Aggression Flashcards
(164 cards)
1
Q
what is aggression?
A
refers to a range of behaviours that can result in both physical and psychological harm to oneself, others or objects in the environment.
2
Q
how can aggression be expressed?
A
verbally, mentally and physically.
3
Q
what are the two types of aggressive behaviour?
A
proactive (cold-blooded) and reactive (hot-blooded) aggression.
4
Q
what is proactive aggression (cold-blooded)?
A
a response in anticipation of a reward, predatory and calculated, it is a planned method of getting what you want e.g. robbery.
5
Q
what is reactive aggression (hot-blooded)?
A
a response to a perceived threat, fear based, hostile and impulsive in nature, usually in retaliation e.g. revenge porn.
6
Q
what is included in the neural mechanisms in aggression?
A
the limbic system and the orbitofrontal cortex and serotonin.
7
Q
what is the limbic system?
A
a group of structures inside the brain that are associated with emotions.
8
Q
what key role does the limbic system play?
A
it plays a key role in how an organism responds to environmental threats and challenges - therefore believed to be the key factors in whether we respond aggressively or not to an external stimulus.
9
Q
what is the papez-maclean limbic theory?
A
it is an explanation of aggression involving structures such as the amygdala, hypothalamus and hippocampus which are implicated in reactive aggression.
10
Q
what is the role of the amygdala?
A
it controls reactions to fear, anger and other emotional responses - amygdala activity increases in response to angry faces (social provocation).
11
Q
what did gospic et al (2011) do?
A
illustrated amygdala activity and some participants were subjected to mild provocation.
12
Q
what did gospic et al (2011) find?
A
when participants reacted aggressively, fMRI scans showed a fast and heightened response by the amygdala.
13
Q
what did a benzodiazepine drug taken before the provocation lead to?
A
it reduces arousal of the ANS - when taken before the provocation it led to 2 effects: decreased the activity of the amygdala and halved the number of rejections (reduced aggression) - illustrating the role of the amygdala.
14
Q
what is the orbitofrontal cortex and what does it link with?
A
it is in the frontal lobe and has a role in decision-making.
- it links with the amygdala to act as a braking system on wrong thoughts and decisions.
15
Q
what is the role of serotonin?
A
it works on the frontal areas of the brain to inhibit the firing of the amygdala (calming influence) - acts as a brake.
16
Q
what does low levels of serotonin mean?
A
there is no brake so people can’t control their impulsive and aggressive behaviour so aggression is more likely.
17
Q
what did goodwin find in his study of vietnamese marines who showed overtly aggressive behaviour?
A
they were found to have abnormally low levels of serotonin.
18
Q
what did animal studies on monkeys find?
A
those with low serotonin showed anti-social behaviour/personality traits.
19
Q
what did mann et al (1990) do?
A
administered the drug dexfenfluramine (which depletes serotonin in the brain) to 35 healthy adults and a questionnaire was used to assess hostility and aggression levels.
20
Q
what did mann et al (1990) find?
A
it led to increased hostility and aggression amongst males but not females.
21
Q
what did mann et al (1990)’s findings lead to?
A
the issue of beta bias that is inherent in neural explanations of aggression and shows that males and females may not be subject to the same physiological factors when explaining aggression.
22
Q
what is a strength of neural mechanisms of aggression?
A
berman et al (2009) gave participants a placebo or a dose of paroxetine and then took part in a lab-based game involving electric shocks in response to provocation and they found that they paroxetine group consistently gave fewer and less intense shocks meaning that this study is evidence of a causal link between serotonin function and aggression.
23
Q
what is a weakness of neural mechanisms of aggression?
A
according to caccaro et al (2007), OFC activity is reduced in psychiatric disorders that feature aggression and this reduced activity disrupts the OFC’s impulse-control function, causing aggressive behaviour which shows that the neural regulation of aggression is more complex than theories focusing on the amygdala suggest.
24
Q
what is included in the hormonal mechanisms in aggression?
A
testosterone and progesterone.
25
what is testosterone and its role?
it has a role in regulating social behaviour via its influence on certain areas of the brain implicated in aggression - it peaks in males during adolescence and declines with age and is implicated in aggression.
26
what did dabbs et al (1987) do and find?
measured testosterone levels in saliva in violent and non-violent young male criminals and found that high testosterone levels were positively correlated with more violent crime; rule violations in prison and parole board decisions against release.
