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Frustration, aggression and the non-violent Semai

American ethnologist4 (4)Published In 1977 • Pages: 762-779

By: Robarchek, Clayton Allen.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This source examines the frustration-aggression hypothesis formulated by Dollard and his co-workers in the light of a body of ethnographic data on the Senoi including various theories about and research on the nature of emotion. The result of this analysis seems to indicate that the frustration-aggression hypothesis by itself is inadequate to explain observed behavior. Robarchek postulates an alternative theory or model within a system-oriented framework that would incorporate not only the basic tenets of the frustration-aggression hypothesis, but also other extant approaches to the study of aggression and emotion. This alternative model is then employed in an attempt to understand better the origins of “…and the relationships between, the subjectively perceived emotions of fear and anger and their behavioral concomitants in a specific ethnographic context” (p. 777). After a careful identification of the significant variables involved (e.g., physiological status, psychological processes, interaction patterns, and culturally defined beliefs and values), the model is applied in various situations to predict behavior in contexts different from that in which it was initially drawn. These predictions, says the author, were largely supported by additional ethnographic data.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Drives and emotions
Personality disorders
Spirits and gods
Magic
Ethnopsychology
Premarital sex relations
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Semai
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2012
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Asia
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Southeast Asia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
article
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle; 1989
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1973-1974
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1962-1974
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Perak and Pahang, Malaysia
NotesAdditional notes
Clayton A. Robarchek
Includes bibliographical references (p. 778-779)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
74644326
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Senoi (Southeast Asian people)