Baron and Bell found experimental evidence for a direct link between temperature and aggression. They found that participants gave more electric shocks when in a warm room (80 degrees), but less when the temperature increased further. This therefore supports the ‘negative effect escape theory’, which states that temperature does cause aggression but if the temperature becomes uncomfortable there is a desire for escape. On the other hand Anderson and Anderson found a linear relationship between aggression and temperature, but didn’t find a decline in the aggression at the time the temperature was increased. This doesn’t support the idea that if the temperature increased the person will long for escape from the heat.
Another source of aggression is said to be crowding, that a person does not have enough space. If a person does not have enough space they are said to be physiologically aroused and aggressive, which may weaken their sense of control. Calhoun moved an entire rat population into one enclosed space. He found the more that the rat population increased, so did the aggressive behaviour. A study by Schmitt also found that as the population of Honolulu increased so did the rates of crime.
Although crowding has been found to be a cause of aggression, the description doesn’t explain any situations where crowding is desirable. For example, most people are more likely to enjoy a crowded nightclub rather than a crowded shop. This could therefore confirm that aggression caused by crowding may depend on situational factors. Calhouns study supports crowding as en environmental factor that affects aggression. This is because of the physiological arousal we feel when we have lack of personal space, this then leads to aggression. One limitation of Calhouns study is that we cannot generalise the findings to humans. This is because humans are more complex creatures than rats and think more about their behaviour. We therefore cannot use these findings to generalise to people.
Noise cannot be described as a stressor on its own, however if there is pre existing anger or agitation it may be a trigger of aggression. Geen and O’neal found that participants were more likely to shock a confederate in a noisy environment, although this was only if they had been aroused by a violent film previously. Noise may also increase levels of stress, which also may lead to aggression. Evans et al. Found that children in the flight path were more likely to show physiological signs of stress than children in quieter areas.
Bronzaft found that people who lived near airports often complained of tiredness. This therefore supports Evans conclusion was that the aggression shown after the noises was heard was due to the arousal from the tiredness rather than the noise being a direct stressor. There is support for the claim that noise is a cue for aggressive behaviour, participants who watched a non-aggressive film did not react in an aggressive manor afterwards. This shows that if not previously aroused, we are unlikely to become aggressive when exposed to noise. ,
