Social explanations

Social explanations

1. Frustration aggression

   • A theory that anger, hostility and violence are the outcome when we are prevented from achieving our goals. Dollard et al - Stated that aggression is always a result of frustration and that frustration always leads to aggression (whether it be aggressive behaviour or just feeling aggressive). The strength of the anger is determined by the degree of frustration (how much you want to reach the goal, how close you were to achieving it).
   • Aggression is cathartic (psychological relief through the expression of strong emotion) So if we are frustrated trying to reach our goal then this creates an aggressive drive which leads to aggressive behaviour. This is cathartic because when we release this aggression the drive is satisfied and we feel satisfied (further aggression is unlikely).
   • Redirected aggression - Aggression may not be expressed directly against the cause.
     • The cause may be abstract (not an actual thing) ie. the economy
     • Fear of punishment - the cause may be too powerful and you fear punishment ie. aggression towards your boss may cause you to be fired.
     • The cause may be unavailable at the time
     • Aggression is therefore deflected onto an alternative person/thing (someone who's weaker or available) ie. sibling, object.
   • Strengths
     • Harris - Used situations where queues occurred such as shops and her confederates pushed in front of people. She found that those nearer the front of the queue were more likely to react in an aggressive way than if they were towards the back. Supports the theory that the closer you are to your goal (more frustration) the more the strength of the aggression increases.
     • Dill and Anderson - An experimenter showed participants how to perform an origami task but made the demonstration difficult to follow by going too quickly. They found that the participants who experienced this frustration were more aggressive (measured by negative judgements against the experimenter) than those who had an absence of frustration. Supports the idea that frustration leads to aggression.
   • Weakness
     • Berkowitz argued that frustration alone isn't enough to trigger aggression and that environmental cues are needed to release the aggression. He suggested the aggression cues hypothesis - that frustration doesn't produce aggression but creates a 'readiness to aggress'. For aggressive behaviour to occur it must be triggered by the presence of environmental cues.

2. Social learning theory

   • SLT says that human aggression is learned through observing others and imitating the behaviour of aggressive models.
   • A child could observe a role model, whom they identify with, and notice their aggressive behaviour (attention). They could then retain these behaviours and later model them if they have the ability to do so. Reinforement can affect the likeliness of an aggressive act being modelled. This can either be direct or watching others getting rewarded (vicarious reinforcement). Positive and negative reinforcement can motivate the child to perform the aggressive behaviour more.
   • Example - A boy watches his brother playing a video game (with a male main character which he identifys with). If the brother made the character perform aggressive acts ie.punching someone the boy may retain this. If the character gains money for this act it will reinforce the motivation to model the rewarded behaviour. He would therefore be likely to imitate it.
   • Self-efficacy - In addition to forming experiences of the likely outcomes of their aggression children also develop confidence in their ability to carry out the aggressive acts. If aggression in the past has been bad (got punished) the child will have less confidence in their ability to use aggression to resolve conflicts (low self-efficacy) so will not likely use it in the future. If aggression has been successful in the past at getting what the child wanted then they'll have more confidence in their ability to use aggression to solve conflict (high self-efficacy)
   • Strengths
     • Research to support - Bandura's bobo doll
     • Explains inconsistency in aggressive behaviour (why some are aggressive in some environments but not others) - If aggression was witnessed at home but the people involved were not punished then you're more likely to be aggressive at home. But, if at school you saw aggression and then that act was severely punished then you wouldn't be aggressive at school (low self efficacy).
   • Weakneses
     • Bandura's bobo doll - There purpose is to be hit therefore they may not be showing aggression but having fun/ being playful instead.
       • Bandura bobo doll - low ecological validity (artificial setting)

3. De-individuation

   • When we loose our sense of identity (become anonymous) due to being in a crowd then we are less likley to feel personal responsibility (as it's shared). This reduces the amount of personal guilt we feel as we're not alone in carrying out the behaviours so are more likely to be aggressive.
   • We become anonymous when in large groups, wearing uniform/masks or in darkness as all these factors can make us feel like we can't be identified. This reduces our public self awareness, as we feel less judged, so believe we won't have to face the consequences of our actions.
   • There is a lack of private self awareness as we focus/pay attention more on what the rest of the group are doing rather than what you think is right (loose your moral compass). This can lead to carrying out more aggressive acts as you feel less guilt.
   • Strengths
     • Zimbardo - female participants were required to give electric shocks to others to 'aid learning'. Half the participants wore bulky lab coats and hoods that hid their faces, they were also not reffered to by name. The other half wore normal clothes and were refered to by name. Those in the deindividuated were more likely to press a button they believed would shock a victim in another room. They held the button down for twice as long. Supports the deindividuation theory.
     • Johnson and Dowling - Female participants had to give electric shocks to a confederate. In one condition the participants were dressed in Ku Klux Klan costumes with masks hiding their faces, the other normal clothes (control) and the third nurses uniforms, Compared to the control group, the KKK gave more intense electric shocks and the nurses gave fewer.
   • Weaknesses
     • Zimbardo - Pressing a button isn't a sign of aggression (lacks mundane realism)
     • Johnson and Dowling - Lacks validity - The particiapants may have acted on the social roles of the costumes rather than it due to them being deindividuated.