aggression

From: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 21 August 2009

Misperceptions about the Acceptability and Attractiveness of Aggression

by Joseph Vandello, Sean Ransom, Vanessa Hettinger, and Kevin Askew University of South Florida and Tulane University Medical Center

Abstract:
Norms about aggression may be perpetuated in part by the belief that aggression is more expected or socially desirable than it really is. This paper explores the accuracy of people’s beliefs about the acceptability of aggression by examining men’s perceptions of descriptive (what their peers do) and injunctive norms (what their peers approve of or desire). Study 1 found that men (but not women) overestimated the aggressiveness of their peers. Study 2 demonstrated that men (but not women) overestimated peer approval of aggression and disapproval when an affront was not responded to aggressively. Study 3 found that men overestimate how attractive aggression is to women. Study 4 found that greater perceived discrepancies in aggression between self and peers was related to lower self-esteem, a weaker gender identification, and greater feelings of social marginalization, suggesting that men’s misperceptions about aggression norms have negative consequences for self-perceptions.

engaging in earnest

this sequence from the film Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring has been on my mind recently.

if you haven’t seen the film, i recommend it highly. but perhaps don’t watch this clip because it’s from the end.

up until this point, our character has lived a life of ignorance, passion, and aggression in various life stages. and here, the futility of those things is finally clear and he begins a path with clear devotion. perhaps this is similar to our journey, we dabble in some kind of spiritual practice in the midst of our many worldly concerns. shifting our allegiance for what brings happiness is a process. we may even hedge our bets with meditation but secretly still hope that arranging our life just so will pay off. at a certain point, if we’re fortunate so they’re saying, we realize there is serious work to do. we have to engage in a practice in earnest.

a meditation course for beginners

Dom Jolly Meditation Course for Beginners by Trigger Happy TV.