27
what did castration studies of animals show?
removing the testes (source of testosterone) reduces aggression in the males of many species and giving injections of testosterone to the same animals resotres aggressive behaviour indicating that testosterone has a role in aggression.
28
what did dolan et al (2001) find?
a positive correlation between testosterone levels and aggressive behaviours in a sample of 60 offenders (men) in max security hospitals and these men mostly had personality disorders and histories of impulsively violent behaviour.
29
what is progesterone and its role?
levels of progesterone vary during the ovulation cycle and are lowest during and just after menstruation - evidence suggests that progesterone plays an important role in aggression in women.
30
what did ziomkiewicz et al (2012) find?
a negative correlation between progesterone levels and self-reported aggression which suggests that low levels of progesterone are linked to increased aggression in women.
31
what is a strength of hormonal mechanisms in aggression?
giammanco et al's (2005) review of studies confirms the role of testosterone e.g. in male monkeys there is an increase in both testosterone levels and aggressive behaviour during the mating season, in rats - castration of males reduces testosterone and also mouse-killing behaviour and injecting female rats with testosterone increases mouse-killing which show the role of testosterone in a range of animal species.
32
what is a weakness of hormonal mechanisms in aggression?
carre and mehta (2011) developed a dual-hormone to explain why there is mixed evidence of the link between testosterone and aggression in humans, they claim that high levels of testosterone lead to aggressive behaviour but only when levels of cortisol are low and when cortisol is high, testosterone's influence on aggression is blocked, therefore the combined activity of testosterone and cortisol may be a better predictor of aggression than either hormone alone.
33
what are genetic factors?
genes consist of DNA strands - DNA produces 'instructions' for physical features which may impact psychological features, genes are transmitted from parents to offspring.
34
what are twin and adoption studies used for?
to investigate genetics and aggression (concordance rates).
35
what did twin studies find?
genetic factors account for around 50% of the variance in aggressive behaviour (how much the variation in aggressive traits is due to genetics, the rest is the environment).
36
what did coccaro et al find?
concordance rates of 50% for MZ twins and 19% for DZ twins for aggression (direct physical assault).
37
what did adoption studies find?
similarities between the adopted child and their biological parent suggests a genetic influence e.g. rhee and waldman found genetic influences accounted for 41% of the variance in aggression.
38
what are specific genes and an example of them?
particular genes or variations of genes which may lead to aggressive behaviour, the MAOA gene has been identified (one variant).
39
what is the MAOA gene responsible for?
the production of the enzyme monoamine oxidase which breaks down noradrenaline, serotonin and dopamine.
40
what can dysfunction in the MAOA gene result in?
neurotransmitters not being broken down in the body (metabolised).
41
what happens if adrenaline is not metabolised?
too much adrenaline - hypersensitivity in fight or flight response; individuals may overreact to an external stimulus.
42
what happens if dopamine is not metabolised?
increased/excessive dopamine - feelings of reward more likely when aggressive.
43
what happens if serotonin is not metabolised?
too much serotonin - aggression.
44
what did lea and chambers (2007) do?
nicknamed the MAOA gene the 'warrior gene' which showed that the MAOA-L variant was possessed by 50% of new zealand maori men (compared with 34% of caucasions), maori people have had a reputation of being fierce.
45
what did brunner et al (1993) do and find?
studied 28 men from a large duton family who were repeatedly involved in impulsively aggressive violent criminal behaviours and these men had abnormally low levels of the enzyme MAOA as well as the MAOA-L gene variant.
46
what is significant about gene-environment (GxE) interactions
MAOA-L gene activity is only related to adult aggression when combined with early traumatic life experiences.
47
what did frazzetto et al (2007) find?
association between higher levels of antisocial aggression and the MAOA-L gene in men, only in those who had experienced significant trauma during their first 15 years of life - this is strong evidence of a gene-environment interaction (sometimes described a diathesis-stress).
48
what are the strengths of genetic factors in aggression?
stuart et al (2014) studied 97 men who had been involved in severe domestic abuse to their partners and they found that the most violent men had the faulty MAOA gene, they engaged in the highest level of physical and psychological aggression and inflicted the worst injuries on their partners.
mertins et al (2011) had men with the MAOA-L and MAOA-H genes take part in a money-distributing game, they found that men with the MAOA-H variant were more co-operative and made fewer aggressive moves than the low-activity participants which supports the relationships between MAOA gene activity and aggression.
