AGGRESSION- social psychological theories Flashcards
what are the two types of social psychological theories of aggression?
social learning theory
deindivuation
what does social theory suggest?
we learn aggression through observation and watching the behaviour of role models and imitating behaviour if we identify with them
who also observes aggressive behaviour?
children and learning consequences of others being reinforced or punished
what is the children’s behaviour consequences also known as?
vicarious reinforcement
what did bandura claim for social learning to take place?
child must be able to form mental representation of the events in their social environments
what must the child also imagine with such behaviours?
possible rewards and punishments for their aggressive behaviour. the child may perform behaviour in future only if reward outweighs the punishment
what will happen if rewarded with aggression?
child may repeat and if punished less confident to repeat
what is the main supporting study for aggression?
Bandura- bobo doll
what was observed in bandura bobo doll study?
involved children observing aggressive and non agrressive adult models and then being tested to see whether imitate
process of bandura bobo doll?
children 3-5 male and female half exposed to aggre to life size doll and other non aggressive- children were fustratred by being shown toys that then not allowed to play with
what happened to children in the aggressive condition in study?
reproduced good deal of physically and verbally aggre b similar to the model. children w non= no aggress with doll
does banduras study support the theory?
supports slt and demonstrates how children may aquire aggresive acts by modeled behaviour by others
what study was used in contrast for the bobo doll study?
bandura & walters
what did they want to find out in bandura & walters?
try and identify why child would be motivated to perform the same aggressive behaviours in absence of model
process of bandura & walters?
children divided into 3 grps witch each seeing diff end to a film of adult model being aggrssive to bob doll
gp 1- saw model rewarded showing aggressive
gp 2 saw punishment
3 observed the model but n consequences for aggressve b
finding of bandura & walters?
that children subsequent b was affected depending on which ending watched
what did bandura also find with this bandura & walters study?
this type of vicarious learning supported slt as children were basing behaviour on likely consequences shaping according
what is questionable abut bandura & walters?
whether punishment prevented learrning or simply performance of aggressive b
what was banduras other study also conducted on?
on occassion all children in 3 grps rewards for aggressive b after exposure to model
what was found with banduras other study?
all 3 groups performed similar levels of b
what does banduras other study suggest?
learning takes place regardless of reinforcements,reinforcements themselves are related in b actually demonstrated -
evaluation of the 3 studies of children?
based on children so little generalisation on adult pop may be better off to explain children than adults
what study applies to aggresive behaviour for adults?
phillip et al
what happened in phillip et al study?
homicide rates in us almost increased in following weak after a major televised boxing match supporting slt may apply to adults
what does phillip et al study suggest?
viewers may be imitating b they watched in violent boxing matches supporting slt and wider gen
critiscm of phillip et al’s study?
cannot be sure of cause and effect for certain whether match or other variables
also possible negative of banduras study?
demand characteristics in children = lack realism and validity
strength of slt?
can explain differences in aggression between and within individuals
what study suggest cultures and slt with aggression?
wolfgang et al
what was suggested with wolfgang et al?
propose that culture of violence proposing that large scieties some subcultures develop norms that sanction use of violence to a greater degree than dominant culture
whats on the otherhand of wolfgangs study?
cultures may also emphaises and model non aggressive b which in turn produced individuals with low levels of aggression
what can wolfgangs theory support?
slt and explain how cultural differences exist in aggression
what tribe is where aggression is really rare?
kung san tribe?
what do the parents of children who argue and fight do in the kung san tribe?
do not reward or punish but physically seperate them and try distract to other things- secondly physical punishments /aggressive posturing is avoided by adults and devalued by kung san tribe as whole
how does the lack of direct reinforcement help in kung san tribe?
little opportunity or motivate for kung san children to learn aggressive b
what are 4 issues and debates of slt?
reductionist,deterministic,free will,gender bias, ethical issues
in what way is it reductionist?
portrays humans as simple and ignores cog factors or even biol facors. many factors are involved such as emotional which slt ignores
in what way is it deterministic?
theory assumes people likely to be aggressive when exposed to such behaviour an there being rewards for it
in what way does it portray free will?
banduras study noted childen found most aggressive and outside also suggests some children who less aggrssive and still exposed excercised choice of free will
in what way does it portray issue of gender bias?
found women tend to be less aggressive than men crime stastics in males and demales for violent offences vary yet we assume both exposed to similar levels through media etc-slt cannot epxlain this-
in what way does it have ethical issues?
frustrating children e.g bobo doll
what is deindividuation theory based on?
le bons crowd theory
what did le bons crowd theory describe?
described how an individual was transformed in their behaviour when they are part of a crowd and being annoymous in a vast crowd
what happens due to le bons crowd theory with indidviual?
loses self control and capable of acting in a way that goes against social norms that they may adhere to when not part of such a crowd
what is deindividuation then?
psychological state characterised by lowered self awareness and decreased concerns about their own evaluation by others
when does deindividuation occur?
person joins a crowd or large group with important factors contributing to annoymity ,the feeling of reduced responsibility in crowd,increased arousal,sensory overload and altered conciousness due to drugs and alcohol
why in a crowd?
because they feel like they cant be held accountable for their behaviour
what did zimbardo propose in being part of a crowd?
reduces persons awareness of own individuality -larger the group = greater the feelings of annoymity
zimbardo research into this?
stanford prison experiment
what happened in stanford prison experiment?
experiment to measure whether brutality reported among guards in american prisons where down to personality /situational factors-simulated prison created and 24 emotionally stable men used . 1 random to be guard and 1 ranom to prisoners.guards and prisoners deind to be annoymous guards dressed as role and created abusive enviroment for prisoners and prisoners began acting passive
findings of stanford prison experiment?
both shown deindividuation supporting theory lowering sense of identity = anti social
who also used the concept of deindividuation?
mann et al
what did mann et al do to explain what?
collective behaviour known as the baiting crowd
what happened in mann et al?
used deindivid- supprots view that crowd is a d mob analysed 21 incidences of suicide jumps reported in us newspares 60’s 70’.
what did mullen et al find?
10 out od 21 causes where a crowed gathered to warcg baiting had occured with crowd urging potential suicide to jump. tended to occure more at night when crowd large and some distance from person being taunted they were less identifiable to themselves- factors believed to have produeed a state of d in crowd members
what does the splvey et al study suggest of deindividuation?
pro social effects
what are the issues and debates of deindividuation?
reductionist, ethical concerns, gender bias, deterministic
why is it reductionist?-
psychological exp such as de theory ignores role of bio factors or individ differences btw people in genetics brain psychology testosterone levels etc therefore reduc to assume people act aggressive based on deind only
why is it ethical concerns?
zimbardo prison experiment raised ethical concern due to treatment- abuse etc zimbardo aruged condition created hw neccessary to prove how de ind worked and intervening prior made it impossible to see how it worked
why is it gender bias?
cannavale et al found male and females behaved diff under deind increasing in aggr more in males- others confirmed similar findings- men more prone sugessting gender diff so cannot be generalised across both genders
why determinstic?
baiting crowd-mann et al based only on b of americans cant genealise. behaviour witnessd may be suited to westen cltures not universial = cultural bias and determin- assuming ppl will behave aggressively and this is clearly not case as prosocial behaviour also seen to occur
