deck_19121542 Flashcards
(15 cards)
1
Q
What explanation does Dollard et al. (1939) propose?
A
- The frustration-aggression hypothesis,
- Argue that aggressopn is always the result of frustration, defined as interference with attempts to reach a goal, and that frustration always leads to aggression, either aggressive behaviour or feeling aggression.
2
Q
How is strength of aggression determined in the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
A
By the degress of frustration, which depends on how much they want to reach the goal, how close they were to achieving it, and how much they’ve been set back by the interference.
3
Q
What can inhibit aggressive behaviour?
A
- Fear of punishment may inhibit aggressive behaviour towards the source of the frustration,
- If this aggression is weaker than the fear it will be displaced onto something, or someone, other than the cause of the frustration.
4
Q
Evidence for the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
A
- Buss (1963) found that frustration can increase the occurrence of aggression. Students in groups who had been frustrated, e.g. by being prevented from winning money, were slightly more aggressive than the control group,
- Harris (1974) studied people’s responses when a confederate pushed in front of them in a queue. People displayed more aggression when they were close to the front of the queue than when they were near the back. This supports the suggestion that being frustrated causes more aggression the closer to the goal the person is.
5
Q
Evidence against the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
A
- Berkowitz (1965) argued that frustration alone isn’t enough to trigger aggression - environmental cues to release aggression are also needed,
- The suggestion that frustration always leads to some form of aggression is widely disputed. Evidence for this claim is contradictory. For example, Buss (1966) found no link between frustration and aggression; contradicting his earlier work,
- Could be that frustration only leads to aggression if the frustrating behaviour is seen as an attack. Mallick and McCandless (1966) found that participants responded much less aggressively to being frustrated by a confederate if they were given a reasonable explanation for the frustrator’s behaviour.
6
Q
What revision to the frustration-aggression hypothesis was proposed by Berkowitz?
A
- Berkowitz (1965) proposed a revision of the frustration-aggression hypothesis, known as the aggressive cues hypothesis,
- Argued that frustration doesn’t directly produce aggression, instead it creates a ‘readiness to aggress’. For aggressive behaviour to occur, it must be triggered by the presence of environmental cues.
7
Q
Berkowitz and LePage (1967), findings?
A
- Gave participants electric shocks to make them feel angry,
- Afterwards, levels of aggression were tested with either a weapon, badminton racket, or no objects present,
- Found that people behaved more aggressively when the aggressive cue of the weapon was present, than in the other two conditions.
8
Q
Social Learning theory on aggression?
A
- Maintains that aggressive behaviour is learnt,
- People learn aggression by observing and imitating the behaviour of aggressive models,
- Reinforcemnt affects how likely somebody is to imitate an observed behaviour,
- This can be positive or negative reinforcent. Reinforcement can also be direct, being rewarded yourself, or vicarious, observing the model being rewarded,
- Bandura’s (1961) Bobo doll study showed that children can learn aggression through imitation.
9
Q
Bandura (1965), method and findings?
A
- Got children to watch a video of a model behaving aggressively towards a Bobo doll,
- The model was either rewarded, punished, or neither (in the control condition),
- When the children played with the doll, those in the reward and control condition behaved more aggressively than those in the punishment condition.
10
Q
What does the Deindividuation theory hold?
A
- We are disinhibited when we are an anonymous part of a crowd,
- When they are part of the group, people may feel less personal responsibility and less fear of public disapproval than when they are clearly identifiable as an individual,
- Festinger et al. (1952) coined the term deindividuation to describe this state of reduced self-awareness.
11
Q
Mullen (1986) method and findings?
A
- Mullen analysed newspaper reports of lynch mob violence in the US,
- The more people there were in the mob, the greater the level of violence.
12
Q
Mann (1981), findings?
A
- Analysed 21 reports of suicides and identified ten cases where a crowd has baited the person threatening suicide, e.g. shouting ‘jump!’,
- Baiting was more likely to happen at night, when the crowd was at a distance and when the crowd was large.
13
Q
Zimbardo (1969), in support of deindividuation theory?
A
- Showed that anonymity affects behaviour,
- Participants in his study believed they were administering shocks to another participant in a learning experiment,
- Individuated participants wore normal clothes, large name badges, and were introduced to each other,
- Deindividuated participants wore coats with hoods, were instructed in groups and weren’t referred to by name,
- The more anonymous participants administered more and longer shocks.
14
Q
Diener et al. (1976), in support of deindividuation theory?
A
Observed 1,300 trick-or-treating children in the US, if they were more anonymous (e.g. in groups, costumes, or masks) they were more likely to steal money and sweets.
15
Q
What argument is there against deindividuation theory?
A
- There are examples of it having no effect or even reducing aggression,
- For example, individuals in crowds at religious festivals often express goodwill to others,
- It could be that being in a group means that you conform to group norms,
- If group norms are prosocial, the individual may behave that way too.