-> (counterpoint): found that even participants with the MAOA-L variant behaved co-operatively rather than aggressively when made aware of others' behaviour, therefore genes are influenced by environmental factors that are at least as important in aggression.
49
what is a weakness of genetic factors in aggression?
in every pair of twins, both individuals share the same environment as each other but DZ twins may not to the same extent as MZ twins, it is assumed that they do (equal environments assumption), but this assumption may be wrong as one aspect of environment is the way twins are treated by others - MZ twins treated very similarly while DZ twins in less similar ways, this means that concordance rates are inflated and genetic influences on aggression may not be as great as twin studies suggest.
50
what is ethology?
the study of animal behaviour (including humans) in their natural environment.
51
what is the ethological explanation of aggression?
aggression is innate behaviour that has an adaptive function i.e. can aid survival (protect resources such as land and food) and can establish dominance hierarchies (vital to allow access to other resources, such as females).
52
what did petit et al (1988) do?
studied groups of young children and observed how aggression played an important role in the development of dominance hierarchies, this would be adaptive (and thus naturally selected) because dominance over others brings benefits.
53
what did lorenz (1966) believe?
that aggression is innate in all species - it is not learned and it is mainly genetically determined.
54
what did lorenz (1966) propose?
aggression in animals if often ritualistic, which he argued is more adaptive than direct aggression, as symbolic aggression would help ensure the organism was not harmed.
55
what is ritualistic?
a series of behaviours carried out in a set order.
56
what is an innate releasing mechanism (IRM)?
a built-in neural structure (a network of neurons) which, when exposed to specific stimuli (signs or releasers), will cause the release of an automatic behavioural response (a fixed action pattern).
57
what is a fixed action pattern (FAP)?
consist of a series of actions triggered by key stimulus, the pattern will go to completion even if the stimulus is removed.
58
what are the 6 main features of FAPs (according to lea (1984))?
- stereotypes or unchanging sequences of behaviours.
- universal (same behaviour found in all species).
- unaffected by learning (regardless of experience).
- 'ballistic' - once behaviour is triggered, it follows an inevitable course and cannot be altered before it is completed.
- single-purpose, behaviour only occurs in a specific situation.
- a response to an identifiable specific sign stimulus.
59
what are the key assumptions about aggression?
- ethologists study aggression in non-human animals and then apply findings to humans because they believe that we are all subject to the same forces of natural selection.
- aggression can be the result of an evolved automatic biological response in the brain - innate releasing mechanisms leading to fixed action patterns.
60
what did tinbergen (1951) do?
presented sticklebacks with a series of wooden models of different shapes (male sticklebacks are highly territorial during the mating season and when they develop a red spot, if another male enters their territory a sequence of highly-stereotyped aggressive behaviours is initiated (FAP)).
61
what did tinbergen (1951) find?
- regardless of shape, if the model had a red spot the male stickleback would aggressively display and even attack it.
- no red spot = no aggression
- these aggressive FAPs were unchanging from one encounter to another, once triggered, the FAP always ran its course to completion without any further stimulus.
62
what is a strength of the ethological explanation of aggression?
brunner et al's study (1993) showed that MAOA-L gene is closely associated with aggressive behaviour and twin and adoption studies also showed that there is a significant genetic component to aggression in humans, these pieces of research point towards an innate basis to aggressive behaviour suggesting that the ethological approach is correct in claiming that aggression is genetically determined, heritable and adaptive.
-> (counterpoint): nisbett (1993) found that 1 type of homicide was more common amongst white men in southern USA than in the northern and he concluded that the difference was caused by a 'culture of honour' in the southern which suggests that this reactive aggression comes from a learned social norm rather than being instinctive, therefore culture can override innate predispositions, which is hard for ethological theory to explain.
63
what are the weaknesses of the ethological explanation of aggression?
goodall (2010) observed a '4-year war' during which male chimps killed all the members from another group in a systematic way, the violence continued even when the victims offered signals (which did not inhibit aggressive behaviour as predicted by ethological explanation) which challenges the ethological view that same species aggression has evolved into a self-limiting and relatively harmless ritual.
hunt (1973) pointed out that FAPs are actually influenced by environmental factors and learning experiences, an FAP is typically made up of several behaviours and the duration of each varies, therefore patterns of aggressive behaviour are much more flexible than lorenz thought.
64
what is the evolutionary explanation of aggression?
it explores how behaviours that were adapted to our human ancestors were passed down (genetically) through generations.
