Aggression - social explanations Flashcards
Why is aggression not expressed against the source all the time?
- Abstract (economics, government)
- Too powerful (police)
- unavailable
What are the ways in which aggression is displaced?
- displacement behaviour: someone other than the main target
- sublimation behaviour: displacing onto socially approved stuff e.g sport
What research supports the furstration aggression hypothesis?
Geen 1968
What was Geen (1968) study?
males in 3 conditions
1. jigsaw impossible
2. confederate interference
3. confederate insults p
then given the option to shock other confederates for mistakes.
what did Geen (1968) find?
most aggressive:
insulted > interfered > impossible tasks
all more aggressive than the control group who had nothing but a normal jigsaw
what are the limitations of the Geen (1968) study ?
supports that frustration leads to aggression
did not show whether shocking the other participants was cathartic
What opposing research is there on cathartic aggression?
Bushman (2002)
given the option to punch a punching bag
doing nothing was more aggressive at venting aggression
cathartic behaviours do not reduce aggression
what was the revised theory for the furstration aggression hypothesis?
berkowitz and the role of environmental cues
what evidence is there to support the role of environmental stimuli?
berkowitz and Le page (1967)
what was the 1967 berkowitz study?
100 male participants given choice to shock, half angered half not
stimuli: gun, badminton and no stimulus
anger + gun = more aggression
what are opposing theories to berkowitz negative affect theory?
aggression is not the only emotion: others such as despair, determination and anxiety
What is a criticism of the frustration aggression hypothesis?
ignores mediational cognitive factors:
Pastore (1952) found a difference between justified (bus not stopping with an ‘out of service’ sign) and unjustified (bus not stopping) aggression
what is a real world application of the F-A-H ?
Priks (2010) found football fans threw more when the team performed worse than expected.
Key points of the Bandura (1961)
male + female role models
36 boys 36 girls
aged 3-6 years
boys more aggressive
same sex models more aggression
female aggression confused children
Key points of the Bandura (1965)
3 films:
- role model kicking + punching
- vicarious reinforced with sweets
- vicarious punishment with told off
What are the criticisms of the Bandura study?
lacks ecological validity and may have demand characteristics
bandura responded by models hitting a live clown, which was later immitated showing similar results
Evaluate the SLT as an explanation of aggression?
:) Good face validity, children do imitate behaviour
:) supports context dependant learning, certain social expetations in some places tham others
:( ignores biological
:( model is ‘behaviourally deterministic’ when it is likely child considers implications
What did David Dodd (1985)?
“if you could do anything…and get away with it - what would you do?
36% anti-social
26% criminal acts
9% pro-social
define de-individuation?
people loose their personal identity and their inhibitions about violence, often in large groups creating a ‘collective mind’
what are the 2 factors that contribute to de-individuation?
anonymity
altered consciousness (drugs)
how does de-individuation cause aggression?
- reduces inner restraints
- lowers personal consequences
- loss of self-awareness (private - less critical in a crowd, public - crowd is less likely to judge personally)
what was the Zimbardo (1969) study?
potato sack women!
4 females required to give shocks to ‘aid learning’. half wore lab coats and hoods that hid faces and sat separately and not named, half named in normal clothes and introduced
de-individuated Ps more likely to shock victim and held it for longer
what did douglas and mcgarty (2001) find?
more anonimity = more hostile posts online
what are the individual differences to responding to de-individuation?
carnavale (1970) increase in agg found in all male groups but not all female
eagly (2013) men tend to respond to provocation in agg manner
testosterone and amygdala
‘tend and befriend’ in women
what did spivey and prentice-dunn find (1990)?
de-individuation also led to pro social behaviour with the pro social cue like a model
who conducted deviance in the dark?
Gergen (1973)
