Literature Review and Critical analysis of sources
A lot of research has been done to associate weather and aggression. Some people have also associated human behavior with seasons. More specifically, weather parameters have become a very important explanation point for the seasonality of some behaviors. Previous researchers and writers such as Shakespeare have associated behaviors such as madness with the occurrence of storms for instance. However, the most common human behavior where a lot of research has been done is on aggression and temperature. The temperature-aggression relationship has been found out that hot temperatures affect rational judgments hence causes increased aggression. The hypothesis has existed for years and several empirical tests have been conducted under different intellectual temperature conditions to establish the relationship (Shaver, 2010) . In my far-flung research, I found out that many researchers pointed out that the effect of temperature on human behavior is not trivial, that indeed there is a relationship but as an indirect activato (Baron, 2012) r. Temperature only influences the number of opportunities that exist for aggression. There is a need to fully explore this area to identify the facts that have long been in controversy.
Aggression is the act o initiating hostilities or invasion. There are many forms of human aggression that have been under study. Predatory, instrumental, invasion and pain elicited are the most forms of aggression that have been studied (Baron, 2012) . The temperature-aggression relationship only applies to the following aggression acts, the intent to aggress and the intent to inflict pain on the target. Therefore, other forms of aggression such as pain-elicited, predatory aggression and instrumental aggression cannot be used to provide conclusive tests about the relationship (Shaver, 2010) . The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze various sources together with their findings on this particular matter.
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Kathryn A. (2017), talks about temperature and aggression: the paradox, controversy, and a fairly clear picture. The basic issues of non-artificial temperature-aggression relationships. It seeks to express direct temperature-aggression and inspect how they operate irritability and anger. The first attempt Anderson made is to find out if the relationship is truly artificial and not an innate relationship. Secondly, he wanted to determine the nature of the relationship after ascertaining that the relationship is artificial. Here he made five different assumptions for which one would be true.
The first one is a simple line-graph relationship; as temperature increases, aggression increases. This reflects a direct simple relationship of the two variables. However, this relationship according to Anderson is only possible within the normal range of temperatures. The body cannot function properly in extreme temperature conditions, whether cold or hot. At high temperatures, the body scotches, at very low temperatures, the body becomes inactive (Baron, 2012) . Within the normal range of temperatures, the relationship could be linear. The second relationship is the J-function where at low temperatures the relative change of aggression with respect to temperature is almost unnoticed while at high temperatures, small variations in temperatures lead to noticeable changes in aggression. Therefore, the strength of the motive to aggress is higher at high temperatures and low at lower temperatures (Shaver, 2010) . The third relationship is called the inverted U-shape relationship. According to Anderson, (2017), the relationship of aggression and temperature takes a U-shaped curve where the peak of the U-shape represents the strongest motive to aggress and reduces as you move away from the temperature on either side. The fourth one is the M-shaped that suggests that aggression is lower at high and lower temperatures and comfortable temperatures as well. The last one is a simple U-shape relationship which is almost similar to M-shape. It indicates that the motive to aggress is low at normal temperatures but increases as the temperature deviate from it on either side.
The article also compares different models of theories that try to explain the temperature-aggression relationship. The writer intends to present all these theories to the writer and performs an experiment and select which one could be necessary. He discusses five basic psychological models of approaches to the relationship which include negative affect escape model, simple negative effect model, excitation transfer/misattribution of arousal model, physiological-thermoregulatory model and cognitive neo-association model.
The experiment done and presented in this book relates to how temperature affects variables that are believed to affect aggression. This was aforementioned, that temperature has an indirect effect on the motive to aggress.
Hypothesis: Temperature affects the variables that cause the motive to aggress.
Sample: a sample of 60 people who were strangers, 30 men, and 30 women properly constituted were taken. The strangers were gathered from the various state by random sampling.
Variables: The Independent variable is temperature which is believed to affect the motive to aggress. The dependent variable is the motive to aggress. The relationship between the two variables is that temperature aggravates aggression dominion. As the temperature increases, the motive to aggress increases.
Operationalization: in the study, the specimen was examined in a 44-item scale under varied temperature conditions. The test was to examine the temperature attraction relationship. There were same-sex pairs that were subjected to do different activities under varied temperature conditions and their behavior monitored. The participants were either put to sit side-by-side to each other or across from each other. The scales of attractions and aggression were determined.
Results: Although there was no statistical test to ascertain the level of attraction, it was reported that hot temperature produces aggression. The participants were realized to be more comfortable and quiet during cool weather while much aggressive with their partners in hot weather. It also showed that pairs worked more comfortably under normal conditions but experienced wrangles under high temperatures.
