Analyzing Human Aggression: Causes and Influences

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the study of human aggression and its causes (Anderson & Bushman 2002). Aggression is one of the many factors that affect the way humans interact with others (Anderson & Bushman 2002). While different levels of aggression can influence people’s behavior towards peers, these different levels of aggression can be influenced by many factors including violent stimuli (Eron et al., 1972). Knowing what causes a person to act aggressively can help keep unnecessary aggressive behaviors under control. A person, regardless of gender, is more likely to act aggressively after being presented with a violent stimulus (Bandura et al., 1961). While aggression levels tend to be higher if a person enjoys aggressive stimuli—violent television, for example-- males have shown slightly higher levels of aggression than females overall (Eron et al., 1972; Bandura et al., 1961)

In a study examining the relationship between

During the game, participants will be observed for aggressive behavior by five raters. At the end of the game, each rater will score up the amount of aggressive behaviors displayed by each participant which will be added together to create a group average for each condition. At the end of the game each participant will complete the aggression questionnaire. The participants will rate how likely they are to perform the aggressive behavior described on a scale of (1) to (5). Those scores will be averaged to obtain a group score. Scores above (3) will be considered aggressive responses. Scores below (3) will be considered non-aggressive responses. The average of the rater will be added to the participant 's score to get an average aggression score for each participant. The difference of means between the individual groups will be assessed for statistical