Lecture 6 Aggression (IB Social Psychology Notes) PDF

Lecture 6 Aggression 1. Define aggression P.471 2. Gender aggression P.374 3. Situational Determinants of Aggression • Media (TV and songs) P.497 • Games • Heat P.490 4. Construal Processes and Aggression • Frustration- Aggression Hypothesis P.477 • A neo- associationistic account of aggres...

Lecture 6 Aggression 1. Define aggression P.471 2. Gender aggression P.374 3. Situational Determinants of Aggression • Media (TV and songs) P.497 • Games • Heat P.490 4. Construal Processes and Aggression • Frustration- Aggression Hypothesis P.477 • A neo- associationistic account of aggression P. 498 - arousal and attribution: excitation transfer P.477 • Weapons and violence (social learning theory ) P.478, 481 5 Culture and Aggression - the culture of honour P.495 6 Evolution and violence P. 475 7. General aggression model P. 492 8. Weapon effect P.453 1. Define aggression Key word: Aggression • ** ERY physically as pushing, shoving, striking • verbal e.g. verbal insults and facial expressions • ignore or ostracising someone Fa It Two types of aggression: I 1. Hostile aggression - behaviour intended to harm another - physically or mentally - motivated by feelings of anger and hostility H 2. Instrumental aggression • behaviour intended to harm another with motive to attract attention, acquire wealth • view by law/ political views • for purpose of teaching a lesson Gender and aggression ⑤ IB77 . Es Situational Determinants of Aggression Media and aggression AER Key word: mass media on aggression and desensitisation • Diy A it A serious reduction in a person’s responsiveness to material that usually evokes a strong emotional reaction, such as violence or sexuality • Violence is presented on film and television • Sanitise these aggressive acts and the injury sustained by victims • Portrayed aggressors as the good guy who go unpunished T ** * 7 # ↑ Study 1 HE I * D Participants read film descriptions and then chose a film to watch. High trait aggressive individuals were more likely to choose a violent film to watch than were low trait aggressive individuals. • Physical Aggression subscale (9 items) **** 1 (extremely uncharacteristic of me) to 5 (extremely characteristic of me). “Once in a while I cannot control my urge to strike another person” “If somebody hits me, I hit back.” Scale administered in a mass testing three weeks before the experiment - ↑ HEA et Study 2 Participants reported their mood before and after the showing of a violent or nonviolent videotape. High trait aggressive individuals felt more angry after viewing the violent videotape than did low trait aggressive individuals. Method: Mood measurements ↑ If Participant was given a mood form and was told that these measures would be taken periodically to “control for the effects of mood on media evaluations.” “Describe how you feel at this moment” 15 adjectives (e.g., annoyed, hostile, irritated) from the Hostility subscale of the revised Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist (MAACL; Zuckerman & Lubin, 1985), along with several other adjectives added as fillers. 0 (not at all) … 10 (extremely). The state version of the form was used; that is, the participant was told to “describe how you feel at this moment.” The participant's level of Aggressive affect = the sum of his or her ratings for the hostile adjectives. Study 3 Participants first viewed either a violent or a nonviolent videotape and then competed with an Ex “opponent” on a reaction time task in which the loser received a blast of unpleasant noise. Videotape violence was more likely to increase aggression in high trait aggressive individuals than in low trait aggressive individuals. Method: 530 3rd, 4th & 5th grade students ↑ verbal peer-nomination measure of aggressive and prosocial behaviors self-report survey of media habits and demographic data self-report measure of hostile attribution bias ↓ , physical prosocial Each participant completed each of these surveys at two points in time during a school year. Children’s consumption of media violence early in the school year predicted higher verbally aggressive behavior, higher relationally aggressive behavior, higher physically aggressive behavior, and less prosocial behavior later in the school year. Additionally, these effects were mediated by hostile attribution bias. 1. MEDIA EFFECTS (VIDEO GAMES) A violent vide Study 1: 227 college students reported trait aggressiveness; actual aggressive behaviors ↑ game aggressive behaviour (delinquency) in the recent past; & video game playing habits. Students who reported playing more violent video games in junior and high school engaged in more aggressive behavior (e.g., have hit other students; attacked with the idea of seriously hurting or killing; used force to get money or things) Amount of time spent playing video games in the past was associated with lower academic ↑ time on video game ↓ lower grade grades in college. 2. Game Study 2: even a brief exposure to violent video games can temporarily increase aggressive behavior in all types of participants 210 college students played either a violent (Wolfenstein 3D) or nonviolent video game (Myst). A short time later, the students who played the violent video game punished an opponent (received a noise blast with varying intensity) for a longer period of time than did students who had played the nonviolent video game. 3. Heat Explaining non-linear relation First, high temperatures are particularly salient early in the day, especially when one has been working in an air-conditioned office. As Anderson and Anderson (1984) suggested, individuals may be more prone to attribute discomfort to heat (rather than to the actions of others) when high temperatures E are obvious. One might be more likely to make a conscious effort to inhibit aggressive impulses if one knows that heat caused one's discomfort. (“It's hot, so maybe I'm feeling angry because of the heat and not the SOB who insulted me.”) Explaining linear relation Later, in the evening, when equally high temperatures may> not be as noticeable or obvious, individuals may be more likely to attribute heat-induced arousal to another person's action (the insult). Measuring aggression FAGUL measurement of a child's in 1. Analogue of behaviour: Physical aggression sub-scale overt behaviour undesirable situation that Who hits, kicks, or punches others? Who pushes and shoves other kids around? a he his is likely to encounter natural environment in . 