances in Social Cognition, Volume X. Psychology Press.
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