Aggression, Age, & Alcohol Results

Results: During the concert 3 people in front of where I was sitting decided to stand, for the whole concert. They were the only people in the bleachers standing so this was very frustrating for those sitting directly behind them. These people were asked to sit down at least 3 times by security. They refused. They were asked to sit down on numerous occasions by a variety of people sitting behind them. They refused. This refusal signified their actions were deliberate and prompted frustration-aggression and the Batson study (2000) to come into play.

The male and female behind me began throwing beer can tops at these ‘standers’. This progressed to some loose change being thrown by the male only. The female refused to participate in this activity. Then the male began throwing empty beer cans…probably 6 of them total. Lastly, he threw a semi-full beer can. After that another male and female in his group told him to stop it, which he did. There were still a few verbal jabs at the ‘standers’ behind their backs, but the verbal and physical aggression towards them stopped. After the concert almost everyone returned and joined their respective groups. This gave me the opportunity to let them know I would like to ask them some quick questions about themselves and these events for this project. The data on those that agreed and had time to participate is as follows:

Gender Age Drinking Fight /past yr Aggressive Acts Passive Acts Cathertic?
Male 53 No No None None
Female 49 No No None Letter No
Female 17 No No None Left seat Yes
Female 34 Yes No None Left seat
Male 36 Yes No None Left seat
Male 38 No No Asked to sit Left seat
Female 35 Yes No Asked to sit Left seat
& talked to security
Male 36 Yes Yes Asked to sit
Female 31 Yes No Talked to security
Female 27 Yes Yes Threw things, yelled Yes
& talked to security
Male 26 Yes Yes Threw things & yelled Yes

Of those that took some type of action to get the ‘standers’ to sit down, the 2 individuals that threw things at them felt the most satisfied. Those that asked security to do something to no avail felt no resolution and were still frustrated. Interestingly enough, the 2 people sitting directly behind the ‘standers’ showed no aggression. These 2 people represented the oldest of the group. They were not drinking. They realized early on that these ‘standers’ were pretty drunk and they just had to put up with it, putting into effect the Gelles study. They were still quite frustrated as it was over $100 for the tickets for them and their daughter, who left the scene as soon as she realized the ‘standers’ would not sit. This woman planned to write the hosting venue to suggest that security offers future ‘standers’ the opportunity to sit down or be seated elsewhere. This will make her feel better (cathartic) while turning this aggression into a proactive positive action. On a side note, one of the women I didn’t get the chance to survey after the concert knew one of the 'standers'. She felt because one of this person works with handicapped people their behavior should be tolerated.

Discussion: This observation study and following survey proves my hypothesis to be true, as well as many of the other things discussed in class on 12/2/09. Men are generally more aggressive than women. Younger men who have been drinking are the most aggressive as compared to men who are older or women of any age. It also appears the older a person gets, the less physically aggressive they get but may still be verbally aggressive. Lastly, from this, I learned the more seasoned in age we get and the less seasoned with alcohol we are, the less aggressive we may be. Perhaps this is an example of getting older and wiser. Now I would like to research how people like the ‘standers’ feel entitled enough to exhibit rude and thoughtless behavior.