- it suggests that aggression serves as an important function in terms of both individual survival as well as reproductive potential.
65
what is environment of evolutionary adaptiveness (EEA)?
the time frame and environment in which human traits evolved (bowlby).
66
why was aggression adaptive?
during the EEA, aggression would have helped an individual survive and reproduce (natural selection) e.g. secure resources, food, territory etc.
- aggression established hierarchical dominance within a group.
- males who used aggression would have been successful in securing and retaining mates.
67
what is the explanation of sexual jealousy?
sexual jealousy is more likely in males as males cannot be sure of paternity.
68
what is cuckoldry?
the fear that a male may be investing resources in bringing up another male's offspring.
69
what is aggressive sexual jealousy used for?
it is a way of avoiding cuckoldry, therefore it is adaptive behaviour.
70
what did wilson and daly (1996) identify?
mate retention strategies (psychological mechanisms used to deter female partners from leaving/cheating): direct guarding and negative inducements.
71
what is direct guarding?
involves male vigilance over a partner's behaviour - restricting her freedom / keeping tabs on them to stop other males gaining access to them.
72
what are negative inducements?
issuing violent threats to prevent her from straying/committing infidelity.
73
how did dobash and dobash (1984) support wilson and daly's mate retention strategies?
they found that women cited extreme jealousy from their partners as the key cause of the violence they received.
74
what is the significance of bullying and aggression?
bullying occurs due to a power imbalance - a more powerful individual uses aggression deliberately and repeatedly against a weaker person.
- our evolutionary ancestors may have used bullying as an adaptive strategy to increase their chances of survival.
75
what research support is there for male bullying?
- volk et al (2012) argue that the characteristics associated with bullying behaviour are attractive to females - dominance, strength, resources etc., bullying also has the benefit of warding off potential rivals which means such bullying behaviour would be naturally selected due to greater reproductive success.
- adolescent boys who gain a reputation for being tough are less likely to experience aggression themselves as other boys avoid contact with them, this benefits their health as those at the top of a dominance hierarchy experience less stress (sapolsky, 2004).
76
what research support is there for female bullying?
in females bullying more often takes place within a relationship and is a method of controlling a partner, they use bullying behaviour to secure their partner's fidelity, which means they continue to provide resources for future offspring and such behaviour would be naturally selected because of enhanced reproductive success (campbell, 1999).
77
what did wilson et al (1995) do?
they asked wome nto report mate retention strategies in their partners which was measured in terms of the extent to which they agreed with statements.
78
what did wilson et al (1995) find?
women who did agree with such statements were twice as likely to have experienced physical violence at the hands of their partners, of these women, 75% required medical attention and 53% said they feared for their lives - this supports the view that mate retention strategies are linked to physical violence.
79
what are the strengths of the evolutionary explanation for aggression?
evolutionary theory can explain why males and females differ in their uses of aggression, campbell (1999) argues that it is not adaptive for a female with offspring to be physically aggressive, so a more adaptive strategy for females is to use verbal aggression to retain a partner who provides resources which would explain why women tend to display verbal rather than physical aggression.
evolutionary explanations can be used to reduce bullying, ellis et al (2016) suggested a strategy based on the view that bullying is adaptive, anti-bullying intervention aims to increase the costs of bullying and the rewards of prosocial alternatives, therefore viewing bullying as an adaptive behaviour may lead to more effective anti-bullying interventions.
80
what is a weakness of the evolutionary explanation for aggression?
there are cultural differences in aggressive behaviour, the !kung san people in africa were studied by thomas (1958) who called them the 'harmless' people and found that they have negative attitudes towards the use of aggression and it is discouraged from childhood, those who do use it have their status and reputation diminished, cultural and social norms powerfully constrain aggressive behaviour, therefore such aggressive behaviour may not be adaptive.
-> (counterpoint): lee (1979) described the homicide rates as surprisingly high for such peaceable people and these contradictions in findings may be due to observer bias and due to sample, these methodological issues mean that observations by 'outsides' may not be useful (lacks validity).
81
what are social-psychological explanations of aggression?
theories of aggression which suggest that aggression occurs due to a combination of an individual's traits and the situation in which the behaviour occurs.
82
what is the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
it states that anger, hostility and violence occur when an individual feels prevented from achieving a certain goal - aggression is a consequence of frustration.
83
what did dollard (1939) state in regards to the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
all frustration leads to aggressive behaviour, if a goal is blocked frustration is created which is relieved by aggression.
