Psychology: Aggression and Prosocial Behavior

Study Notes

Aggression

Definition: Behavior intended to harm or destroy others
Types of Aggression:
- Hostile Aggression: Intention to harm others
- Instrumental Aggression: Aggression as a means to achieve a goal
Theories of Aggression:
- Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis: Frustration leads to aggression
- Social Learning Theory: Aggression is learned through observation and imitation
- Biological Theory: Aggression is an innate human behavior

Prosocial Behavior

Definition: Behavior intended to help or benefit others
Types of Prosocial Behavior:
- Altruism: Helping others without expectation of reward
- Empathy: Understanding and sharing feelings of others
Factors Influencing Prosocial Behavior:
- Empathy: Increased empathy leads to increased helping behavior
- Mood: Positive mood increases helping behavior
- Social Norms: Presence of social norms increases helping behavior

Attitudes and Persuasion

Definition: Attitudes are evaluations of people, objects, or ideas
Components of Attitudes:
- Cognitive: Beliefs and thoughts
- Affective: Emotions and feelings
- Behavioral: Actions and intentions
Persuasion Techniques:
- Foot-in-the-Door Technique: Requesting a small commitment before a larger one
- Door-in-the-Face Technique: Requesting a large commitment before a smaller one
- Scarcity Principle: Creating a sense of urgency to increase persuasion

Attitudes, Beliefs, and Consistency

Cognitive Dissonance: The discomfort or tension caused by inconsistent attitudes or beliefs
Dissonance Reduction Strategies:
- Changing Attitudes: Adapting attitudes to align with behavior
- Changing Behavior: Adapting behavior to align with attitudes
- Justification: Rationalizing inconsistent behavior to reduce dissonance
Self-Perception Theory: People form attitudes by observing their own behavior
Theory of Planned Behavior: Attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control influence behavior

Aggression

Behavior intended to harm or destroy others
Hostile aggression involves intention to harm others
Instrumental aggression involves using aggression as a means to achieve a goal
Frustration can lead to aggression due to blocked goals
Social learning theory suggests aggression is learned through observation and imitation
Biological theory proposes aggression is an innate human behavior

Prosocial Behavior

Behavior intended to help or benefit others
Altruism involves helping others without expectation of reward
Empathy involves understanding and sharing feelings of others
Empathy increases helping behavior
Positive mood increases helping behavior
Presence of social norms increases helping behavior

Attitudes and Persuasion

Attitudes are evaluations of people, objects, or ideas
Attitudes consist of cognitive, affective, and behavioral components
Cognitive components involve beliefs and thoughts
Affective components involve emotions and feelings
Behavioral components involve actions and intentions
Foot-in-the-door technique involves requesting a small commitment before a larger one
Door-in-the-face technique involves requesting a large commitment before a smaller one
Scarcity principle involves creating a sense of urgency to increase persuasion

Attitudes, Beliefs, and Consistency

Cognitive dissonance occurs when attitudes or beliefs are inconsistent
Dissonance reduction strategies include changing attitudes, changing behavior, or justification
Self-perception theory proposes people form attitudes by observing their own behavior
Theory of planned behavior suggests attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control influence behavior

Description

Test your understanding of aggression and prosocial behavior in psychology, including types of aggression, theories of aggression, and more. Explore the different aspects of human behavior and how they impact our interactions.