Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis
The frustration-aggression hypothesis states that experiencing frustration increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior .
It assumes that frustration can (not necessarily) be followed by aggression. In other words: a failure of wish can be followed by a resentment , a verbal or physical attack. The strength of the aggression is usually proportional to the strength of the frustration. This increases the closer the goal is and the greater the expected feeling of happiness. The frustration - and with it the subsequent aggression - is weakened if the culprit is large and strong or if the frustration happened unintentionally.
Classic experiment by Barker, Dembo and Lewin
In 1941 Roger Barker, Tamara Dembo and Kurt Lewin carried out the following experiment: Children were led into a room full of attractive toys. The control group was allowed to play with it immediately, the experimental group was initially prevented from doing so by a wire mesh. These children could see the toy, but only play with it after a long wait. Many of these children destroyed the toy, threw it against the wall, trampled it, etc.
On the frustration-aggression hypothesis by Dollard and Miller
This thesis by John S. Dollard (1900–1980) and Neal E. Miller emphasizes that aggression generally occurs as a consequence of frustration. The level of aggression depends on it
- the degree of susceptibility to frustration reactions
- the degree of obstruction to a reaction
- on the number of frustrating reactions
- on the number of non-aggressive responses deleted
The need for theoretical clarification of the terms “aggression” and “frustration”, the lack of consideration of the various forms of frustration and, in particular, the fact that aggression can be explained more clearly through reinforcement learning than through frustration, should be viewed critically .
Miller later expanded the frustration-aggression hypothesis to include the term aggression shift, which describes a shift in the aggression goal after the original aggression has been inhibited.
According to the current state of research in psychology, there is no inevitable connection between frustration and aggression. It is possible that frustrations lead to behavior other than aggression.
On the frustration regression hypothesis of Barker et al
This hypothesis focuses on regression as the central frustrating effect . H. Ontogenetically earlier, “immature” stages, which are characterized as more infantile patterns of thinking, feeling and behavior and are associated with a higher degree of feeling of security.
The degree of constructiveness of children's play behavior decreases z. B. after withdrawal of attractive toys significantly. The behavior shows qualitative characteristics of earlier development phases of the children.
Here, too, criticism comes from the learning theory side, particularly through studies of instrumental reinforcement of regressive behavior.
On Maier's frustration fixation hypothesis
According to this hypothesis, the behaviors that occur under conditions of frustration are fixed or retained when they have become meaningless. It was established through rat experiments with unsolvable situations. The fixation behavior is understood by Wolpe as a learned fear-reducing reaction.
In more recent studies, the consequences of frustration are understood as the product of selective affirmations (Adelman et al.): The reaction that releases the organism from the frustrating situation is intensified.
On the frustration fixation hypothesis of Berkowitz (1974)
Leonard Berkowitz differentiates between instrumental and impulsive aggression. His further development of the frustration-aggression hypothesis is a cognitive-neo-associationist approach. He makes the following modifying assumptions:
- Frustration does not immediately lead to a need to harm another organism, but this process is mediated by the emotional state of anger.
- In addition to frustration, other forms of aversive stimulation can also trigger negative effects and thus aggression.
- The appearance of negative affects and the willingness to take aggressive action occur in parallel, not sequentially.
On the controversy between the hypotheses
The controversy between, on the one hand, the hypotheses that emphasize aggression, regression and fixation as consequences of frustration, and, on the other hand, learning-theoretical assumptions has not yet been decided. This applies in particular to the transfer of these primarily human psychological approaches to the behavior of animals, i.e. to behavioral observations.
Critics of the frustration-aggression hypothesis may indicate a. point out that the attribution of causality ( phenomenal causality ) also plays a role here. Usually, and not always, frustration leads to aggression only if its origin is attributed to another person rather than one's own person or impersonal causes.
Criticism of the thesis
The frustration-aggression theory, according to which aggression is always a result of frustration, as formulated above, is an outdated thesis. "This very apodictic statement had a great influence on aggression research, but it could not be sustained in this way. Frustration is not necessarily followed by aggression, and aggression is not always the result of frustration (frustration tolerance), so Miller made two hypotheses Further developed years later: Although every frustration is an incentive for aggression, some frustrations are too easy to trigger aggressive behavior. Since the aggression instinct increases with persistent frustration, if the possibility of rejection is thwarted, there is still a reference to analytical behavior Perspective, however, the cause of aggressive behavior is no longer to be seen in internal factors (aggression instinct), but rather in sufficiently strong or repeated frustrations as external experiences - based on the social learning theory of Bandura, which assumes that aggression, like everyone else at the en complex behavior is also learned. "
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ E. Aronson , TD Wilson, RM Akert: Social Psychology . Pearson study. 6th edition 2008. ISBN 978-3-8273-7359-5 , p. 392
- ^ E. Aronson, TD Wilson, RM Akert: Social Psychology . Pearson study. 6th edition 2008. ISBN 978-3-8273-7359-5 , p. 393
- ^ Roger Barker, Tamara Dembo, and Kurt Lewin (1941): Frustration and Regression. An Experiment with Young Children , Studies in Topological and Vector Psychology II, University of Iowa Press, Iowa 1941, pp. 216-219
- ↑ John Dollard et al. (1939): Frustration and Aggression . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
- ^ Fritz Heider : Social perception and phenomenal causality. In: Martin Irle (ed.), Together with Mario von Cranach and Hermann Vetter: Texts from experimental social psychology. Luchterhand: 1969. p. 43
- ↑ Lexicon of Psychology. Heidelberg 2000 http://www.spektrum.de/lexikon/psychologie/frustrations-aggressions-theorie/5365