Aggression and social facilitation: the theories of aggression (instinct, frustration-aggression, social learning), aggression versus assertion, and social facilitation, social inhibition and evaluation apprehension.

A Component 1 aggression question. Two marks for the hypothesis, two for a limitation with an example.

The frustration-aggression hypothesis (Dollard) states that aggression is caused by frustration: when a performer is blocked from achieving a goal (for example a striker repeatedly fouled and denied a clear chance), frustration builds and is released as aggression. A limitation is that frustration does not always lead to aggression: many frustrated performers control themselves or respond by trying harder, not by lashing out, so frustration is not a sufficient cause. The revised aggression-cue hypothesis (Berkowitz) addresses this, arguing that frustration creates a readiness for aggression that is only triggered if aggressive cues (an aggressive opponent, a hostile crowd) are present.

A common dropped mark is not giving a genuine limitation; "frustration does not always cause aggression" with an example is the key point.

A Component 1 social facilitation question. Markers reward the facilitation-inhibition effect and a coaching strategy.

Award marks for: social facilitation is the positive effect of the presence of others (an audience or co-actors) on performance; social inhibition is the negative effect. The presence of others raises arousal (Zajonc), which makes the dominant response more likely; for an expert performing a simple or well-learned (gross) skill, the dominant response is correct, so an audience helps (facilitation), but for a novice performing a complex or fine skill, the dominant response is often wrong, so an audience harms performance (inhibition). Evaluation apprehension is the perceived sense of being judged, which heightens this effect: a performer who feels watched and assessed becomes more aroused and anxious. To help a novice, a coach can let them learn skills in private first (until the response is grooved), gradually introduce small, supportive audiences, use stress management (mental rehearsal, selective attention) and build the skill to the autonomous stage so the dominant response becomes correct, turning inhibition into facilitation.

A top answer links arousal and the dominant response to skill level, explains evaluation apprehension, and gives a graded coaching plan.