Week 6: Villains & Heroes Flashcards
Is being villainous to act in a socially acceptable manner?
Heroes and villains
Socially desirable and socially undesirable
Compliance and Obedience- The Milgram Experiment 1960
- Is a behaviour villainous if we consider the influence of others? Good old Iago debates.
Social Conformity- The Asch Experiment 1950
What is aggression
Aggression is a behavioural phenomenon said to occur from perceived injustices, frustrations and anger overall. Socialisation is used to reign aggressive behaviour.
So far, perceived as inate. However, the activation and inhibiton on aggression depends on culture and learning.
Origin of Aggression, and types
-Instinctual perspective
-Evolutionary perspective
-Cognitive neoassociation
-Cognitive-social approaches (cognitive and behavioural perspective)
Are we born with aggression
Likely yes, we are socialised and taught to inhibit this behaviour.
Instinctual perspective- Inhibited expression from socialisation
Implicit shame- Gilligan 1996 met with incarcerated citizens who described the reasons for their actions as a response to feeling shame from inadequacy and perceived disrespect.
-Passion crimes
-Instinctual- Lorenz anger builds up over time, this isn’t applicable to everyone as there is no general trend of humans following the same pattern.
Evolutionary perspective-
What do you know, it’s all because of survival and reproduction.
Males tend to kill other men for reproductive access, and also the children. In doing so, the mother will dedicate their resources to them.
The women displays aggressive in response to attacks from their young.
Appeasement techniques
The concept is universal, expression of this concept is divided between cultures.
What other techniques have we developed to override our evolutionary inhibitions?
Killing at a distance, inducing harm without being physically present. This inhibits any distress responses from occurring, and overrides this seamlessly.
Life history theory
Personality as adaptability
Slow life strategy: Long-term investment in offspring, reared late in age and taken care of for a significant proportion of the parents lifetime.
Fast life strategy: Reared young, with the goal to have as many children within a short-time span. With the expectation that some may die off, but a proportion will persevere. Characters scoring high in the dark triad traits are most likely to be categorised as ‘fast life strategy’. They expect immediate reward.
What types believe aggression is inbuilt human behaviour?
Instinctual psychologists
Evolutionary psychologists
Physiological aspects of aggression
- Neural processes- Signals interpreted through the thalamus then sent to the hypothalamus and amgydala are involved in the process. Also sent to the cortex for further consideration. Limbic structure assesses the emotional stimuli. The hypothalamus triggers endocrine responses. Midbrain emphasis for animals. Incarcerated murders and antisocial individuals use their pre-frontal cortex 14-15% less.
- Hormones and neurotransmitters (Testosterone and serotonin)- Testosterone supposedly heightens feelings of aggression, and is claimed as social dominance. Although, there is an interconnected relationship in which causation cannot be distinguished. So, acting aggressively may also increase testosterone. Also, low levels of serotonin can lead to impulsive aggression.
- Genetics- Can be inherited, for instance how serotonin is processed.
Physiological aspects of aggression
- Neural processes- Signals interpreted through the thalamus then sent to the hypothalamus and amgydala are involved in the process. Also sent to the cortex for further consideration. Limbic structure assesses the emotional stimuli. The hypothalamus triggers endocrine responses. Midbrain emphasis for animals. Incarcerated murders and antisocial individuals use their pre-frontal cortex 14-15% less.
- Hormones and neurotransmitters (Testosterone and serotonin)- Testosterone supposedly heightens feelings of aggression, and is claimed as social dominance. Although, there is an interconnected relationship in which causation cannot be distinguished. So, acting aggressively may also increase testosterone. Also, low levels of serotonin can lead to impulsive aggression.
- Genetics- Can be inherited, for instance how serotonin is processed.
Cognitive neoassociations theory (socialised villainary)
The trigger of negative emotions can elicit similar cognitive pathways and memories that can lead to aggression?
Frustration-aggression hypothesis- Dollard 1939
Frustration in attempting to achieve a goal, may become aggressive
That weird fact…
Hot temperatures can lead to more aggressive behaviour…
Cognitive-social perspective (socialised villainary)
-Social rewards and punishment teach aggression. Attributions and observational learning, or rather social learning.
-Parental discipline examples. Harsh discipline contributes to aggressive children. An unattached parental relationship can also lead to an aggressive child.
-Bandura’s Bodo dolls, can aggression be taught?
-More aggressive at the possibility of intent to harm them.
-Exposure to casual violence on screen. Higher associations to aggression, and void of the consequences generally paired with aggression.
-Once again, it is the chicken or the egg debate. Is it that aggression occurs from viewing violence or that aggression is aroused in aggressive individuals who seek it.
The general aggression model (GAM)
In consideration of the many perspectives surrounding aggression, the GAM examines a particular person and situation. The model will then consider the unique circumstances and factoring in relevant variables.
The input being an insecure and short-fused individual, disrespected in an environment with easy access to guns. The output likely being violence.
Denson 2012 model for aggression
Angry rumination can lead to a high emotional state activating psychological and physiological processes, diffusing self-control. Thus, leading to aggression.
