Effects of the Power to Retaliate on Physical Aggression Directed Toward Middle-Eastern Jews,Western Jews,and Israeli-Arabs

Abstract

Aggression displayed by Middle-Eastern (M-E) and Western (W) Israeli high school students was tested by a factorial design comprising the following four variables: subject's ethnic origin (W/ M-E); victim's origin (W/ M-E/ Israeli-Arab); power to retaliate (exists/lacking); and experimental period (5 periods, each consisting of 10 trials). In a competitive situation 127 eleventh-grade male subjects were given the opportunity to administer electric shocks to opponents who were either W, M-E, or Israeli-Arab. Half of the subjects expected their opponents to reciprocate shocks, the others did not. It was found that during the experimental periods aggression toward the M-E victims increased when they were not expected to retaliate; it decreased gradually when these same victims were expected to retaliate. This pattern was displayed by both M-E and W subjects. Only M-E subjects displayed less aggression toward an Israeli-Arab victim who was expected to retaliate. The findings were interpreted in light of both M-Es' ethnic image and their fear of Arabs.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Amir, Y. , Sharan, S. , Ben-Ari, R. , Bizman, A. , & Rivner, M. (1978). Asymmetry, academic status and differentiation in the ethnic perception and preference of Israeli youth. Human Relations, 31, 99-116.

Benyamini, K. (1980). The image of the Arab in the eyes of Israeli youth: Changes over the past 15 years. Studies in Education, 27, 65-74.

Bizman, A. , & Amir, Y. (in press). Integration and attitudes. In Y. Amir , S. Sharan , & R. Ben-Ari (Eds.), School desegregation: Cross-cultural perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Crosby, F. , Bromley, S. , & Saxe, L. (1980). Recent unobtrusive studies of black and white discrimination and prejudice: A literature review. Psychological Bulletin, 87, 546-563.

Donnerstein, E. , & Donnerstein, M. (1976). Research in the control of aggression. In R. Geen & E. O'Neal (Eds.), Perspectives on aggression. New York: Academic.

Donnerstein, E. , Donnerstein, M. , Simon, S. , & Ditrichs, R. (1972). Variables in interracial aggression: Anonymity, expected retaliation, and a riot. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 22, 236-245.

Hassin, Y. (1975). The disadvantaged pupil-victim of labelling. Megamot, 21, 140-158. (Hebrew)

Levy, S. , & Guttman, L. (1976). Values and attitudes of Israel high school youth. Jerusalem: Israel Institute of Applied Social Research.

Peres, Y. (1971). Ethnic relations in Israel. American Journal of Sociology, 76, 1021-1027.

10.

Peres, Y. (1976). Ethnic relations in Israel. Tel-Aviv: Am Oved and Tel-Aviv University.

11.

Schwarzwald, J. , & Amir, Y. (in press). Interethnic relations and education: An Israeli perspective. In N. Miller & M. Brewer (Eds.), Desegregation: Groups in contact. New York: Academic.

12.

Schwarzwald, J. , & Yinon, Y. (1977). Symmetrical and asymmetrical interethnic perception in Israel. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 1, 40-47.

13.

Schwarzwald, J. , & Yinon, Y. (1978). Physical aggression: Effects of ethnicity of target and directionality of aggression. European Journal of Social Psychology, 8, 367-376.

14.

Taylor, S. P. (1967). Aggressive behavior and physiological arousal as a function of provocation and tendency to inhibit aggression. Journal of Personality, 35, 297-309.

15.

Wilson, L. , & Rogers, R. W. (1975). The fire this time: Effects of race of target, insult, and potential retaliation on black aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 857-864.

16.

Zimbardo, P. G. (1970). The human choice: Individuation, reason and order versus deindividuation, impulse and chaos. In N. J. Arnold & D. Levine (Eds.), Nebraska Symposium on A Motivation, 1969 (Vol. 17). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.