2. Indirect aggression: Relational aggression sub-scale Who tries to make another kid not like a certain person by spreading rumors about them or talking behind their backs? Who, when they are mad at a person, gets even by keeping that person from being in their group of friends? Who, when they are mad at a person, ignores the person or stop talking to them? 3. Signal of intention: Verbal aggression item Who says mean things to other kids to insult them or put them down? 4. Prosocial behavior subscale Who does nice things for others? Who tries to cheer up other kids who are upset or sad about something? They try to make the kids feel happy again Construal Processes and Aggression 1. Frustration- Aggression Hypothesis P.477 • Theory that all frustration leads to aggression, and all aggression comes from frustration. Used to explain prejudice and intergroup aggression. # ERAt • Fear of retaliation can displace aggression • Aggression reduces tension generated by frustration John Dollard • aggression was caused by some kind of frustrating event or situation; frustration led to aggression e.g. job loss causes aggression frustration as an unexpected blockage of a goal that someone anticipated attaining • Frustration FIT interference with goal-seeking at its proper time in a behavioral sequence, and is directly proportional to • Goal importance Amount of satisfaction the person anticipates before a goal is blocked * • Severity of goal interference The more complete the person is prevented from achieving the goal • Frequency of goal interference The more frequently the person is blocked from achieving the goal • Goal proximity The closer the individual is to achieving the goal • Displacement focusing aggression on something other than source of frustration Unless frustration is intolerable, we delay aggression and direct that to some safe targets, which are similar to the source of frustration this target is not available so we displace our aggressive response towards a less dangerous target or one who just happens to be present relieving emotion tension ↓ angry tention examples • A person who loudly insults an instruction manual after two hours of failure in constructing an IKEA wall closet • A toddler who throws a tantrum after noticing that her favorite toy has been placed out of reach on the kitchen table are everyday examples of the link between frustrating events and aggressive responses Excitation-transfer model key word: Excitation-transfer model - The expression is a function of learnt behaviour (any other emotion) 1. a learnt aggressive behaviour 2. arousal or exception from another source 3. the person’s interpretation of the arousal state • aggressive response seems appropriate Zhillmann F Key word: residual arousal • transfer from one situation to another in a way that promotes the likelihood of an aggressive response, especially if aggressive behaviour is well-established in someone’s behaviour range. = any experience that increases the level of overall excitation can lead to unintended consequences e.g. a student has been exercising at the gym and is still physically aroused when driving to the local supermarket. Another customer’s car sneaks forward into the parking space that the student is trying to reverse into. Although it might normally be mildly annoying, this time the residual arousal excitation from the gum session (now forgotten) triggers verbal abuse from the student. key word: Hate crime • a class of violence against members of stereotyped minority groups e.g.gay men persecuted (mistreated) Social learning theory key word: Social Learning Theory • the view championed by Bandura that human social behaviour is not innate but learnt from appropriate model It features the processes responsible for gain 1. the acquisition of a behaviour or a behavioural sequence 2. the instigation (promotion) of overt acts Y 3. the maintenance of the bahaviour • emphasis on the role of experience 1. Direct • acquiring a behaviour because we were rewarded for it • Principles: a behaviour is maintained by rewards and punishments actually experienced by the child. e.g. If Johnson takes Margaret’s biscuit from her, and no one intervenes, then he is reinforced by now having his having the biscuit. 2. Vicarious • acquiring a behaviour after observing that another person was rewarded for it • maintain that learning occurs through the processes of modelling and imitation of other people • Aggression does not necessarily stem from negative affect • All social behaviors are learned • Aggressive behaviors can be learned vicariously, without rehearsal or award • The Bobo doll experiment - the result shows that children who watched an adult behave aggressively in any condition behaved more aggressively later. e.g. the procedure: Adult Live hitting the doll and used the word ‘kick him’ = is the most effective condition for modelling aggressive behaviour e.g. the procedure: the cartoon and videotaped groups also shows increased imitative aggression in children • Cues to aggression - Aggressive behaviors are learned in associations with specific cues Weapon effect - The mere presence of a weapon increases the probability that it will be used aggressively. - Having a gun in plain sight elicited more aggressive behaviors than if not # * 577 - Because aggression is due to learning, aggressive behavior is susceptible to reinforcement or rewards - Children watching aggressive behavior being punished are less likely to imitate them The culture of honour Key word: the culture of honour apply - the culture that endures male violence as a way of addressing threats to social reputation or economic position I I - upholding and defending the reputation and person of oneself and one’s family - most important: men to maintain reputations for being competent providers and strong protectors e.g. men found violence towards self, suicide, among rural whites in US - a culture that is defined by strong concerns about one’s own and others’ reputations, leading to sensitivity to slights and insults and a willingness to use violence to revenge any perceived wrong or insult · - I /x* PTH , *** *** Things that damage the culture of honour 1. Female infidelity damages a man’s reputation, particularly in honour culture * 2. A man’s reputation can be partly restored by exacting retribution * , 3. Cultural values of female loyalty and sacrifice on one hand and male honour on the other, validate abuse in a relationship Evolutionary social psychology key word: evolutionary social psychology -an extension of evolutionary psychology that views complex social behaviour as adaptive, helping the individual, kin and the species as a whole to survive • assumes an innate basis for aggression • claim a biological basis for all social behaviour Darwin Theory • living long enough to procreate • Aggression helps reproduction survival of the fittest favors aggressive men More likely to get killed by non-blood related people Step-parents are more likely than natural parents to kill their children • Aggressiveness can be transmitted genetically e.g., can selectively breed highly aggressive mice • There are differences in rates of aggression among societies if similar selection pressures exist across societies, should expect similar aggressiveness • Marked changes of rates of aggression within society over short periods of time too short for genetic influence to take effect