84
what does releasing the negative emotion of aggression lead to?
it allows catharsis to occur.
85
what is catharsis?
a psychodynamic concept where all anger and frustration is released.
86
what does the frustration-aggression hypothesis recognise about aggression?
it recognised that aggression is not always expressed directly against the source of frustration for 3 reasons: the cause of frustration may be abstract, too powerful or unavailable at the time, so aggression is displaced into an innocent, more available target.
87
what did berkowitz (1989) state about aggression?
that not all frustration leads to aggression, aggression is the result of an interaction between an internal emotional state and cues in the environment.
88
what did berkowitz and lepage (1967) do in their study?
they demonstrated the weapon effect in a lab study, participants were given shocks by a confederate which created anger and frustration and participants later had the opportunity to give (fake) shocks to the confederate.
89
what did berkowitz and lepage (1967) find in their study?
they found that the number of shocks was greater when guns were present on the table.
90
what does their study support?
berkowitz's contention that the presence of aggressive environmental cues stimulates aggression.
91
who carried out research on frustration-aggression and when?
russell green (1968)
92
what did russell green do in his study?
he carried out a study to investigate how frustration affects aggression, students completed jigsaw puzzles in 3 conditions: impossible to solve, ran out of time due to confederate's interference and confederate insulted participants, then the participants could give the confederate electric shocks.
93
what did russell green find in his study?
he found that the most frustrated students gave the strongest shocks and all 3 groups selected more intense shocks than a control group.
94
what are the strengths of the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
marcus-newhall et al (2000) conducted a meta analysis of 49 studies of displaced aggression - the studies investigated when aggression was directed against a 'human target' and they concluded that when people are frustrated aggression is more likely displaced against weaker and more available targets, compared to when they are not frustrated.
russell green's study on frustration-aggression supports the hypothesis as it shows that when people are more frustrated, they are more likely to displace their aggression onto a weaker and more available target (the confederate).
95
what are the weaknesses of the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
aggression may not be cathartic, bushman (2002) found that people who vented their anger by repeatedly hitting a punchbag became more aggressive, even doing nothing reduced aggression more than venting which shows that a central assumption of the frustration-aggression hypothesis may not be valid.
the link between frustration and aggression is complex because frustration does not always lead to aggression and it can occur without frustration, so someone may behave aggressively for many reasons, suggesting that the frustration-aggression hypothesis only explains aggression in some situations, not all.
however, the negative affect theory argued that aggression is caused by a range of responses, therefore frustration can form part of a wider explanation of what causes aggression.
96
what is the social learning theory?
it is a theory that people learn from each other through observation, imitation and modelling.
97
how can the social learning theory be used to explain aggression?
observational learning, vicarious reinforcement, cognitive conditions (mediations processes) and self-efficacy.
98
what is observational learning?
children acquire aggressive behaviours through observing role models, but this only teaches them about the behaviours, it does not mean that they will behave aggressively themselves.
99
what is vicarious reinforcement?
if the role models' aggressive behaviour is rewarded then the child learns that aggression can be effective in getting what they want, which makes it more likely that the observing child will imitate the model's aggressive behaviour.
100
what are the cognitive conditions?
attention, retention, reproduction and motivation.
101
what is attention?
paying attention to the model's aggressive actions.
102
what is retention?
remembering the model's aggressive actions.
103
what is reproduction?
capable of reproducing the aggressive behaviour into physical action.
104
what is motivation?
wanting to behave aggressively (for a reward).
105
what is self-efficacy?
the extent to which we believe our actions will achieve a desired goal, it determines an individual's confidence in their ability to be aggressive if they believe it will bring them rewards; which can develop and grow with each successful outcome.
106
what did bandura do and find in his study?
he had young children observe an adult model behave aggressively with a bobo doll, he found that children had very close imitation of the model's aggression (physically and verbally) and that boys were more likely to imitate physical aggression and a same-sex model, however when children observed a non-aggressive model the children's aggressive behaviour was almost non-existent.
107
how can bandura's study be used to explain aggression?
it shows that modelling and imitation play a big role in children's behaviour, the role of vicarious reinforcement is also shown through the study as adults received praise for their behaviour which increased the likelihood of the children imitating the behaviour.