The limitation is that not all aspects of human aggression could be tested in one empirical test. Also, about 75% of the population showed a noticeable change in behavior while the remaining 25% were not affected. The information shared in this article shows that temperature has a great influence on social behaviors and directly affects how we operate. More control experiments and field studies need to be carried out to find perfect relationships that will enable people to settle on a single model of temperature-aggression relationship.
The hypothesis has been proven right; the findings show that temperature influences our social behaviors. At the beginning of this article, we stated that temperature has an indirect influence of aggression. The results have proven this fact because temperature affects the mood of people which in-turn influences the motive to aggress. Clearly, from 75% of the strangers, hot temperatures increase the tendency to agrees.
Craig A. (2001) is about heat and violence. The article talks about the hypothesis of heat being a catalyst for aggression and related behaviors. Craig suggests that heat catalyzes aggression by exciting hostile feelings and emotions which are directly linked to aggression motives and intent. As a result, the book cautions about global warming that it might cause aggression-related problems.
The article divides the tests into 3 forms; the first one is field studies which is directed towards studying a particular form of aggression, the second one is laboratory studies which are empirical tests focusing on particular aggression and lastly is laboratory studies which only focuses of variables directly related to aggression such as hostile feelings. The study seeks to identify the difference that exists in the effect of temperature across different regions, across different periods and across different field conditions. Craig accepts the fact that different studies in the field have yielded different and mixed results that have given rise to different models. However, there is evidence of high temperature to trigger aggression motives in individuals.
Further, this article looks at the psychological processes that are affected by high temperatures that in-turn affect the aggression motives. The articles suggest that temperature affects how people see and perceive things. At lower temperatures, things seem normal and irritation feelings are usually not revealed. On the other hand, small problems during hot weather are perceived as major ones and easily invites retaliation. The temporary disorder caused by temperature is called crankiness disorder which is a mental working condition that endorses arousal to retaliate and fight back. This school of thought is well covered in the neo-association theory.
Unlike Kathryn, Craig suggests that the effect of temperature is direct and can be quantified. It suggests that heat increases violent behaviors by distorting our social behaviors. The article agrees that a lot of research has been done in this area, however, several elements are still missing. It suggests that further studies are required in the following areas; does heat cause bias in judgment in our social interactions. The second one is whether people in hot weather feel mentally aroused while those in cold weather are lethargic? The third direction is as to whether heat variations affect the ability of the body to prevent aggression behavior. The last directive is to find out how people escape from such motives.
Hypothesis: the hypothesis for this article is that heat is a catalyst for aggression and related behaviors. Sample: the researcher takes a study across the American files of temperature over 10 decades and checks against the recorded murder assault rates in case files. His main aim is to establish the relationship between average annual temperature recorded across America and cases of murder assault rates. The population under study is 270 million.
Variables: the independent variable is annual temperature while the dependent variable is the murder assault rate. The design for the experiment is qualitative research where the researcher seeks to analyze the data and make comparisons to get a clear relationship.
Results: it was found that the relationship between average annual temperature is direct to increase in murder and assault rate represented by a simple line graph that passes through the origin. The level of global warming influences the rate of murder and assaults. For every increase of temperature by 2 Fahrenheit, the are 9 more murders per every 100,000 people and results in more than 24,000 murders annually for the entire population. Data from some institutions show an increase in murder as the temperature increase remains uncontrolled. It was also found that the rate of aggression influences other variables such an incarceration costs, property damage, employee disagreements, and productivity in a negative manner.
The limitation of this study by Anderson is that he assumed that all other factors are at ceteris paribus which is not true. The rate of murder and assaults is not purely related to temperature alone, there are other factors that cause such but were not taken care of. More research should be done to ascertain all the elements. This study is relevant to the thesis of the paper since it provides a study that relates temperature and aggression and presented the results.
Anderson & Dexter (1989) talks about temperature and aggression, the widespread effect of heat on the occurrence of human violence. They aim to establish the relationship between heat and the prevalence of human violence. The study deals with 5 theories of temperature-aggression relationships and measures used to make conclusions are data from violent crimes such as assaults, battery and domestic violence. The levels of analysis of the results in the article are done at different stages; geographical regions, seasons, per-month, laboratory settings, and fieldwork. The studies carried in the field confirms the hypothesis that temperature increases aggression is affirmative. However, laboratory analysis shows inconsistent results which maybe as a result of failure to fully explore the models although some form of relationship was established. This is where the authors recommended further research to check the following models fully in the labs; misattribution model and cognitive neo-association.