‘Multiple systems model’: Cognitive, neurobiological, affective, effective control and behavioural elements.
Social Influence
The collective identity we adopt, resulting in losing our individual identity.
Gustave Le Bon
Deindividuation; the anonymity found in a crowd allows the individual to disregard their accountability.
Self-fulfilling prophecies
Implicit and explicit expectations of false impressions can influence behaviour. An example of how others can influences us, and group stereotypes in general.
Snyder’s experiment found that treat women as attractive or unattractive formed the way the would respond. Women treated as attractive acted attractive, women treated as unattractive acted unattractive.
The three forms of social influence
-Obedience
-Conformity
-Group processes
Obedience
The Milgrim Experiment. Participants administer volts to another person in a different room. Each time a mistake was made the participants was instructed to administer a high voltage to the last. A mean voltage of 405 was delivered before refusal.
Influences of obedience
-Proximity (other participant and experimenter)
-Authority (power is unconscious, when considering what we would do in that situation we use conscious thinking.)
Conformity
The Asch Study. The white lines on a card study. A confederate presented the choice for individuals to either choose between either ostrasisation from the group’s opinion or thinking for themselves. Unless another dissenter spoke up.
Factor of influence- Conformity in culture
Varies throughout different cultures. Higher rates of conformity exist when relating to livelihood. Autonomy.
Factor of influence- Conformity in gender and age
Women are more likely to conform than men when in a f2f situation or public speaking. Adolescents develop a resistance to peer pressure through age.
Group processes
A group of people congregate and impart on each other. The group forms a collective identity, that forgoes their individual identities. Often there is a lack of accountability characteristic of those who identify themselves within a group (implicitly or explicitly).
The group operates on a standard of behaviour called…
Norms, explicit and implicit.
A reference group…
A group the individual either aspires to or against. It is a standard to measure their behaviour against.
A positive reference group is one we aspire to (not necessarily a positive influence)
A negative reference group is one we aspire against (not necessarily a negative influence).
A role…
Predetermined behaviour that an individual is expected to follow for the benefit of the group. Although, a role allows an individual to make decisions without the expectation of consulting others.
Internalise roles as role schema.
Group management- Leadership
Instrumental and task leaders
Social-emotional leaders
Standford Experiment Zimbardo
Prisoners and Guards, the roles lead to the characters exhibiting behaviour and experiencing emotions attached to their perspective of the role.
The study showed how role’s structed people’s behaviour, emotions and identities.
Group Social Influence
Social facilitation- The presence of others can either help or hinder performance. When performing dominant, well-learned and familiar behaviour others presence can help performance. Otherwise, if you were learning a behaviour and it was not familiar, nor dominant; this is likely to hinder performance.
-There are some exceptions like ‘choking under pressure’, or possibly a continuance of the pressure associated with non-dominant behaviour. Like a once-in-a-lifetime-match.
Social loafing
Where a task involves many individuals, less accountability is adopted and coordinating efforts is difficult to facilitate.
Tasks and social facilitation
Disjunctive task: Performing a task alone, yes or no answer that can only be supplied by you.
Disjunctive task/puzzles can be categorised into…
Eureka when the answer seamlessly fits with our expectations/ thinking.
Non-eureka when the answer and our explainations render us unsure.
Groupthink:
When decisions are prioristied for the harmonisation of the group and not for the reality of the decision
Seek concurrences and censor dissenting opinions.
Stress + charisma contribute to the devoted actions of groupthink.
Opposition hardens internal groupthink beliefs.
Janis 1982 Model of Groupthink
- Antecedents (seek cohesiveness)
- Symptoms of groupthink (establish invulnerability)
- Symptoms of poor decision-making (failure to objectively analyse risks)
Group decision making
Group polarisation
Move to an extreme position against the views and standards the group previously possessed.
-Deviant opinions can reduce group morale
-Can also widen possibilities
Group cohesiveness
When a group aligns themselves closely with each other to be viewed more favourably by their other members.
Heroes
Courage, outstanding qualities and achievements.
Sociably acceptable acts of good.
Acts on the call.
What is a reluctant hero, according to Zimbardo,?
‘Implicitly supports the perpetrators of evil’
Why
Villains
Intentionally commit evils.
Likely to lack morality and conscience.
This module considers whether we are socialised into these roles. Heroes and villains. Altruism and aggression. Although, the last is from a socially desirable/undesirable perspective
Is a villain a result of a lack of internal moral insight or misunderstood social perceptions.
All experiments give examples of roles. If I could underline roles I would.
The articles classification of roles, projected through movies.
Powerful/weak
Benevolent/Malevolent
The Dark Triad- Antisocial personality traits
Personality traits that cannot be measured cohesively, and all occur as seperate measures.
-Narcissism
-Machiavellianism
-Psychopathy
Machiavellianism
Better to be feared than loved, if you can’t have both.
-Dishonest
-Gullible
-Driven to fulfill their own needs
35% overlap with Psychopathy
Challegning life events
Men
After the 30s
-Probably the worst because they are functionally evil, and capable of escaping unnoticed.
Narcissists
Grandiose
Vulnerable