108
what are the strengths of the social learning theory as an explanation of aggression?
there is research support, poulin and boivin (2000) found that friends can model proactive aggression to each other, positive consequences of aggression and belonging to the 'gang' are reinforcing which supports SLT's explanation of aggression, however there is no similarity between friends for reactive aggression and the boys were less likely to influence each other's reactive aggressive outbursts so it is a limited explanation.
the SLT can help reduce aggression through the encouragement of having friendships with children rewarded for non-aggression meaning that it offers practical steps to reduce the development of aggressive behaviour in children.
studies into social learning and aggression use controlled conditions so researchers can establish that social learning processes may cause aggressive behaviour through the manipulation of IVs and controlling CVs, however studies are unlike real world situations so finding lack generalisability e.g. bandura's bobo doll study.
109
what are the weaknesses of the social learning theory as an explanation of aggression?
bandura recognised that there is an influence of biology (aggressive instinct - urge to be aggressive) but was clear and emphasised nurture and that aggression is primarily learned, so it underplays the role of biological factors (genetic / hormonal influences) which means that it is an incomplete explanation.
110
what de-individuation?
a psychological state in which the individual loses their sense of personal identity and takes on a group identity.
111
what is crowd behaviour (le bon, 1895)?
individuals' behaviour is constrained by social norms as they are easily influenced by others, when becoming part of a crowd, restraint is lost and there is freedom to behave in certain ways; the sense of individual self-identity and responsibility is lost, responsibility is shared throughout the crowd so there is less personal guilt experienced when harming others.
112
what is de-individuated behaviour?
emotional, impulsive, irrational (affected by crowd standards).
113
what happens to an individual when in a de-individuated state?
self-awareness is lost, social norms are ignored etc.
114
what are the conditions that lead to aggression when in a de-individuated state?
drugs, alcohol, anonymity, masks etc.
115
what is the effect of anonymity when in a de-individuated state?
lessened awareness of individuality and reduced sense of guilt or fear of punishment ('shapes crowd behaviour') - mahendran (2012).
116
what is individuated behaviour?
rational, normative, conforms to social norms (affected by internal standards).
117
what are the two types of self-awareness according to dunn and rogers (1982)?
private self-awareness and public self-awareness.
118
what is private self-awareness?
concerns how attention is payed to one's own thoughts and feelings - reduced when part of a crowd and less attention to own beliefs and feelings.
- individuals are less self-critical and less thoughtful, promoting a de-individuated state.
119
what is public self-awareness?
refers to how much individuals care about other people's opinions on their behaviour - reduced when part of a crowd (individuals realise they are anonymous).
- behaviour is less likely to be judged by others, no longer care how others see them and become less accountable for aggressive actions.
120
what did dodd (1985) do and find in his study on de-individuation?
- asked 229 participants in classes what they would do if they could do anything possible without receiving punishment.
- found that most responses involved some form of antisocial behaviour, meaning that this study demonstrates a link between anonymity, de-individuation and aggressive behaviour.
121
what are the strengths of de-individuation as an explanation of aggression?
there is research support, douglas and mcgarty (2001) looked at aggressive online behaviour and found a strong correlation between anonymity and posting hostile messages - most messages were posted by people hiding their identities, supporting the link between anonymity and aggression.
-> counterpoint: gergen et al (1973) placed strangers in a darkened room and told they were able to do what they wanted, they didn't act aggressively but touched intimately and kissed suggesting that de-individuation does not always lead to aggression.
mann (1981) investigated suicidal 'jumpers' and identified many cases to be crowd gatherings encouraging 'jumpers' - large crowds, jumpers distant from crowds, dark setting etc. which are conditions predicted by de-individuation theory which led to aggressive encouragement, so there is some validity to the idea that a large group can become aggressive in a de-individuated 'faceless' crowd.
122
what are the weaknesses of de-individuation as an explanation of aggression?
spears and lea (1922) argue that de-individuation leads to conformity to group norms (antisocial or prosocial) due to anonymity shifting an individual's identity to their social identity as a group identity which suggests that people in a de-individuated state remain sensitive to norms rather than ignoring them.
123
what is institutional aggression?
aggressive behaviours adopted by members of an institution within a formal/organised setting.
124
what does the dispositional explanation of institutional aggression highlight?
it highlights the importance of the individual's personality.
125
who came up with the importation model?
irwin and cressey (1961)
126
what did irwin and cressey suggest with their importation model?
institutional aggression is the product of inmate's individual characteristics, inmates bring a 'criminality subcultre' from outside and using aggression to resolve issues relects their way of coping outside prison.
