Social Psychological Explanations

Social Psychological Explanations

1. frustration-aggression hypothesis is that AG is the consequence of feeling frustrated

   • frustration is the feeling u experience when trying to achieve something but something is stopping u (real or imaginary barriers)
     • unpleasant feeling that needs to be relieved - AG relieves that
   • factors affecting the likelihood of AG
     • proximity to the goal: if closer to goal, then AG is greater
     • whether AG will remove the barrier causing the frustration: if AG has no effect on barrier, less likely to occur.
   • Research&Evaluation
     • frustration brought by justified AG - bus passengers not getting picked up - levels of AG were lower in a justified frustration setting
       • the source of frustration is key to whether it leads to AG
     • failure to win money, failure on the task, failure to get the grade u expect - all prompted AG and high levels than control group
     • not all frustration prompts AG - differs in justified n unjustified
     • ag doesn't always come from frustration - can come from fight in fight/flight as self preservation than frustration
     • not everyone who gets frustration reacts w AG - some may cry or withdraw socially
     • much research is based on hypothetical situs bc its unethical to make some frustrated so has low predictive validity bc ppl could act v diff in reality

2. Social learning theory

   • environmental influences underpin behaviour not genetic
   • AG is learnt from observing AG behaviour by cognitive mediating factors
     • primarily learnt either by direct experiences or observing - humans are't born AG
   • if a behaviour is +ly reinforced - likely to happen again
   • vicarious reinforcement - if observed someone get a reward for doing a behaviour then likely to repeat it
   • mediating cogonitive processes
     • 1) Attention - the behaviour has to catch the attention of the observer
     • 2) Retention - the observer has to remember the behaviour - AG behaviours likely to be remembered due to the emotion they evoke
     • 3) Reproduction - can they reproduce it, do they have the skills or physical abilities to do the behaviour?
     • 4) Motivation - the observer has to want to do the behaviour, accounts for individ diffs, some may be happy to imitate some may not
   • Bobo Doll exp - Bandura Ross Ross
     • children witnessed an adult act AG towards a doll and say violent things
       • larger amount of AG children in AG condition
     • children in another group witnessed an adult ignoring the doll n playing nicely w other toys
       • 70% of children in non-AG and control weren't AG
     • seemed to be a behavioural effect from observing AG and that behaviour can continue after a delay
   • Bobo doll (2)
     • Model-reward condition - model was rewarded by sweets&drinks for abusing doll
     • model-punished condition - model punished for abusing doll by being told off
       • significantly less AG behaviour
     • control (no consequence) conditon - no reinforcment
     • a reward was offered if they acted AG to the same extent so all the children in all groups then acted AG the same way after
       • AG behaviour was learnt
   • Evaluation
     • studies show short-term effect on AG levels - weakens theory
     • exp context lacks mudane realism thus ecological validity - doll is designed to hit playfully so kids may have not had that AG intent - internal validity can be criticised
     • research supports FA hypothesis rather than SLT bc kids were frustrated by the situ
     • research support is good for the concept of the slt - support for AG learnt thro enviro
     • useful to explain why some people become AG in certain situs - seen ag reinforced in specific context - if biological then AG wouldn't be situ specific
   • Research on Media
     • identification of an AG model from tv shows was linked to AG in portuguese students - SLT process affects AG
     • the behaviour of children after watching tv in a remote area in canada found verbal and physical levels of AG increased
       • media is a source of AG behaviour for children to observe
     • genders react diff to the SLT of AG - girls were influenced to a greater extent than boys when acting AG playing video games
   • Research on the Environment
     • ethnically diversed sample found that imitation of violence in urban areas did occur in children
       • long term effects on the behaviour of children exposed to violence regulary in their enviro
     • areas w high crime rates, children more likely to commit violent crimes than those in low crime

3. Deindividuation

   • occurs when an individ is part of a group/crowd and loses their autonomous state
     • their own morals, beliefs and attitudes are loosened and adopt morals of the group
   • AG is more likely to happen when indivs lose a sense of identity
   • self-awareness declines
     • public self-awareness: appraisal of others
       • in a crowd, the focus is lessen on being responsible for ones own behaviour and its shared w others around u instead
     • private self-awareness: awareness of your own thoughts n feelings
       • in a crowd an indiv is distracted
   • Research&Evaluation
     • when someone's identity is hidden, the behaviour becomes less moral and they are more likely to cheat and act more selfishly
       • illustrates that identity is key to mediating behaviour
     • meta analysis done and found that evidence for DI was weak - not widespread across all crowds so not reliable
     • Football fans follow a ritual not DI
     • In darkness, DI occurs as well as when drinking or on drugs
       • however doesn't always lead to AG, can lead to pro-social behaviour
       • lead to CCTV cameras and keeping places well lit - practical application
     • Research on the transformation between crowd effects n DI is unclear n many factors involved
     • a lot of attacks are done on strangers so anonimity is important factor in AG acts
     • Only explains AG in certain contexts - narrow applicatinon