Psychology - Aggression

Social psychological theories
1. Social Learning Theory (SLT)
  1. Originated from Tarde, who argued there were key characteristics to imitation. Were ways our behaviour + responses could be influenced by others
    1. behaviour of role models
    2. copying behaviour of those of a higher status
    3. degree of contact with role model
    4. degree of understanding of behaviour
  2. Bandura developed this by combining logic of social + cognitive psychology. Behaviour may be motivated by more socio environmental factors. Individual + environment were linked = RECIPROCAL DETERMINISM
    1. SLT had 4 basic processes
      1. Attention: how much do you concentrate on the model showing the behaviour?
      2. Retention: storing behaviour you witnessed
      3. Reproduction: copying behaviour witnessed
      4. Motivation: having a good reason for showing witnessed behaviour again e.g. real/imaginary incentive
    2. Central part of these processes was presence of role model. Would be a person similar to the child (in age/sex) / position of power e.g. popstar/parents
    3. While the role model is important, child must have a level of self confidence to imitate behaviour = SELF EFFICACY
    4. Bandura et al. Bobo Doll Studies
2. Deindividuation
  1. Definition: when in a crowd/ wearing a mask + identity is hidden, we become aggressive e.g. internet trolls, riots + football matches
    1. Aroused when individuals crowds / large groups.
    2. Fraser + Burchall - 'a process whereby normal constraints on behaviour are weakened as a person loses their sense of individuality
  2. Other factors that contribute include anonymity (wearing a uniform) + altered consciousness with drugs / alcohol
  3. Likely to be aggressive as lost individuality leads to reduced self restraint, + thus deviant + impulsive behaviour, as well as reduced attention to how behaviour might be evaluated
  4. Zimbardo: individual behaviour = rational + conforms to social norms, deindividuated behaviour = based on primitive urges + does not conform
  5. People refrain from behaviour as norms label it as uncivilised + they are easily identifiable (can be sanctioned for it). Thus in a crowd reduces inner restraints
  6. Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment, Zimbardo (1969), Mann, Watson (culture), Postmes + Spears, Mullens
  7. However it must be considered that deindividuation does not always lead to aggressive behaviours e.g. peace rallys
Institutional Aggression e.g police, military, criminal + terrorist groups
1. Situational Factors
  1. Status + Power
    1. (Abu Ghraib) suggests due to low position of reservists finally had opportunity to exercise power over something lower than themselves. (Zimbardo) guards were using new found power over prisoners in a situation that was unlikely to happen. No one in authority watching - more likely to act on impulse
  2. Zimbardo's stanford prison study, Abu Ghraib
  3. Revenge + retaliation
    1. (Abu Ghraib) acting out of revenge against Islamists, humiliation them was 'teaching a lesson'. (Zimbardo) guards wanted to retaliate against prison riot, undermined their authority, also resulted in humiliating orders
  4. Deinviduation
    1. Concealed identity of officers + guards allowed them to vent violent and selfish impulses, displayed behaviour instantly in response to situation with reasoning
2. Dispositional (Individualistic) Factors
  1. Irwin + Cressey's importation model (prisoner+prisoner assaults)
    1. social histories + traits are brought into prison environment - influences their adaptation to situation. We don't enter as blank slates.
      1. (Abu Ghraib) General Myers described officers as ' a few bad apples', not systematic in military. (Hellman) middle class background mage him used to having stays over others, easier for him to initiate degrading behaviour.
  2. Hellman, Abu Ghraib
  3. Authoritarian Personality
    1. a state of mind or attitude characterised by belief in absolute obedience or submission to one's own authority, as well as the administration of that belief through the oppression of one's subordinates.
