CHAPTER 11
Aggression
HANDOUT 11.1 What Is Aggression?
Yes / No____ / ____ / 1. / A child punches a large plastic doll.
____ / ____ / 2. / A group of children refuse to let a new classmate play with them.
____ / ____ / 3. / A murderer is executed in the electric chair after being sentenced to death.
____ / ____ / 4. / A hunter kills an animal and has it mounted on his living room wall.
____ / ____ / 5. / A person kills an animal in order to eat it.
____ / ____ / 6. / A starving person steals some food from a supermarket.
____ / ____ / 7. / A child chases a frightened cat around the house.
____ / ____ / 8. / A cat kills a mouse.
____ / ____ / 9. / A person commits suicide.
____ / ____ / 10. / A parent spanks his child who has broken some house rule.
____ / ____ / 11. / A wrestler intentionally grabs his opponent’s injured left knee as often as he can during a meet.
____ / ____ / 12. / A doctor gives a shot to a child.
____ / ____ / 13. / A baseball pitcher intentionally throws a pitch near a batter’s head.
____ / ____ / 14. / A man almost always arrives late to meet his girlfriend.
____ / ____ / 15. / A woman kicks a vending machine that “ate” her money.
____ / ____ / 16. / An undercover police officer punches a uniformed police officer in front of others in order to try to maintain his cover.
____ / ____ / 17. / A participant in a psychology experiment administers an electric shock to another participant to signify a wrong response.
____ / ____ / 18. / A student who gets a bad grade gives the teacher very low ratings on a course evaluation that will be seen by the teacher’s superiors.
____ / ____ / 19. / A teacher lowers a student’s grade on a paper because it was submitted late.
____ / ____ / 20. / A soldier shoots and kills a soldier from an opposing army.
____ / ____ / 21. / A man kisses a woman without warning on their first date.
____ / ____ / 22. / A teenager drives his parents’ car recklessly.
____ / ____ / 23. / A married person commits adultery.
____ / ____ / 24. / A person withholds sex from his/her lover when angry at him/her.
____ / ____ / 25. / A woman shoots and kills someone who has broken into her home.
____ / ____ / 26. / A group of men stare and whistle at a woman as she walks past them.
____ / ____ / 27. / A group of women stare and whistle at a man dancing at a dance club.
____ / ____ / 28. / A boy plays too rough with his younger sister until she starts to cry.
____ / ____ / 29. / A woman who feels that her ex-boyfriend is still in love with her says hurtful things to him to try to get him to move on with his life.
____ / ____ / 30. / A baseball player curses loudly and smashes his bat after striking out.
____ / ____ / 31. / Two brothers light a firecracker near their younger brother to scare him.
____ / ____ / 32. / After encountering a mouse in their house, a couple sets up mouse traps in several rooms.
____ / ____ / 33. / A teacher embarrasses a student who has not done her homework by making her sit in the corner of the room away from everyone else.
____ / ____ / 34. / A person sells drugs to another person.
____ / ____ / 35. / A prostitute whips and beats a man who has hired her to do this.
____ / ____ / 36. / A pregnant woman abuses alcohol.
____ / ____ / 37. / A driver flashes her high-beam lights because the car in front of her is going below the speed limit and won’t let her pass.
____ / ____ / 38. / An artist creates a work that is designed to repulse most people.
____ / ____ / 39. / A man shoots a drug dealer because he sells drugs to children.
____ / ____ / 40. / An individual tells a joke that some might perceive to be racist or sexist.
____ / ____ / 41. / An auto mechanic hangs pictures of nude women in his garage.
____ / ____ / 42. / A drunk driver crashes into another car, killing two people.
____ / ____ / 43. / A motorist chooses not to pull over and help someone with car trouble.
____ / ____ / 44. / A man chooses not to call the police when he hears a woman scream near his apartment building.
____ / ____ / 45. / A person shoots in the back two men who attempted to mug him.
____ / ____ / 46. / A driver honks his horn at someone who has cut him off.
____ / ____ / 47. / A woman kills her husband who has been abusing and threatening her for years.
____ / ____ / 48. / A prison guard hits a prisoner who is slow to go back to his cell.
____ / ____ / 49. / A journalist reports a potentially scandalous story about unsubstantiated charges that a person made about an important political candidate.
