Question:

“Aggression is often said to result from the interaction between biological and environmental factors.”

Critically evaluate this statement with support from psychological theory and research.

Word Count:1800

Points to base the essay on:

1. Is it innate or Learned?
2. Neuro/neural substrate (Biological factors)
3. Gender and cultural differences
4. The role of Media

Here are some points from the lecturer which should be taken into account when writing:

 1. Is it innate or learned?

• Are people born with it or is it something in their environment that influences them to be more aggressive.
• Aggression can be seen in overall different animal types and aggression can be seen in a lot of different cultures.
• We can see aggression in young children; around the age, 2/3 children can be seen to have a high level of aggression, but they mostly learn or are socialized to not show aggression, it is not an appropriate type of behavior.
• May lead to suggest that there might be some innateness related to aggression- there might be some biological route to aggression but there are certainly environmental factors that research suggests which play a role in terms of what makes people aggressive.
• Things like a family environment, social environment, etc.

2. Neural Substrates e.g. :

Look at lecture slides attached to get a general idea-

Neurotransmitters like serotonin, prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and how they have been associated with aggression.

3. Cultural and gender differences in terms of aggression

E.g. males tend to show more overt physical aggression than females.

Also, females can show other types of aggression

Males and females are socialized different for example.

4. Role of the media

Violent TV, violent video games, violent pornography, are all found to be associated with aggressive behavior.

The idea is that it increases the propensity for aggression across individuals who already have a high level of engaging in aggressive behavior.

Generally, a steady diet of violent media can increase aggression across all individuals but has a particularly significant effect on individuals who already have that propensity for aggression

This is a good example of where we see the interaction between environmental factors and biological factors. So an individual might already have some biological factors of aggression and then they watch media which is an environmental factor which in turn increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior.

5. Finally:

• Ensure you are supporting your arguments with reference to Psychological research and theory where appropriate.
• Support arguments with support from theory Nb*
• Show evidence of your reading- appropriate citations and references
• Show a strong understanding of the research
• integration of the research findings with the current topic
• seminal to current research
• avoid too much description of the methodology.
• Show critical evaluation
• Be very cautious of plagiarism
• When using online sources make sure they are reputable eg. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology.
• Use minimal references to lecture slides – look for the original sources