Approaches to Aggression Flashcards
The Authoritarian Personality (TAP)
Intrapersonal Approach
Adorno et al (1950)
- Show deference to those in power but hostility to those who are weak.
- A central idea of The Authoritarian Personality is that authoritarianism is the result of a Freudian developmental model. Excessively harsh and punitive parenting was posited to cause children to feel immense anger towards their parents; yet fear of parental disapproval or punishment caused people to not directly confront their parents, but rather to identify with and idolise authority figures.
- Another major hypothesis is that the authoritarian syndrome is predisposed to right-wing ideology and therefore receptive to fascist governments.
Measuring TAP - The F-Scale (Fascism scale)
Intrapersonal Approach
Adorno (1950) created the F-scale based on TAP, it targets an authoritarian, anti-democratic personality profile that makes a person susceptible to Fascist propaganda. The items were written in accordance to fascist propaganda materials
The scale was flawed as all the items were scored in the same direction, therefore it was very. easy to see through the purpose of the scale and be dishonest.
The F-Scale didn’t work so using the 3 features which correlated, the RWA scale was created.
Right Wing Authoritarianism Scale (RWA scale)
Intrapersonal Approach
The concept of Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) was developed by Altemeyer (1998) whose aim was to start afresh the study of authoritarianism by overcoming theoretical and empirical limitations of the research tradition originated by Adorno et al., (1950). In its most recent form, the shortened version is made up of 30 items with a 9-point likert-type response scale.
- It’s based on the 3 correlating features of the authoritarian personality: conventionalism (rigid values), authoritarian submission and authoritarian aggression.
RWA Scale is suggested as the best psychometric scale available and uses cognitive terms rather than psychodynamic.Other scales are available but these are the most influential.
-RWA is still used under renewed interest as Trump is in power.Some of the scale items are dated and more recent scales are more sensitive however the RWA still works well. Relevance to now? Trump supporters statistically have a tendency towards Authoritarianism.
The Summer Riots 2011
LeBon’s (1896) Crowd Theory
Situational Approach
The media attributed a lack of respect, rap music, mindless looting, single parent families and liberal education to the occurrence of the Summer Riots.
There was little evidence for Le Bon’s crowd-theory and brainwashing idea, it doesn’t offer a useful psychological explanation.
The Summer Riots in the UK escalated over 4 days in August 2011. What initially began as a protest regarding the death of Mark Duggan once he was arrested spiralled out of control causing £300 million worth of damage.
Mob mentality is the idea that within crowds people feel anonymous. Behaviours can be contagious, even harmful behaviour, which one would never do alone.
Sherif et al (1954) Summer Camp Studies
Realistic Conflict Theory
Having mutually exclusive group goals = in-group identification and out-group conflict
Shared goals result in harmony and co-operation and competition between groups result in negative attitudes and can escalate to hostile behaviours.
Asch (1952/55)
Situational: Group Norm Experiments
Asch used an unambiguous stimulus to test whether people would yield to group pressure despite being wrong.
1/3 judgements were distorted by the group pressure/effect
There was extreme individual variation, 1/4 ppts were never swayed by the group but 1/3 followed the group more than 50% of the time
Milgrams study (1963) Situational: Obedience Experiment
Conformity is following peer groups however… Obedience is complying to authoritative figures.
The prods used in the study were extensively research prior and the most effective were found.
Gibson (2012) recovered transcripts from Milgram’s study and carried out discourse analysis. The pre-prepared prods stopped participants from resisting commands no matter how much they tried to disobey- forcefulness was definitely evident in this study.
Language in this scenario played a powerful role in shaping what was going to happen, and how behaviour was eventually justified.
Fiske, Harris & Cuddy (2004)
Meta-analysis
Accounts of prisoner abuse and other institutional violence often blame a few isolated individuals, but social psychology emphasises social contexts, which can make almost anyone oppress, conform, and obey in abetting destructive social behaviour.
This meta-analysis demonstrates the quantitative reliability and import of social contexts. Recent data show that initial reactions to low-status, oppositional out-groups may involve disgust and contempt, consistent with abuse. Together, social pressures and social prejudices help explain the recent abuse scandals.
Enhanced interrogation is ‘necessarily’ used but how much authority do those who inflict this have to stand up against it?
