Aggression - social explanations

Question 1

Why is aggression not expressed against the source all the time?

Answer 1

1. Abstract (economics, government)
2. Too powerful (police)
3. unavailable

Question 2

What are the ways in which aggression is displaced?

Answer 2

• displacement behaviour: someone other than the main target
• sublimation behaviour: displacing onto socially approved stuff e.g sport

Question 3

What research supports the furstration aggression hypothesis?

Answer 3

Geen 1968

Question 4

What was Geen (1968) study?

Answer 4

males in 3 conditions
1. jigsaw impossible
2. confederate interference
3. confederate insults p

then given the option to shock other confederates for mistakes.

Question 5

what did Geen (1968) find?

Answer 5

most aggressive:
insulted > interfered > impossible tasks

all more aggressive than the control group who had nothing but a normal jigsaw

Question 6

what are the limitations of the Geen (1968) study ?

Answer 6

supports that frustration leads to aggression
did not show whether shocking the other participants was cathartic

Question 7

What opposing research is there on cathartic aggression?

Answer 7

Bushman (2002)
given the option to punch a punching bag
doing nothing was more aggressive at venting aggression
cathartic behaviours do not reduce aggression

Question 8

what was the revised theory for the furstration aggression hypothesis?

Answer 8

berkowitz and the role of environmental cues

Question 9

what evidence is there to support the role of environmental stimuli?

Answer 9

berkowitz and Le page (1967)

Question 10

what was the 1967 berkowitz study?

Answer 10

100 male participants given choice to shock, half angered half not
stimuli: gun, badminton and no stimulus
anger + gun = more aggression

Question 11

what are opposing theories to berkowitz negative affect theory?

Answer 11

aggression is not the only emotion: others such as despair, determination and anxiety

Question 12

What is a criticism of the frustration aggression hypothesis?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

what is a real world application of the F-A-H ?

Answer 13

Priks (2010) found football fans threw more when the team performed worse than expected.

Question 14

Key points of the Bandura (1961)

Answer 14

male + female role models
36 boys 36 girls
aged 3-6 years

boys more aggressive
same sex models more aggression
female aggression confused children

Question 15

Key points of the Bandura (1965)

Answer 15

3 films:
- role model kicking + punching
- vicarious reinforced with sweets
- vicarious punishment with told off

Question 16

What are the criticisms of the Bandura study?

Answer 16

lacks ecological validity and may have demand characteristics

bandura responded by models hitting a live clown, which was later immitated showing similar results

Question 17

Evaluate the SLT as an explanation of aggression?

Answer 17

:) 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

Question 18

What did David Dodd (1985)?

Answer 18

“if you could do anything…and get away with it - what would you do?
36% anti-social
26% criminal acts
9% pro-social

Question 19

define de-individuation?

Answer 19

people loose their personal identity and their inhibitions about violence, often in large groups creating a ‘collective mind’

Question 20

what are the 2 factors that contribute to de-individuation?

Answer 20

anonymity
altered consciousness (drugs)

Question 21

how does de-individuation cause aggression?

Answer 21

1. reduces inner restraints
2. lowers personal consequences
3. loss of self-awareness (private - less critical in a crowd, public - crowd is less likely to judge personally)

Question 22

what was the Zimbardo (1969) study?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

what did douglas and mcgarty (2001) find?

Answer 23

more anonimity = more hostile posts online

Question 24

what are the individual differences to responding to de-individuation?

Answer 24

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

Question 25

what did spivey and prentice-dunn find (1990)?

Answer 25

de-individuation also led to pro social behaviour with the pro social cue like a model

Question 26

who conducted deviance in the dark?

Answer 26

Gergen (1973)