Social Psychological explanations of Aggression Flashcards
What does the social learning theory suggest?
That behaviour is learnt either through direct experience or vicarious reinforcement
Name the first social psychological theory
Social learning theory
What is direct experience?
Where an individual performs an aggressive act and receives a reward for that behaviour. E.g. earns respect
What is vicarious reinforcement?
Where a person learns through watching the consequences of someone’s behaviour (role model). If someone sees someone being rewarded for acting aggressively they are likely to imitate that aggression
What are the 4 stages to SLT?
ARRM
Attention - must be paid in order to learn from aggression. More attractive, more likely to be copied
Retention - must remember in order to imitate
Reproduction - must be physically able to imitate aggression observed
Motivation - if person was rewarded, more likely to want to copy
Research into SLT
Bandura et al (1961)
Bandura, Ross and Ross (63)
Williams
Research of Bandura et al (1961)
72 ppts Stanford uni nursery
Equal number males and females
1/2 exposed to agg role model, 1/2 not
Experimental group - 1/2 same sex RM, 1/2 opposite sex
Child played in one corner, adult in other (exposed to aggression or not)
Taken into another room, would they play with agg toys or non agg toys?
Research of Williams
Studied levels of physical and verbal aggression in a Canadian community after the introduction of TV
Levels of agg increased post introduction
Research of Bandura, Ross and Ross (1963)
Video clip showing adult being verbally and physically aggressive towards bobo doll.
3 conditions:
Model reward
Model punish
No consequence
Children placed in room, not allowed to play with toys, angry and frustrated
Taken to another room, played with toys for 10 mins, agg rated.
After, all children offered reward if could imitate behaviour shown
Evaluation points for SLT
Supporting research Cultural issues - !Kung San Tribe Gender issues Real life behaviour Too simp Deterministic
What is the second social psychological theory of aggression?
Deindividuation
Who proposed the theory of deindividuation?
Festinger
What is deindividuation?
‘A process whereby people lose their sense of socialised identity and often engage in unsocialised often anti-social behaviours’
Why do people refrain from acting in an aggressive manner?
Consequences/punishments
Guilt (morally wrong)
Public perception (de-valued, lose friends, less likely to be liked)
Who are Hogg and Vaughn?
Deindividuation
When in large crowds, aggressive behaviour may become more relaxed and so we may engage in ‘an orgy of aggressive, selfish and anti-social behaviour’
What does Zimbardo say about deindividuation?
Being part of a large crowd can reduce individuality because you are anonymous. Individuals don’t feel as identifiable as they would if alone.
The larger the group…
The greater the anonymity and so the greater the difficulty in identifying the individual
How does being watched make a person behave?
Being watched makes people feel self-conscious. They monitor their behaviour for fear of being judged by others. They obey rules of society.
What happens if a person is deindividuated?
Lose sense of social awareness. More inclined to break the rules of society increasing likelihood of aggression.
What is self-awareness?
The idea we know what type of person we are. This normally governs our behaviour. E.g. Strict Christian may walk away from agg situation because they’re aware that as a Christian they are not aggressive
When does deindividuation occur?
When self-awareness is blocked by environmental factors - increase in aggression
Become caught up in the situation of the environment and their self-awareness is reduced
Name the research into deindividuation
Zimbardo 73 - Stanford prison experiment
Zimbardo 70
Research of Zimbardo 73
Stanford prison ex. Healthy well adjusted male students Proposed to last 2 weeks Assigned role of prisoner or guard Prisoners arrested at home Guards wore dark glasses, khaki trousers, wooden batons Prisoners - smocks and referred to as designated number Rebelled after 2 days, ex ended after 6 Prisoners were visibly stressed Harassed and humiliated
Research of Zimbardo 70
Female ppts dressed in white lab coats and hoods
Control group - casual clothes
Had to administer electric shocks they thought were genuine
Evaluation of deindividuation theory
Deindividuation can lead to PRO-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
Prac apps
Supporting research