- they are predisposed to using violence.
127
what did thomas and mcmanimon (2005) suggest?
inmates import behaviours and characteristics that influence the use of aggression to establish power, status, influence and access to resources.
128
what do both these studies show?
that aggression is the product of individual characteristics (disposition) of inmates and not of the prison environment.
129
what did delisi et al (2001) do and find in their study?
- studied juvenile offenders in institutions who had negative backgrounds, they were importing characteristics and resulting dispositions into prison.
- researchers compared this group with a control group (no negative background).
- they found that the 'negative' inmates were more likely to engage in suicidal activity, sexual misconduct and acts of physical aggression.
130
what does the situational explanation of institutional aggression identify?
it identifies the causes of behaviour as existing within the environment.
131
who came up with the deprivation model?
clemmer (1958)
132
what clemmer suggest with his depirvation model?
focuses on the prison environment as the cause of institutional aggression, harsh prison environments are stressful for inmates and lead to aggression - deprivation of material goods/services is closely linked to aggression because it increases competition amongst inmates.
- the prison regime influences aggression, it reduces stimulation and involves further restrictions on inmates freedom and access to goods, which ultimately causes frustration and aggression.
133
what did steiner (2009) do and find?
- investigated factors predicting aggression in US prisons.
- inmate-on-inmate violence is more common with prisons with high amount of women staff, overcrowding and more inmates in protective custody.
- there are prison-level factors because they are independent of individual characteristics of prisoners, they reliably predicted aggressive behaviour in line with deprivation model.
134
what are the strengths of the dispositional explanation?
camp and gaes (2005) studied male inmated with similar histories and predispositions to aggression, half-placed in low security prisons involved in aggressive misconduct so they concluded that features of the prison environment are less important predictors of aggression so there is strong evidence for the importation model (due to random allocation).
the importation model may be determinist, prisoners are aggressive due to little control over dispositions implying that prison aggression is inevitable and not the 'fault' of prisoners.
-> (counterpoint): aggression in prisons is the outcome of free will and cognitive factors so, therefore, aggression is not inevitable and is the responsibility of individual prisoners.
135
what are the weaknesses of dispositional explanations?
dilulio (1991) claims that the importation model ignores other factors that influence behaviour, proposed an administrative control model (ACM) which states that poorly managed prisons are more likely to have inmate violence (due to weak leadership, unofficial rules, few opportunities etc.) meaning that iaerI 2iö
136
what is the media?
communication channels, such as TV films and books.
137
what is excessive TV viewing?
may be linked to aggressive behaviour, regardless of violent content or not.
138
what research support is there for excessive TV viewing?
robertson et al (2013)
139
what did robertson et al (2013) do and find in his research?
measured TV viewing hours of over 100 new zealanders at regular intervals up to 26 years of age and found that time spent watching TV in childhood and adolescence was a reliable predictor of aggressive behaviour in early adulthood.
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what did robertson et al (2013) conclude with his research?
excessive time spent watching TV is associated with reduced social interaction and poorer educational achievement, meaning that the link between excessive viewing and aggression may be indirect.
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what is violent film content perceived as?
the most significant media influence on aggressive behaviour.
142
what did bandura et al (1963) do and find in relation to violent film content?
he followed up earlier research by looking at the effects of aggression viewed on a screen and found that children still imitated aggressive behaviour of the model, meaning that the social learning processes operate through media aswell.
143
why might computer games have more powerful effects than traditional screen-based media?
- the player takes a more active role compared to a passive viewer.
- game-playing is more directly rewarding.
144
what did bartholow and anderson (2002) do and find?
standard lab measure: taylor competitive reaction time tasks (TCRTT)
- had participants deliver blasts of white noise at chosen volumes to punish a (non-existent) opponent.
- found that students who played a violent computer game for 10 minutes selected significantly higher volumes of white noise.
145
what did delisi et al (2013) find in their correlational studies?
in juvenile offenders, several measures of aggression are positively correlated with the time spent playing violent games.
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what did delisi et al (2013) argue?
that the link is so well-established that aggression should be considered a public health issues and computer game violence a significant risk factor.
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what are the strengths of media influences on aggression?
anderson et al (2017) note that it makes sense that TV and computer/video games are other sources of social learning, children are more likely to imitate aggressive behaviours when they see them being rewarded (vicarious reinforcement) and even more when children identify with on-screen characters, this is a key feature for science - having a unifying explanation to account for findings, enhancing the validity of this research.
