Aggression Booklet 5: Social psychological explanations Flashcards
What are three different social psychological explanations?
- Frustration-aggression hypothesis
- Social Learning Theory
- De-individuation
Who proposed the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
Dollard
What did Dollard say about the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
Suggested aggression is a consequence of feelings of frustration, frustration is a feeling that we experience when we are working towards a goal and there are barriers that prevent you from doing it
Therefore frustration is an unpleasant experience, and to be relieved of it we need to be …
aggressive
What are the 2 factors that affect whether aggression will occur?
Proximity - if person is closer to achieving their goal then likelihood of aggression greater
If frustration Justifiable - If there is no justifiable reason (train cancelled no reason for example) then more likely to lead to aggression
What is the first study into frustration-aggression hypothesis?
Green
What was the method of Green’s study?
Gave male students a task of completing a jigsaw puzzle, level of frustration was manipulated by researcher in three days
1. Puzzle impossible to complete
2. Ran out of time because of interfering confederate
3. Confederate insulted participant as they failed to solve puzzle
(Also a control group no frustration)
Next part, the participants allowed to shock the participant every time they made a mistake on another task
What were the results of Green’s study?
Found participants who were insulted gave the strongest shocks, then interfere group, then impossible, all three chose more aggressive than control group
What are the evaluations of the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
😀Research evidence to support: Harris
😀Evidence to support justification: Pastore
😥Methodological issues: self-report
😀Evidence to support: Przybylski
😥Overly simplistic (individual differences)
What happened in research study to support: Harris?
Had confederates push in front of peoples queues in shops, found that the closer the person was to the front, more likely to act aggressive (proximity)
What happened in research study to support: Pastore?
He gave participants a series of situations to rate how aggressive they would feel in, included situations like: waiting for a bus and seeing it drive past, found that people angrier and more aggressive when situation was frustrating, however, however self-reported more angry when frustration not justified (Bus just didn’t stop) instead of (Bus out of service)
What happened in research study to support: Przybylski?
-Participants take part in a study about video games, before study place hands in ice-cold bath for 25 seconds, told that this length of time determined by earlier participants
-Then played tetris, half played regular half played BasTet
-It was found that after tetris, participants who played BasTet gave longer punishments by a mean of 10 seconds, neither game was violent but aggression increased in BasTet
What is the SLT explanation for aggression?
According to Bandura, aggression is learned through modelling
-Must be through a role model: parent, sibling, celebrity etc.
-If person observes role model being vicariously rewarded, makes more/less likely to repeat
What are the different factors that affect modelling, ARRM?
Attention
Retention
Reproduction
Motivation
What are the evaluations of SLT explanation of aggression?
😀Evidence to support: Bandura
😀Evidence to support: Williams
😀Positive practical application: reduce aggression (fantasy games?)
😥Socially sensitive (places blame off perp but media they exposed to)
What happened in evidence to support SLT study: Williams?
Studied a remote Canadian Village in the 1980s before and after the introduction of TV to the area, found aggression through words and actions rose after introduction of TV
What is de-individuation?
A process whereby people lose their sense of individuality and identity and engage in socialised aggressive behaviour
When does de-individuation occur?
When individuals feel less identifiable, hidden by a uniform or being in a large group, their behaviour is less inhibited so they’re more likely to be aggressive
What did Le Bon highlight?
Highlighted that when part of a large anonymous crowd, individuals are more likely to behave in an anti-social and aggressive manner. Individuals in groups fails to see the consequences of their action and social norms are forgotten
What is the most important factor towards de-individuation?
Anonymity - more anonymous the crowd, the greater the threat of extreme actions because a “collective mindset” takes over and crowd acts as one
Prentice-Dunn distinguished two types of self-awareness, what were these?
Public self-awareness: in normal circumstances people are concerned about the impression they will create in others
Private self-awareness: this relates to the individual’s own thoughts, feeling, values and morals. Your own internal standards
De-individuation can lead to a … in these types of self-awareness which Prentice-Dunn believes can then often lead to aggressive behaviour
Shift/change
What are the evaluations of De-individuation?
😀Evidence to support: ZImbardo
😀Evidence to support: Zimbardo’s Milgram study
😥Evidence to contradict: Gergen
😀Practical application: Reduce football hooliganism
What happened in Zimbardo’s Milgram study?
Reenacted milgram study but deindividuated participants with bulky lab coats and hoods that hid faces, sat in separate cubicles and never referred to by name. Other group wore clothes and wore name tags, deindividuated participants shocked learner twice as long as identifiable participants
What happened in Gergen study?
Groups of 8 participants who were complete strangers placed in a dark room with each other for an hour, told to do whatever they like and would never encounter each other again.
Instead of being aggressive, they were touching and kissing (showing affection)
How could this be used to prevent football hooliganism?
As we know public self-awareness leads to increase in aggressive behaviour, steps can be taken to reduce feeling of anonymity and reduce aggression
For example, police could use CCTV in these areas
