Aggression and prosocial behaviour Flashcards
Definition of aggression
Cultural dependent - social psychology see it as: behaviour intending to harm someone else - intention is crucial
Measuring aggression
ethically difficult normally self-report / punching a doll or similar
Biological explanation
Aggression innate instinct. Freud: builds up naturally and needs release. Needed for survival of genes.
Limitations of biological approach
Immeasurable innate energy, limited evidence and not helpful for prevention
Social and biosocial explanation (3 theories)
Frustration-aggression theory: Dollard: aggression caused by frustration
Excitation-transfer-model: Zillman: aggression as learned behaviour - aggression seen as appropriate action
Social learning theory: Bandura: aggression and control is learned by experience and rolemodels and imitation (ie video games)
Situational factors in aggression
Catharsis: provided opportunities to release aggression, might lead to aggressive behaviour in other situations (Bushman)
Factors such as alcohol or heat can inhibit/disinhibit aggressive behaviour
Societal factors
Disadvantaged groups often show higher levels of aggression
Institutional violence (ie sports, war etc)
Mass media effect on aggression
Empirical evidence of watching aggressive films/play increase aggression (also aggressive porn)
Cognitive interpretation of aggressive media processing
Nodes in semantic network associated with violence activated –> probability of acting aggressively
Intervention to reduce aggression
Laws at societal level (ie firearms laws)
Political action to reduce poverty
School programs to reduce bullying (–> setting social norms)
Rewarding non-aggressive behaviour
Training of non-violent problem solving
Definition of prosocial behaviour
actions intended to help even though there is no professional obligations.
Altruism: Help without expectations of personal gain
Evolutionary theories of prosocial behaviour
Altruism may be why humans have been so successful
Cooperation with kin will promote own genes
Much unexplained ie adoption
Theories of prosocial behaviour
Empathy-altruism-hypothesis: empathy preceeds prosocial act
bystander-calculus model: 3 stages: 1) physiological arousal as empathic response 2) labelling arousal as compassion 3) Evaluating consequences of helping –> we help to seek relief from unpleasant arousal (ie ultimately selfish)
Situational influences / personality differences in prosocial behaviour
mood, demographics (small towns quicker to help), gender, individual differences (very little evidence - more attached person more ready to help), competence