____ / ____ / 50. / A governor cuts the budget for schools by 30% in order to lower taxes.
HANDOUT 11.3 Violence on Television
In the columns below, keep track of the number of violent incidents and aggressive acts, both physical and verbal, shown in each program.
Children’s Cartoon / Prime-Time Program / Network News ProgramPhysical assaults that involve using a weapon or object
Physical assaults that do not involve a weapon or object
Verbal threats of harm
Insults or derogatory remarks
Violent deaths
Accidents in which someone is hurt
HANDOUT 11.4a RMA
Do not write your name anywhere on this sheet. Please rate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each of the following statements by using a 7-point scale, ranging from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 7 (“strongly agree”). Please answer all items, and do so in the order in which they are presented.[1]
1.A woman who goes to the home or apartment of a man on their first date implies that she is willing to have sex.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
2.Any female can get raped.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
3.One reason that women falsely report a rape is that they frequently have a need to call attention to themselves.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
4.Any healthy woman can successfully resist a rapist if she really wants to.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
5.When women go around braless or wearing short skirts and tight tops, they are just asking for trouble.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
6.In the majority of rapes, the victim is promiscuous or has a bad reputation.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
7.If a girl or woman engages in necking or petting and she lets things get out of hand, it is her own fault if her partner forces sex on her.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
8.Women who get raped while hitchhiking get what they deserve.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
9.A woman who is stuck-up and thinks she is too good to talk to guys on the street deserves to be taught a lesson.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
10.Many women have an unconscious wish to be raped, and may then unconsciously set up a situation in which they are likely to be attacked.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
11.If a woman gets drunk at a party and has intercourse with a man she’s just met there, she should be considered “fair game” to other males at the party who want to have sex with her too, whether she wants to or not.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
12.What percentage of women who report a rape would you say are lying because they are angry and want to get back at the man they accuse?
0 / 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 10013.What percentage of reported rapes would you guess were merely invented by women who discovered they were pregnant and want to protect their own reputation?
0 / 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100HANDOUT 11.4b AIV
Do not write your name anywhere on this sheet. Please rate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each of the following statements by using a 7-point scale, ranging from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 7 ("strongly agree”). Please answer all items, and please do so in the order in which they are presented.[2]
1.People today should not use “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” as a rule of living.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
2.Being roughed up is sexually stimulating to many women.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
3. Many times a woman will pretend that she doesn’t want to have intercourse because she doesn’t want to seem loose, but she’s really hoping the man will force her.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
4.A wife should move out of the house if her husband hits her.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
5.Sometimes the only way a man can get a cold woman turned on is to use force.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
6.A man is never justified in hitting his wife.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
HANDOUT 11.4c SRS
1.A man should fight when the woman he’s with is insulted by another man.[3]
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
2.It is acceptable for the woman to pay for the date.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
3.A woman should be a virgin when she marries.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
4.There is something wrong with a woman who doesn’t want to marry and raise a family.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
5.A wife should never contradict her husband in public.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
6.It is better for a woman to use her feminine charm to get what she wants rather than ask for it outright.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
7.It looks worse for a woman to be drunk than for a man to be drunk.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
8.There is nothing wrong with a woman going to a bar alone.
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7strongly disagree / strongly agree
HANDOUT 11.4d HTW
Please print a “T” in front of each statement that you think is true about you, and an “F” in front of each statement that you think is false about you.[4]
1. / __ / I feel that many times women flirt with men just to tease them or hurt them.2. / __ / I feel upset even by slight criticism by a woman.
3. / __ / It doesn’t really bother me when women tease me about my faults.
4. / __ / I used to think that most women told the truth but now I know otherwise.
5. / __ / I do not believe that women will walk all over you if you aren’t willing to fight.
6. / __ / I do not often find myself disagreeing with women.
7. / __ / I do very few things to women that make me feel remorseful afterward.
8. / __ / I rarely become suspicious with women who are friendlier than I expected.
9. / __ / There are a number of women who seem to dislike me very much.
