ABSTRACT
Most theories of aggression are rooted in the biological substructure or psychological superstructure of the individual. Early theories were instinctual (Freud, 1930; Lorenz, 1966), inspired in part by the philosopher Thomas Hobbes’ (1651) notion that people were violent by nature, predisposed to “war of all against all.” Later theories were cognitive, including the popular frustration-aggression hypothesis that aggressive behavior results when purposeful activity is interrupted (Dollard et al., 1939), and the cognitive neoassociation theory that aggression is primed by aversive stimuli (Berkowitz, 1990). Social learning (Bandura, 1977) and script (Huesmann, 1998) theories emphasize the acquisition of aggression through direct experience or observation. Social interaction theory ties coercive action to the rational pursuit of individual goals (Tedeschi & Felson 1994). Excitation transfer theory links aggression to misattributed physiological arousal (Zillmann, 1983).
