Social Psychological Explanations of Aggression

Social Learning Theory
1. Observation
  1. Learning takes place through the observation of models
  2. Seeing others reinforced or punished acts as vicarious reinforcement
2. Mental Representation
  1. Individual forms mental representations of events
  2. Also forms expectations of possible rewards or punishments
3. Production of Behaviour
  1. Aggression maintained through direct reinforcement
  2. Likelihood of aggression increased if high self-efficacy for production
4. Evaluation
  1. SLT demonstrated in young children observing aggressive adult model (Bandura et al, 1961)
  2. Imitated model, but only if model was rewarded for their behaviour (Bandura and Walters, 1963)
  3. Learning takes place regardless of outcome, but production linked only to reinforcement
  4. SLT also applies to aggression in adults e.g. Phillips, 1986 - homicide rates and boxing matches
  5. Strength - can explain aggression in absence of direct reinforcement
  6. Can also explain individual differences and context-dependent learning
  7. Problem of demand characteristics in Bobo doll study
    1. Ethical issues* - teaching children aggressive behaviour
  8. Cultural differences - absence of aggressive models among !Kung San
  9. IDA
    1. Ethical issues make SLT explanation difficult to test scientifically
Deindividuation
1. Nature of Deindividuation
  1. Reduced self-evaluation; decreased concern about evaluation by others
  2. Leads to an increase in antisocial behaviour
  3. More likely when anonymous, in a large crowd or drunk
2. Process of Deindividuation
  1. Social norms usually inhibit antisocial behaviour
  2. Inhibitions removed when deindividuated
  3. Conditions that increase anonymity weaken barriers to antisocial behaviour
3. Research on Deindividuation
  1. Faceless Crowd - lynchings more savage when large crowds (Mullen, 1986); baiting crowd (Mann, 1981)
4. Reduced Private Self-Awareness
  1. Reduced self-awareness more important than anonymity
  2. In large crowds, less able to self-regulate behaviour
5. Evaluation
  1. IDA
    1. Gender bias - males more likely to become aggressive when deindividuated (Cannavale et al, 1970)
    2. Real-world application - the baiting crowd
  2. Anonymity - Zimbardo (1969) found longer shocks when anonymous
  3. Local group norms - people respond to normative cues within the social context
  4. Meta-analysis (Postmes and Spears, 1998) - insufficient support for claims of theory
  5. Evidence of online aggression when deindividuated (Francis et al, 2006)
  6. Deindividuation may increase prosocial behaviour in some situations
  7. Cultural difference - cultures that change appearance more brutal in war (Watson, 1973)
Institutional Aggression
1. Prison Violence
  1. Evaluation
    1. Importation model - support from studies of US prisons (Harer and Steffensmeier, 2006)
    2. DeLisi et al (2004) challenges the claim that pre-prison gang membership predicts violence
    3. Deprivation model - support from prison studies but not psychiatric institutions
    4. Deprivation model explains violence against staff - importation model explains violence against other inmates (Jiang and Fisher-Giorlando, 2002)
  2. Importation Model
    1. Prisoners 'import' their violent behaviours into prison
  3. Gang membership
    1. Pre-prison gang membership an important determinant of prison misconduct
  4. Deprivation model
    1. A reaction to stressful conditions of prison
  5. Skyes (1958) - specific deprivations within prison linked to increase in violence
2. Genocide
  1. Evaluation
    1. Bystanders - non-intervention allows killing to continue
    2. Dehumanization - may explain violence against immigrants
    3. Obedience - ignores other factors (e.g. anti-Semitism)
  2. Staub (1999) - five stages of genocide
  3. Dehumanization - removal of moral restraints against killing other humans (e.g. Tutsi 'cockroaches')
  4. Milgram believed situational pressures could coerce people into destructive obedience
3. IDA
  1. Real-world application - reversing conditions of deprivation led to reduction of violence at HMP Woodhill (Wilson, 2010)
  2. Real-world application - dehumanization can explain violence towards refugees though social dominance orientation (SDO)

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