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ABPsychologyIII

Aggression and Group Membership: A social Representations Approach to the study of Aggression By Joseph H. Puyat University of the Philippines, Diliman Philippine Journal of Psychology Vol.32 Nos.2(1999)34-52
Majority of social Psychological studies conducted on aggression focused on neurobiological and situational determinants of aggressive behavior. In many of these studies, however, cognitive processes were almost treated as an individual phenomenon; virtually immune to the influences of group membership. A different stance was taken in this study. Here, cognitive processes were presumed to be frequently subject to the influences of group shared knowledge structures. By studying the elements and structure of these hared cognitions, a better understanding of how individuals process information that influence their aggressive action would be gained. This exploratory study was carried out with this objective mind. Group based on gender and memberships in fraternities/sororities were used for comparison. To determine the elements of shared cognition, respondents were asked to write down everything that comes to their mind when they hear or see the word aggression. The data collected from this word association task were subjected to correspondence analysis to determine the elements were structured. Results reveled the respondents thoughts were organized using the individual- intergroup and abstract concrete dimensions. Other aspects of the representations, such as the centrality of intention, the instrumentality dimension, and anchoring in past experiences and value priorities were investigated using survey questionnaires. Result of the analyses indicated the most respondent tend to give less importance to intention as an essential element defining aggressive acts. The negative consequence of aggression in the form of emotional or physical harm appeared to be most salient to the majority of respondents. Men, in general, and fraternity members in particular, subscribed to a more instrumental representation of aggression. This orientation toward aggression was also found to be positively correlated with the number of year’s fraternity man has been of his organization, implying further that most fraternities nurtured this type of representation. Finally, the instrumental representation of aggression was found to be positively correlated with values representing power and hedonism and negatively correlated with values such as benevolence, universalism, tradition and conformity. Men in this simple scored higher on the benevolence, universalism, tradition and conformity values this observed link between the representation and certain types of current literature on the subject.
It is relevant to the study of Physiological Psychology because it will be able to describe how biological and physiological processes affect aggressive behaviour. The behavior of aggression would be mainly acquired in the course of many inadequate emotional interactions with the environment and with the others. Biological Psychology has a role in aggression. Genetic influences play a major part in some aggression, as evidenced in animals specifically bred to exhibit such behaviour. The hypothalamus and periaqueductal gray of the midbrain are the most critical areas controlling aggression in humans. They have direct connections with both the brainstem nuclei controlling these functions and areas such as the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. The action of chemicals can have an effect on our behavior. The purpose of Biological/Physiological Psychology is the understanding of human psyche needs and behavior. Example to know what sexuality, aggression or violence, language, pleasure or fear are, to know what an emotion or cognition are, to know the various neurobiological processes which are responsible for learning, reasoning or consciousness, and to determine what the main factors of psychological dynamics of human being would be.
The biological theories of aggression have much to offer about the physical and neurobiological causes of aggressive acts. The resulting aggressive behaviour can be the result of imbalance of the four main theories: Neurotransmitters, Genes, Hormones, Neuroanatomy. The hypothalamus and pituitary gland are important parts of the brains limbic system associated with emotional response and arousal. These structures, along with the septum and amygdala, may play a role in mediating aggression.