The Bassa-Darka Method. Method for diagnosing aggressiveness: description, purpose, interpretation of results

Bassa-Darki method was proposed back in the 60s of the last century, but still finds many supporters and is actively used. About it, we'll tell you today. It can be confidently said that this technique (the Bassa-Darkee questionnaire) is one of the most popular these days, used in foreign psychology to study aggression. Before you talk about it, you should decide on the very notion of aggression. What are the mechanisms of its occurrence, its significance for man? Let's work it out together.

Why aggression is needed

Scientists believe that the use of aggression - one of the most popular solutions to problems that arise in a person in frustrating (difficult) situations. These difficult situations cause mental tension in people, with which it is necessary to cope.

Aggressive actions can be a means of achieving a certain meaningful goal. They can also be a way of replacing the satisfaction of any blocked needs, mental detente. Also, aggressive actions are used for self-assertion and self-realization.

Theories of aggression

For a long time, the psychological approach to aggression and aggressiveness was defined as theories that viewed it as a consequence of frustration (Rosenzweig, Dollard) and the concept of attraction. A number of publications on this issue appeared in the late 50-ies of the last century. These works have caused an influx of theoretical and experimental work on this topic, which includes the Bassa-Darka questionnaire.

This technique is by no means the only one that is used today. Today, there are many theories of aggression. The most famous of them are K. Lorenz and Z. Freud. Each of the theories has its own view of aggression, as well as its attitude towards it. Due to this, they can be found in common features and divided into 4 main categories. Let's briefly describe each of them.

Aggression - an innate deposit

Aggression can be regarded as an innate deposit or promise. That is, it is inherent in our birth behavior, acting on an instinctive level. Adherents of theories belonging to this category, aggression is considered as a human feature, programmed genetically. It is already present in it and manifests itself throughout life. Aggression, according to the adherents of these theories, can not be eradicated. At best, you can only reduce its impact.

Aggression can be controlled

Other theories consider its manifestations as cognitive and emotional processes. This conclusion is based on the belief that each of us can manage aggression based on experience acquired with life experience. In order to do this, it is necessary to be able to represent potential hazards, as well as to correctly evaluate those or other threatening factors.

Aggression is a must

Aggression can also be understood as a necessity, generated by external factors and stimuli. From this point of view, it is viewed as a need that is realized directly under the influence of certain external stimuli. The "frustrated theory of aggression" forms the basis of this view. It was proposed by the American anthropologist and psychologist John Dollard. According to this theory, frustration inevitably leads to aggression in one form or another, and the latter, in turn, is always the result of frustration.

Aggression is an expression of social experience

Another approach to aggression is to view it as an actual expression of social experience. That is, it is a model of social behavior acquired in the course of development. Aggressive reactions are manifested in a person after he was in a similar situation or observed passively from her side. This is the result of the accumulation and subsequent application of the experience gained.

The damage caused by aggression

Analyzing the most popular views on the concept of "aggression", we can say that it must be understood as destructive motivated behavior that contradicts the rules and norms of human existence in society. This behavior harms inanimate or animate objects of attack. It causes them physical damage or can cause them a state of fear, tension, depression, negative experiences, that is, mental discomfort.

The concept of aggressiveness and its evaluation

Aggression is a special quality, a property of a person, for which destructive tendencies are characteristic, mainly in the sphere of subject-object relations. The destructive component of activity is probably necessary for man in creative activity. After all, the needs of individual development form the ability to destroy and eliminate obstacles, to overcome all that is counteracting this process.

Scientists came to the conclusion that aggressiveness has a quantitative and qualitative characteristic. Like any other property, the degree of its expression is different: from almost complete absence to the limit level of development. A certain degree of it must be for every person. The lack of aggressiveness leads to conformity, list, passivity, etc. On the contrary, excessive development can characterize the person as a whole as a conflict, which lacks the capacity for conscious cooperation.

Aggressiveness itself does not make a person a consciously dangerous subject. After all, on the one hand, the connection that exists between aggression and aggressiveness can not be called rigid. They can cause different reasons. On the other hand, the act of aggression in itself can not take disapproved and knowingly dangerous forms.

Aggressiveness - malicious activity

Aggressiveness in everyday consciousness is synonymous with such a thing as "malicious activity". However, destructive behavior in itself does not have "malicious intent". It makes such a motive of activity, that is, the values for which this activity is developed. Practical actions may outwardly be similar, but the motivational components are directly opposite.