148
what are the weaknesses of media influences on aggression?
there are various dependent variables and violence and aggression are not the exact same so the effects found in studies depend very much on how aggression is defined so the findings of studies are hard to compare.
-> (counterpoint): meta-analyses can help with this problem, anderson et al (2010) found that exposure to violent computer games was associated with aggression (using different definitions) meaning that meta-analyses are a valid method for uncovering effects of media on aggression.
many studies are methodologically weak e.g. confounding variables, poor sampling methods and many are correlational so cause-and-effect conclusions are unjustified and experimental studies lack external validity (unrealistic measures of aggression) meaning that findings cannot be generalised to the real world so it is difficult to draw conclusions.
149
what is desensitisation?
reduced sensitivity to a stimulus, may be psychological or physiological, this reduced response may make a behaviour such as aggression more likely.
150
what does repeated exposure to violent media promote?
it promotes a belief that using aggression is socially acceptable (negative attitudes towards violence weaken, less empathy is felt and victims' injuries are minimised and dismissed).
151
who conducted a lab study investigating the role of desensitisation?
weisz and earls (1995)
152
what did weisz and earls (1995) do and find in their lab study?
they showed participants the film 'straw dogs', which contains a prolonged and graphic sense of rape, and then had them watch a re-enactment of a rape trial and they found that male viewers showed greater acceptance of rape myths and sexual aggression, expressed less sympathy towards victim and less likely to find the defendant guilty, however no such effect on female participants.
153
what is a strength of the role of desensitisation in explaining aggression?
krahé et al (2011) showed participants violent (and non-violent) films while measuring physiological arousal and found lower arousal in those who watched violence regularly, they also have louder bursts of white noise to a confederate without being provoked, this reflect desensitisation to the effects of violence and was also linked to a greater willingness to be aggressive.
154
what is a weakness of the role of desensitisation in explaining aggression?
krahé et al failed to link media viewing, lower arousal and provoked aggression, a more valid explanation for this might be catharsis - which suggests that viewing violent media is a safety valve, allowing people to release aggressive impulses without behaving violently which means that not all aggression is the result of desensitisation and alternative explanations may be more valid.
155
what is disinhibition?
a lack of restraint, may be due to environmental triggers or over exposure to a stimulus, resulting in socially unacceptable behaviours becoming acceptable.
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what is the significance of disinhibition in aggressive behaviour?
aggressive behaviour is often made to appear normative and socially sanctioned in such media, especially if portrayals minimise effects of violence on victims and suggest it is justified.
157
why is it not usual for video games to show violence being rewarded?
its consequences are minimised / ignored, which creates new social norms in the viewer.
158
what are the strengths of the disinhibition explanation for aggression?
berkowitz and alioto (1973) found that with participants who watched films showing aggression as vengeance (socially acceptable) more shocks were given meaning that this demonstrates the link between the removal or social constraints and subsequent aggressive behaviour.
children learnt that aggression is socially normative if unpunished which shows that disinhibition explains how cartoon aggression can lead to aggression.
159
what is cognitive priming?
the way a person is triggered by cues or 'scripts' which makes us ready to respond in specific ways.
160
what did huesmann (1998) find?
the 'script' is stored in memory and so we become 'ready' or primed to be aggressive (process is mostly automatic), the script is triggered when we encounter cues in a situation we perceive as aggression.
161
what did fischer and greitmeyer (2006) do?
illustrated the priming of aggressive scripts and investigated a neglected form of media violence, men listened to aggressive, derogatory song lyrics about women and compared with neutral lyrics.
162
what did fischer and greitmeyer (2006) find?
participants recalled more negative qualities about women and behaved more aggressively towards a confederate woman - replicated with women and 'men-hating' lyrics and found similar results.
163
what is a strength of cognitive priming as an explanation for aggression?
bushman and anderson (2002) argue that people who regularly watch violent media store aggressive scripts so they are more likely to interpret cues as aggressive and resort to violence suggesting that interventions can potentially reduce aggression by challenging hostile cognitive biases.
164
what is a weakness of cognitive priming as an explanation for aggression?
research into the effects of video games has found that playing violent games primes violent behaviour more than non-violent games and the problem is that violent games tend to be much more complex and this complexity is a confounding variable, zendle et al (2018) found that when complexity was controlled, the priming effects of violent games disappeared, meaning the supportive findings of studies into priming may be at least partly due to confounding variables.