The empirical results of the study have been presented depending on the basic approach used. While other studies were aimed at checking the effect of temperature on aggressive behaviors, others were aimed at looking at different aggression-related crimes at different periods and also the measurement of temperature against the target behaviors.
Hypothesis: the hypothesis of the study is; there is a non-artificial temperature-aggression relation. The work of the researcher to prove or disapprove this hypothesis was to find out three issues; how temperature operates in individuals to cause irritation and anger, the artificial relationship between the two variables and also if the increase in aggression occurs as a result in hot temperatures without any other variable coming into play.
Sample: the population under study is the US and results based on the study of past records of monthly temperatures against records of crimes that resulted from anger or heat of passion. The Independent variable is Heat while the dependent variable is aggression crimes such as murder, rape, assaults or other measures such as people fighting. The article has used a qualitative design approach to understand the aspect of human behavior.
Results: it was established that, while all other factors remain constant, hotter regions yield more aggressive behaviors than regions of lower temperatures. Aforementioned, the indicators of aggression were taken from data of homicide, assaults, and rape. It was also found out that other than temperature, there are a series of socio-economic and cultural factors that affect aggression behaviors. It was, therefore, difficult to find a direct relationship between temperature and aggression but somewhat, the hypothesis was confirmed to be true. The data were represented in graphs and all of them yielded inverted U-shapes, a model that was discussed earlier. A series of graphs were done to satisfy the requirement of the hypothesis of seasons, months, field tests and lab.
The limitation of the findings is that the researchers failed to provide the exact relationship between temperature and aggression. The only conclusion being made is; indeed, there is a relationship. Further analysis should be done in this area where it can be made possible to contain the socio-economic and cultural factors at ceteris paribus. This finding is relevant to my study since it has proven once again that there is a relationship between temperature and aggression. It has used existing data to develop the inverted U-shape model of explanation.
Discussion
The overall assessment of the analysis of research shows that the studies may look different and different approaches taken by every researchers, but they are all addressing the same hypothesis. The researchers all find out that there is a unique temperature-aggression relationship. While Kathryn and Craig found out that the relationship is represented by a simple straight line, Anderson and Dexter found a relationship to follow an inverted U-shaped model. This still leaves us with stringent areas to address and come up with a final conclusion. Although the results of the researchers do not favor the particular hypothesis of other researchers, the consistency of the results pertaining to a relationship between temperature and aggression supports the hypothesis that was stated in this paper. Similar factors were tested by Kathryn and Craig, while Anderson and Dexter tested different variables using different approaches and also included the effect of social-economic and cultural factors. Perhaps that is why the inverted U-shape model was developed.
The findings of the researchers agree with previous research done in the same field that constantly relates aggression motives and irritation to temperature difference. We can comfortably say that areas with high temperatures experience high aggression crimes as opposed to areas with low temperatures. This has been demonstrated by actual data collected and analyzed. The massive research that has been done had revealed the same body of knowledge and that is why we have the five conceptual models previously discussed which believes that temperature affects aggression behaviors.
However, the limitation that exists in the research is that Craig, and Anderson & Dexter were not able to devise their own research methodology however decided to use previous data presented by another researcher. More work needs to be done with a new set of data and experiment design.
Conclusion and future directions
From the analysis of sources, we cannot satisfactorily conclude about a particular relationship between temperature and aggression. However, there exists a form of relationship, be it linear or inverted U-shape relationship. More research needs to be done to initiate programs that will act as intervention measures of reducing aggression-related crimes that result from temperature variations. The models must be developed, tested and compared to other findings in this continuum of research especially now that the world is threatened by global warming. I also recommend that the result of this and any other study should not only provide an understanding of such relationships but also prove to us the need to find a measures to reduce the unwarranted aggression acts. taking this step will be a mature move to save our country and the world in extension .
References
Anderson, C., & Dexter, A. (1989). Temperature and aggression: Ubiquitous effects of heat on Occurence of Human Violence. Psychological bulletin, Volume 106 ( No. 11), 74-96.
Baron, R. (2012). Human aggression: Perspectives in social psychology. Springer Publishers.
Craig, A. (2001). Heat and Violence. Current Directions im Psychological Science, Volume II (No. 3), 33-45.
Kathryn, A. (2017). Temperature and aggression: Paradox, controversy, and a (fairly) clear picture. Theories, Research and Implications for Social Policy, Volume 908 (No. 12), 247-263.
Shaver, P. (2010). Human aggression and violene: Causes, manifestations, and consequences. Herzliya series on personality and social psychology , 334-356.