  4. Are they an excuse?
Bio. Explanations
1. Genetics
  1. Developed by Sandberg, first identified the 47 XYY karyotype as gives males a predisposition to aggression
    1. Court-Brown - those with the extra Y chromosome should be hospitalised due to their increased likelihood to be aggressive
      1. Jacobs et al
    2. unreliable - further examination of these males found they were more likely to be convicted of non violent crime than violent ones
      1. some with XY pattern were violent= hypothesis can't explain violent behaviour
  2. Adoption studies have been used to investigate genetic contribution
    1. Mednick et al
    2. Rhee + Waldman - meta analysis
2. Brain structure
  1. Bard and Mountcastle (era dependent), animals
    1. concluded hypothalamus increases aggression + cerebral cortex reduces it
  2. Phineas Gage case study
  3. Other research suggests amydalectomy can reduce violent behaviour but emotion is lost (mechanistic)
  4. The frontal lobe has also been claimed to influence aggression - closely linked to amygdala + hypothalamus
    1. Research found people with frontal lobe damage were often short tempered + impulsive
3. Biochemical/ neurotransmitter influences
  1. Nelson's research found a positive correlation with level of androgens (testosterone) in the body + level of aggressive behaviour in male + female prisons
    1. Wagner et al.
    2. Basal model of testosterone: testosterone levels influence level of dominance- more testosterone, more competitive + thus dominant
    3. Reciprocal model: testosterone levels are influenced by individual's level of dominance
      1. Mazur + Booth found men have reduced testosterone levels when married - reduced level of dominance
  2. Putnam + Larson found the neurotransmitter serotonin had an inhibitory function.
    1. Kyes et al
  3. Dopamine released during aggressive actions = activates reward system + makes individual feel pleasure from acting aggressively (Bio + Behavioural)
Evolutionary Explanations
1. Aggression serves an important function for individual survival + procreation. Competition arises when resources are limited + thus species must compete to increase their own 'fitness'
  1. Newman et al found forms of a gene linked to aggression in macaque monkeys have been around for at lease 25 million years - must give an advantage
  2. Must be programmed to be aggressive (deterministic)
2. Craig- animal's aim when fighting is not to destroy but to get rid of the threat's presence
3. Lorenz's functions of aggression
  1. Help ensure only fittest + strongest are selected to reproduce ( females pick males with greatest chance of survival for them and offspring)
  2. Ensure survival of the young (parents show aggression when protecting offspring)
  3. Help distribute species in a balanced - animals would have their own territories
  4. Social organisation + relationships, animals show ritualised aggression as a basis for the assertion of power + status. Like Craig he argued little harm occurred from ritualised aggression (Rugby, Haka + Boxing,Weigh ins)
  5. Era dependent + over simplified
4. Fromm: Human Aggression can be benign / malignant.
  1. Nelson claims Lorenz should've considered 3 basic factors
    1. Structural causes: nature of social life. A society with no norms/rules, where aggression is widespread
    2. Psychological causes: other factors than instinct, personal (mood/feelings) + situational (heat/overcrowding
    3. Process of learning: Bandura found aggression can be learnt via VICARIOUS LEARNING. Can be shaped by learning strategies e.g anger management
  2. Victims aren't seen as fellow humans. Rapoport= 'we can attach the label enemy to categories of things..." - can be other people
  3. Weapons used = destructive, not ritualistic. Tinbergen suggests while human fight each other as animals do, it isn't for a ritual (e.g. mating) but from a deep rooted desire to harm each other
5. Kruger et al = the evolutionary approach investigates how skills + methods have evolved into behaviour.
  1. Some argue since the Pleistocene era when many skills were developed, evolution has been static. A series of psychological mechanisms affect behaviour + these are universal. Behaviour witnessed is said to be closely linked to the reproductive success of the individual.
  2. Aggression could be a result of reproductive competition. Females invest in terms of parental issues (time, energy + food). Males compete for females to pass on genes (inter-sexual selection)
    1. Aggressive behaviour in males help ensure reproductive success. Kenrick et al = men have compete to gain access to women. Dominant idea today is 'a provider of valuable resources', meaning men need to be more assertive + aggressive
  3. Waller = humans have evolved in groups, need to define boundaries of behaviour, creating an in group (us) + an out group (them).
    1. Examples of this behaviour (genocide, mass killings) could be caused by our ancestral past, in which XENOPHOBIA leads to acts of aggression + violence
  4. Buss reminds us how male to male violence can't explain all forms of aggression
    1. In women, verbal aggression is more common. Female to female aggression is often aimed to reduce the attractiveness of competitors in the eyes of males, a strategy which gives the name-caller the advantage.