10 / __ / I don’t agree that women always seem to get the breaks.
11 / __ / I don’t seem to get what’s coming to me in my relationships with women.
12 / __ / I generally don’t get really angry when a woman makes fun of me.
13 / __ / Women irritate me a great deal more than they are aware of.
14 / __ / If I let women see the way I feel, they would probably consider me a hard person to get along with.
15 / __ / Lately, I’ve been kind of grouchy with women.
16 / __ / I think that most women would not lie to get ahead.
17 / __ / It’s safer not to trust women.
18 / __ / When it really comes down to it, a lot of women are deceitful.
19 / __ / I am not easily angered by a woman.
20 / __ / I often feel that women probably think I have not lived the right kind of life.
21 / __ / I never have hostile feelings that make me feel ashamed of myself later.
22 / __ / Many times a woman appears to care but just wants to use you.
23 / __ / I am sure I get a raw deal from the women in my life.
24 / __ / I don’t usually wonder what hidden reason a woman may have for doing something nice for me.
25 / __ / If women had not had it in for me, I would have been more successful in my personal relations with them.
26 / __ / I never have the feeling that women laugh about me.
27 / __ / Very few women talk about me behind their back.
28 / __ / When I look back at what’s happened to me, I don’t feel at all resentful toward the women in my life.
29 / __ / I never sulk when a woman makes me angry.
30 / __ / I have been rejected by too many women in my life.
HANDOUT 11.4e HTM
Please print a “T” in front of each statement that you think is true about you, and an “F” in front of each statement that you think is false about you.[5]
1. / ___ / Sometimes men bother me by just being around.2. / ___ / At times I have a strong urge to do something harmful to a man.
3. / ___ / Lately, I’ve been kind of grouchy with men.
4. / ___ / I think that most men would lie to get ahead.
5. / ___ / It is safer not to trust men.
6. / ___ / When it really comes down to it, a lot of men are deceitful.
7. / ___ / Men are responsible for most of my troubles.
8. / ___ / I think nearly any man would lie to keep out of trouble.
9. / ___ / I do not blame a woman for taking advantage of a man who leaves himself open to it.
10. / ___ / I used to think that most men told the truth, but now I know otherwise.
11. / ___ / If you aren’t willing to fight, men will walk all over you.
12. / ___ / Many times a man appears to care, but really just wants to use you.
13. / ___ / Men today don’t deserve the breaks they get.
14. / ___ / I can easily make a man afraid of me, and sometimes do just for the fun of it.
15. / ___ / I am sure I get a raw deal from the men in my life.
16. / ___ / I commonly wonder what hidden reason a man may have for doing something nice for me.
17. / ___ / My motto is “Never trust a man.”
18. / ___ / Once in a while I cannot control my urge to harm a man.
19. / ___ / When a man is bossy, I take my time just to show him.
20. / ___ / I know that men tend to talk about me behind my back.
21. / ___ / Most men make friends because friends are likely to be useful to them.
22. / ___ / Men always seem to get the breaks.
23. / ___ / I can’t help feeling resentful when I think of how easy men have it in life.
24. / ___ / There are certain men I dislike so much that I am inwardly pleased when they get into trouble for something they have done.
25. / ___ / When I look back at what’s happened to me, I can’t help feeling mildly resentful toward the men in my life.
26. / ___ / I don’t seem to get what’s coming to me in my relationships with men.
27. / ___ / At times, I feel I get a raw deal with the opposite sex.
28. / ___ / I don’t blame women for trying to get everything they can from men nowadays.
29. / ___ / Men irritate me a great deal more than they are aware of.
30. / ___ / If I let men see the way I feel, they would consider me a hard person to get along with.
HANDOUT 11.4f HTM(r)
Please print a “T” in front of each statement that you think is true about you, and an “F” in front of each statement that you think is false about you.
1. / ___ / I feel that many times men flirt with women just to tease them or hurt them.2. / ___ / I feel upset even by slight criticism by a man.
3. / ___ / It doesn’t really bother me when men tease me about my faults.
4. / ___ / I used to think that most men told the truth but now I know otherwise.
5. / ___ / I do not believe that men will walk all over you if you aren’t willing to fight.