Two types of aggression

Aggression can be divided, based on the above, into 2 main types. The first is motivational aggression, like self-worth. The second type of aggression is the instrumental, considered as a means. It is understood that both can pass both under the control of our consciousness, and without it. In addition, both these types are associated with emotional experiences such as hostility and anger.

Practical psychologists are more interested in motivational aggression, considered as a manifestation of the realization of destructive tendencies inherent in the individual. If we determine the level of these trends, then it becomes possible to predict with a high degree of accuracy the probability of manifestation of an open motivational aggression in a person. One of these diagnostic procedures is the Bassa-Darka questionnaire. The methodology that interests us was developed in 1957 by American researchers, whose names are named.

Application of Bassa-Darka methodology

In foreign studies, this questionnaire has become widespread. They confirmed its high reliability and validity. And in domestic works, the Bassa-Darki questionnaire is applied. This method was used, in particular, by S.N. Enikolopov in 1989. However, on domestic samples, data on its standardization are not indicated.

Scientists note that Bassa-Darka's technique for diagnosing aggressiveness in the situation of expertise is not protected from certain motivational distortions. The answer may depend, for example, on the person's setting, on social desirability. In addition, the reliability of the results obtained also depends on the degree of confidence in the relationship between the psychologist and the subject, if the Bassa-Darka technique is used to diagnose aggression. Therefore, the results obtained require verification of reliability by retest or other methods. The use of this questionnaire in working with pupils of schools (from the 6th grade and above) and with the teachers turned out to be quite diagnostic, and also constructive for further corrective work. At present, the Bassa-Darka technique is widely used. The purpose of its application we have considered, now it is necessary to determine the main provisions.

The distinction between the concepts of hostility and aggression

A. Basse, pushing away from the development of his predecessors, delineated the concepts of hostility and aggression. He defined the first as a reaction that develops negative assessments of events and people, negative feelings. The method of studying the aggression of Bassa-Darka implies differentiation of various manifestations of hostility and aggression. The types of reactions that scientists have identified in this regard are as follows.

Types of reactions

1. Physical aggression, that is, the use of physical force against another person.

2. Indirect, directed in a roundabout way to another person or not directed at anyone.

3. Irritation, that is willingness to show negative feelings at the slightest excitement. It can also be defined as rudeness, quick temper.

4. Negativism, which is an oppositional manner in behavior. It can manifest itself in various ways, from passive resistance to struggle against existing laws and customs.

5. Insult, that is, envy or hatred towards others around certain actions, fictitious or real.

6. Suspicion, which can range from caution and distrust to people to the belief that they are causing or planning to do harm.

7. Another type of reaction is verbal aggression. It is an expression of negative feelings both through verbal responses (threats, curses), and through form (yelp, scream).

8. Feelings of guilt is a possible belief of a person that he is bad, which is wrong. This includes the remorse felt by him.

Concluding the description of the Bassa-Darka technique, we note that the questionnaire includes 75 statements. On them the subject must answer unequivocally: either "yes" or "no." Based on this, the degree of aggressiveness of a person is assessed. Let us now turn to the method of interpreting the results obtained.

Interpretation of results

The processing of the Bassa-Darka method is not very difficult. The questions are formulated in such a way that they concern only one form of aggression. In addition, the results of the Bassa-Darka methodology can be easily interpreted also because the influence of public approval of an answer is as weak as possible.

The aggression rate, according to Rogov EI, is the value of its index, which is 21 ± 4. As for hostility, it must be within 6.5-7 ± 3. The scheme of Hwang AA is somewhat more complicated, but it does not greatly complicate such a method of investigating aggression as the Bassa-Darka technique. Interpretation of the results according to Hwan is the following. Raw points scored on each individual scale should be multiplied by a factor. Its goal is to bring to the points the maximum value of the parameters for each scale proposed by the Bassa-Darka technique for the diagnosis of aggressiveness.

Interpretation, however, is not entirely unambiguous. Using this technique, one must understand that aggressiveness, which is a property of a person, as well as aggression, understood as an act of behavior, can be analyzed only within the framework of a psychological analysis of the entire motivational and needful sphere of a person. Otherwise, the results may be inaccurate. Therefore, this technique (the Bassa-Darka questionnaire) is used together with others, such as projective techniques (for example, Lusher) and personality tests of various mental states (Spielberg, Cattell).