6. Infidelity + Jealousy
  1. Infidelity = the process of being unfaithful to your partner, can include having sexual relationships with someone other than your partner
    1. Aggression is argued to be the most common response to these situations = aggressive behaviour has an important function for survival + procreation
      1. Jealousy = the feeling of being threatened by a rival in a romantic relationship. Influences acts of aggression
  2. Infidelity triggers an emotional state in individuals, it is a perceived threat to the person's relationship + status quo.
    1. Buss et al = with this people tend to demonstrate behaviour, often aggressive + violent, in order to reduce/eliminate threat.
    2. Brunk et al. = for males sexual infidelity creates paternity uncertainty + thus increases the risk of cuckoldry. If there is suspicion of their partner being unfaithful, it can lead to anger + aggression
      1. Buss suggests males have a no. of strategies to specifically keep their mate. These include direct guarding + negative inducements to deter them from straying.
        An example of direct guarding is 'vigilance' - coming home unexpectedly to check what their partner is up to.
        As for negative inducements - threats for any infidelity
        Wilson et al
      2. For women, emotional infidelity is more distressing = may lead to lack of resources for themselves + offspring. This can stem from the man's suspicions of her being unfaithful
  3. Canary et al = couples with relationship conflicts commonly reported anger + aggression being linked with jealousy. Could be an adaptive measure to make partner worry about their safety, if they were to commit infidelity
    1. However it may be that some violent males lack effective ways of mediating + responding to such situations compared to non violent males (socialisation)
      1. Haden + Hojiat (gender differences)
    2. Harvey et al summarises research in this area = varied + focuses on different causal factors e.g. jealousy. Suggests it plays a role as an underlying influence
Group Display (Sport + Warfare) institution could be used
1. Warfare = Malignant, not instinctive. Sport = Benign, instinct to be the best player so team can win
2. Xenophobia
  1. Warfare - enemies are out group, based on boundaries which humans need to live in as they have evolved in that environment. Want social dominance
  2. Sport - Home team is in group, when fellow supporters meet they feel apart of the same group. Other team supporters are seen as the out group, treated in an aggressive manner = want social dominance
    1. Deindividuation = uniform reinforces the in group and the out group status + dislike between them. Lowers inhibitions
3. Reproductive Success
  1. Sport- Men want to be the best player in order to have more choice in who they reproduce with. To do this, they must act aggressively as it will ensure their reproductive success
4. Aggression's functions
  1. Sport- ritualised aggression can be present in different forms of social organisation (packs=teams). Rugby players perform the hakka to reinforce their power over the other pack
  2. Warfare- People join together to perform their deep rooted desires to harm others. Weapons are used = not destructive (AO2)
5. SLT
  1. Those in higher ranks will be more aggressive in order to be successful, lower ranks see this success + recreate behaviour through vicarious learning
6. Freud
  1. the mindset of individuals in a crowd differs from the mindset of an individual. Merging of minds within group based on sharing the same opinion, enthusiasm lowers inhibitions. Explains PTSD
7. Emergent norm theory (Turner +Killian)
  1. Crowd behaviour isn't irrational but based on group's collective purpose at the time e.g. cheer for team. Can change over time/ with specific factors (result of match)- external factors
    1. When groups come together there are few established norms = few indications of what behaviour is expected. When distinctive behaviour is displayed e.g. violence, it then becomes the norm which other conform to. Crowds = mass of intelligent individuals, while behaviour is unpredictable it is governed by acceptable norms in the group.
8. Social Identity theory (Reicher)
  1. Counters ENT. Claims group behaviour involves inter-group behaviour e.g. opposing sports fans. T + K underemphasise this.
    1. Even in the absence of direct confrontation there can be symbolic confrontation between groups. Before gathering individuals shared a sense of social identity = promotes belonging in group. Discover norms + assign the stereotypes of the group to themselves

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Psychology - Aggression

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	Created by Rachel Pearce over 9 years ago