8 - Antisocial Behaviour

Question 1

Sutton & Douglas’s definitions of:
Stereotype
Prejudice
Discrimination

Answer 1

Stereotype
- a simplified but widely shared belief about a characteristic of a group and its members

Prejudice
- a negative, affective (attitudinal) prejudgement about a group and it’s individual members
> (prejudice = negative stereotype)

Discrimination
- negative treatment of a group member simply because of their group membership

Question 2

Outgroup homogeneity

Answer 2

• people see individuals in other groups negatively, and as being more similar to one another
• people see their own group as better, with more difference between individuals

Potential explanations for outgroup homogeneity:
- we see out own group as more diverse because we spend more time with them, we are not exposed to the other group (not a sufficient explanation)

• an effort to bolster individuality
• an effort to dehumanise the outgroup, so harmful action towards them is easier
• allows us to make predictions on the outgroups behaviour

Question 3

Motivation and sterotypes

Answer 3

• when people are motivated to judge people accurately, and have the cognitive capacity to do so, they are less likely to think in a stereotype-consistent way
• counter-stereotypical thinking is cognitively effortful
  > requires motivation and ability
  > also the ironic suppression effect occurs:
  + when trying not to think about a piece of information, we can’t help but think about it

Thus
- stereotypical thinking is an information-processing problem

The issue is, that someone holding a stereotype will not have the motivation to disprove it

Question 4

Subtyping

Answer 4

• when encountering stereotype-conflicting information, people accept that information as an exception to the rule

Question 5

Stereotype Threat

Answer 5

The fear of being judged in terms of a stereotype and negatively fulfilling the stereotype

• i.e. pressure to disprove a poor-performance stereotype leads to poor performance
• a self-fulfilling prophecy

Example:
‘black people are less intelligent than white people’
- forms a pressure for black people to perform well to disprove the stereotype
- this pressure acts as a cognitive load
- which causes poorer-than-normal performance by the black person

• these findings are supported by the subsequent test that showed black people compiled more stereotype activation words, and self-doubt words (confirming the cognitive presence of the stereotype)

Question 6

Modern Racism

Answer 6

Covert Racism

Termed by Divinio et al., (1997)

• Explicit Racism
• Implicit Racism (modern racism)
• explicit attitudes predict overt responses (attitudes and judgements)
• implicit attitudes predict spontaneous behaviour (body language)

Divinio argued that today’s media forms a subconscious racist stereotype in white people, but that conflicts with the modern belief of equality

Question 7

How to reduce racism and discrimination

Answer 7

Contact Hypothesis

Question 8

Aggression

Answer 8

Sutton and Douglas definition:
- behaviour primarily intended to harm another being (either physical or social harm)

Buss & Perry's distinctions:
- Behavioural Aggression
> physical or verbal aggression
- Cognitive Aggression
> hostility
- Emotional Aggression
> anger

Question 9

Why people engage in aggression

Answer 9

Evolutionary Argument

• aggression is predisposed
• it is useful for gene propagation
• threat gestures are useful for reducing serious harm
• doesn’t explain why people are aggressive

Biochemical Influences: testosterone..
(Dabbs et al. prison study)
- higher testosterone levels correlate with:
> more violent convicting crime
> more disciplinary incidents in prison
> toughness rating from other prisoners
BUT correlation is not causation (potential third variable)
[males are more physically aggressive than females]

Aggression as a drive
(Lorenz, 1966)
- aggression is a fighting instinct (evolutionarily)
- aggressive desire builds up and must be released, this occurs when circumstances permit

Aggression is Learned
(Bandura, 1977)
- Bobo doll (social learning theory)

Question 10

Catharsis

Answer 10

The release of pent-up aggressive energy through vicarious or symbolic acts of aggression (non-harmful)

Bushman (2002) study:
- found that cathartic behaviours actually increased aggression towards someone
> venting frustration does not always reduce anger and aggression

Question 11

Media violence and aggression

Answer 11

Anderson & Bushman (2002) found that there’s an overall correlation (weak) between violent media exposure and aggression

The Weapons effect
(Berkowitz & LePage, 1967)
- idea generation task
Findings:
- anger + exposure to guns = more and longer shocks given
- thus situations have the capacity to influence our aggressiveness

Question 12

Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis

Answer 12

Frustration = the interference with attainment of a value or goal
Aggression = an attempt to cause harm to the source of the frustration
- aggression is most likely when:
> the goal is highly valued
> in close proximity to the goal
> the goal becomes completely unattainable (total frustration)
> multiple occurrences of frustration

Hypothesis
- frustration is the sole cause of aggression