Aggression Flashcards
Aaronson 1976 definition on aggression
Behaviour aimed at causing harm or pain
What two factors can aggression be split into?
- hostile aggression
2. aggression to achieve a goal (eg getting food)
What is interpersonal aggression?
Aggression directed at a person
What is impersonal aggression?
Violence directed at objects
What are the two ways of expressing aggression?
- Physical 2. Verbal
What does the Social explanation of aggression look at?
- Behaviourist explanations (SLT)
- Explanations for institutional aggression (situational/dispositional/importation model/deprivation model/popcorn model)
Which four factors lead to social learning?
- Paying attention
- Ability to remember
- Ability to replicate
- Motivated to replicate
Bandura et al 1961
children aged 3-6 were shown adults playing in a room
group 1: adult playing aggressively with a bobo doll - the children then acted aggressively toward the bobo doll when left in the room of toys
group 2: adult playing nicely with a bobo doll - the children then played nicely with the bobo doll when left in a room of toys
Phillips 1986
statistically significant increase in homocides (murders/manslaughters) in the USA in the weeks after several high profile boxing matches
Williams 1981
Natural study
verbal and physical aggression levels rose in children in a remote Canadian community after the introduction of TV
Short term so no long term effects report
SLT IDA
- Ethical issues with Bandura
- NATURE/NURTURE
- Implications
- Socially Sensitive
SLT Evaluation
- Lots of supporting evidence
- Can explain individual and cultural differences between levels of aggression
- Can’t explain why some people don’t end up aggressive
- It is overly simplistic
Deindividuation
Aggression as a result of the situation, rather than the person
Losing public self-awareness
cannot be seen by public
Losing private self-awareness
taking on the morals of the crowd
Zimbardo’s 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment
.
How were the guards deindividuated?
PUBLIC - aviators and outfits
PRIVATE - group of people being the guards
How were the prisoners deindividuated?
PUBLIC - there was a group of them
PRIVATE - they had numbers not names
What are the implications of Zimbardo’s study?
Bad apples vs Bad barrels
What issues with validity are associated with Zimbardo’s study?
High levels of experimenter bias
Carahan and MacFarland 2007
advertised for volunteers for two 2 studies, ‘a psychological study’ and ‘a psychological study of prison life’
those who volunttered for the second one were found to be more aggressive, authoritarian and Machiavellian and scored lower on tests of altruism and empathy
Zimbardo deindividuation
two groups of females, one weren’t deindividuated (introduced to learners, own clothes, name badges, in close proximity to learners), one were deindividuated (not introduced, wore cloaks and hoods, no name badges, away from learners), the deindividuated participants gave shocks for longer
Diener
naturalistic observation of trick or treaters. the house owner would either ask them their names or not, then leave them unattended, asking them to take 1. Those who were more deindividuated were more likely to take more than one sweet (some even stole money), compared to the less deindiviuated.
Gergen
Participants in either a well lit room or pitch black room. those in a pitch black room were significantlyIrnei= more likely to get ‘physical’ (50% cuddled, and 80% reporting feeling sexually aroused), can lead to pro-social behaviour
Irwin and Cressey
The importation model
Kane and Janus
found that: *greater periods of unemployment *lower levels of education *being young *being non-white positively correlated with prison violence
Poole and Regoli
best predictor of whether someone would be violent in a juvenile prison was whether they have a history of violence before prison
Sykes
The deprivation model Deprivation of *liberty *autonomy *goods and services *heterosexual relationships *security leads to prison violence
McCorkle et al
found that overcrowding, lack of privacy, and lack of meaningful activity all significantly influence peer violence
Davies and Burgess
attacks on prison guards were reduced when guards were experienced, suggesting it is the environment in the prison which causes violence
Haslam and Reicher
Aggressive behaviour in prison is best explained by the social role of the person
Megargee
overcrowding had no effect on prison violence, even though it is suggested to be a key factor
Lahm
looked at incidences of inmate on inmate violence experienced by 1,054 inmates across 30 prisons and found that the main predictor of violence was the age. She also found that level of overcrowding would play a part
Lenard
49 monkeys living on an island were tested and those with lowest levels of serotonin were more likely to be injured or die young, in contrast, the monkeys with higher levels of serotonin were more affectionate and groomed other monkeys more, suggesting serotonin suppresses aggressive behaviour
Mann
experimental study where serotonin levels were artificially depleted using dexfenfluramine in 35 healthy volunteers. Mann found increased self report feelings of aggression in the men, but NOT the women using a questionnaire
Raine
scanned brains of 41 murderers, and found reduced activity in pre-frontal cortex of the murderers compared to control group
Dabbs et al
692 male prisoners, measured testosterone levels from saliva, recorded type of crime and whether they have broken prison rules. Those with higher testosterone levels were more likely to have committed crimes involving sex and violence, and were more likely to have broken prison rules
Van Goozen et al
followed transsexuals before and after 3 months of hormone therapy. Male to female - reduce testosterone
female to male - increase testosterone. Tendency to aggression decreased in male to female, and increased in female to male
Brunner
A family in Holland who had high rates of extreme violence in many of the male. The violent males had a mutation on the MAO-A gene
Moffitt
442 males from birth to 26 years indicates an interaction between genes and the environment (particularly early abusive environments) is required to make someone prone to aggression in adulthood, suggesting that nature and nurture play a role
McGuffin & Gottesman
Looked at aggressive and antisocial behaviour and found the concordance rate for MZ was 85%, and DZ was 72%. (72% higher than the 50% that would show complete genetic control, suggesting environment plays a role, as the environment of DZ will be more similar than that of normal siblings)
Coccaro et al
182 male MZ, 118 male DZ. Aggression measured using self report, asking about physical and verbal aggression. Analysis of data suggests that genes contributed up to 47% of the variance in scores on physical violence, but made a smaller contribution to verbal assault.
Shackelford
461 males averaging 24 yo. self report questionnaires measuring mate retention strategies such as shouting at the female partner for looking at another male, and a previous violence towards partners questionnaire. Mate retention strategies were positively correlated with aggression.
Wilson et al
investigated whether men who are showing signs of sexual jealousy and mate retention strategies are more likely to also show signs of aggression towards their female partner. A survey was conducted of 12, 300 women and their experience of sexual harassment threats, and sexual and physical violence by their male partners. The women were also given a questionnaire about their partners sexual jealousy.
Wilson and Daly
studied homicide rates. Compared murder rates of female partners co-residing with male partner, and murder rates when female has separated from the male partner. Higher murder rates when they didn’t live together.
Chagnon
Yamomamo warriors who had killed were more likely to be married than males who had not killed, suggesting that successful warriors had increased reproductive success.
Palmer and Tilly
analysed the data from a study of sexually transmitted disease and found that the 57 gang members had a significantly higher number of sexual partners than the 63 non gang members
Lei Chang
Male, but not female, participants exposed to attractive, as compared to unattractive, opposite-sex photographs were significantly more likely to endorse war supporting statements on a questionnaire.
Grisevicius
Males were significantly more likely to say they would act aggressively after they have been put in a competitive mood than a courtship mood. Women were unaffected by type of mood
Evans and Rowe
observed 40 football games in mainland Europe which involved either the England national team or an English club team against foreign opposition. They found there were more arrests during the England games than the English club games, suggesting that identifying with a set group could lead to an increase in aggression