6. / ___ / I do not often find myself disagreeing with men.
7. / ___ / I do very few things to men that make me feel remorseful afterward.
8. / ___ / I rarely become suspicious with men who are friendlier than I expected.
9. / ___ / There are a number of men who seem to dislike me very much.
10. / ___ / I don’t agree that men always seem to get the breaks.
11. / ___ / I don’t seem to get what’s coming to me in my relationships with men.
12. / ___ / I generally don’t get really angry when a man makes fun of me.
13. / ___ / Men irritate me a great deal more than they are aware of.
14. / ___ / If I let men see the way I feel, they would probably consider me a hard person to get along with.
15. / ___ / Lately, I’ve been kind of grouchy with men.
16. / ___ / I think that most men would not lie to get ahead.
17. / ___ / It’s safer not to trust men.
18. / ___ / When it really comes down to it, a lot of men are deceitful.
19. / ___ / I am not easily angered by a man.
20. / ___ / I often feel that men probably think I have not lived the right kind of life.
21. / ___ / I never have hostile feelings that make me feel ashamed of myself later.
22. / ___ / Many times a man appears to care but just wants to use you.
23. / ___ / I am sure I get a raw deal from the men in my life.
24. / ___ / I don’t usually wonder what hidden reason a man may have for doing something nice for me.
25. / ___ / If men had not had it in for me, I would have been more successful in my personal relations with them.
26. / ___ / I never have the feeling that men laugh about me.
27. / ___ / Very few men talk about me behind their back.
28. / ___ / When I look back at what’s happened to me, I don’t feel at all resentful toward the men in my life.
29. / ___ / I never sulk when a man makes me angry.
30. / ___ / I have been rejected by too many men in my life.
HANDOUT 11.5a Men
Below is a list of things that men sometimes do that irritate, annoy, anger, or upset the women they are involved with. [References to “me” in this list refer to the woman with whom the man is involved.] We are interested in how irritating, annoying, and upsetting each act is. In other words, if a man performed the act, how much would it be likely to irritate, annoy, anger, and upset the woman that he was involved with. Use this 7-point scale: a “7” means that the act would be extremely irritating, annoying, or upsetting; a “4” means that the act would be moderately irritating, annoying, or upsetting. If the act would not be irritating, annoying, or upsetting at all, write in a “0.” Use any whole numbers from 0 through 7.[6]
1. / ___ / He placed more value on his opinions because he was a man.2. / ___ / He was too possessive of me.
3. / ___ / He saw someone else intimately.
4. / ___ / He was moody.
5. / ___ / He refused to have sex with me.
6. / ___ / He did not dress well.
7. / ___ / He told me I was ugly.
8. / ___ / He used me for sexual purposes.
9. / ___ / He tried to act like he was better than me.
10. / ___ / He acted too dependent on me.
11. / ___ / He had sex with another woman.
12. / ___ / He acted “bitchy.”
13. / ___ / He said “no” about having sex with me.
14. / ___ / He did not take care of his physical appearance.
15. / ___ / He insulted my appearance.
16. / ___ / He tried to force sex acts on me.
17. / ___ / He treated me like I was stupid or inferior.
18. / ___ / He demanded too much attention.
19. / ___ / He was unfaithful to me.
20. / ___ / He took too long to get ready.
21. / ___ / He was a tease sexually.
22. / ___ / He did not groom himself well.
23. / ___ / He touched my body without my permission.
24. / ___ / He demanded sexual relations.
HANDOUT 11.5b Women
Below is a list of things that women sometimes do that irritate, annoy, anger, or upset the men they are involved with. [References to “me” in this list refer to the man with whom the woman is involved.] We are interested in how irritating, annoying, and upsetting each act is. In other words, if a woman performed the act, how much would it be likely to irritate, annoy, anger, and upset the man that she was involved with. Use this 7-point scale: a “7” means that the act would be extremely irritating, annoying, or upsetting; a “4” means that the act would be moderately irritating, annoying, or upsetting. If the act would not be irritating, annoying, or upsetting at all, write in a “0.” Use any whole numbers from 0 through 7.[7]