Social Psychological Explanations of Human Aggression (AQA A Level Psychology): Flashcards

The Iatmul of New Guinea responded to frustration with aggression but the Balinese did not, so the FAH lacks cultural generalisability.

Venting anger on a punchbag made participants angrier and more aggressive, while doing nothing was more effective. Venting is 'like using petrol to put out a fire'.

False.

It is deterministic, suggesting frustration inevitably leads to aggression, which removes personal responsibility.

The FAH takes a nomothetic approach, seeking universal laws and overlooking individual differences such as personality or culture.

Humans learn behaviour from others in social contexts by observing role models and imitating them, depending on whether the behaviour is seen to be rewarded.

False.

He acknowledged direct learning through reinforcement and punishment, but argued most aggression is learned indirectly through observational learning.

Vicarious reinforcement is when a child sees a model's aggression rewarded, or at least not punished, and learns that aggression can be effective in getting what they want.

Billy feels good when he and his dad shout at the TV about how useless their team is.

If a model's aggression is punished, an observing child is less likely to imitate it, known as vicarious punishment.

Young children readily observe and imitate aggressive behaviour learned from adult role models.

Attention, retention, reproduction and motivation.

Transforming the mental representation of the behaviour into physical action, which involves realistically appraising one's own ability to do so.

The child believes that imitating the behaviour will lead to an outcome they desire.

Self-efficacy is the extent to which we believe our actions will achieve a desired goal. A child's confidence in being aggressive grows as they learn it brings rewards.

A child who regularly hits others to get a toy learns they have the motor skills and that it comes easily, so self-efficacy develops with each success.

Aggressive primary-school children said aggression came easily and was hard to inhibit, and were confident it brought rewards. Aggressive girls showed more concern for victims.

Media portrayals of aggression are powerful influences, especially if a character is rewarded and the child identifies with them.

Aggressive boys aged 9 to 12 formed stable, mutually reinforcing cliques that acted as 'training grounds', gaining direct and vicarious reinforcement.

If aggression can be learned, prosocial behaviour can be too, e.g. through social skills training in educational and offender settings.

False.

It explains proactive aggression well, but hot-headed reactive retaliation is better explained by Berkowitz's negative affect theory.

Reciprocal determinism is the idea that people are not passive recipients of reinforcement but actively shape their environments by selecting and creating their surroundings.

By encouraging aggressive children to form friendships with non-aggressive peers and adults, giving them more opportunities to model non-aggressive behaviour.

SLT supports environmental determinism, though its cognitive mediators allow some degree of choice.

It seeks general laws, such as all children learning aggression by observation. This aids anti-bullying strategies but overlooks individual differences.

De-individuation (Le Bon, 1895) is losing one's sense of individual identity and responsibility in a crowd, with greater disregard for norms and even laws.

Responsibility is shared throughout the crowd.

Individuated behaviour is rational and normative, conforming to social norms. De-individuated behaviour is emotional, impulsive and irrational.

A football fan rioting with fellow fans after a match, and a child going along with a gang of bullies tormenting another child.

Crowds give individuals anonymity, which makes it easier to act out of character and may explain why rioters wear masks.

Any three of wearing a uniform, acting in darkness, being in an altered state through drugs or alcohol, and wearing a disguise.

Attention to our own feelings and behaviour. It is reduced in crowds as attention focuses outward on events around us.

How much we care what others think of our behaviour. It is reduced in crowds as we feel anonymous and less likely to be judged.

False.

They wear off, and the person may be left with shame, guilt or horror at what they have done.

People hide behind usernames, avatars and false identities, and distance from others they will never meet feels like being in an anonymous crowd.

Asked what they would do if undetected, 36% of students' responses were antisocial and 26% criminal, most commonly robbing a bank. Only 9% were prosocial.

A strong correlation between anonymity and 'flaming' online. The most aggressive messages came from those hiding their real identities.

In a covert observation of 1,300 trick-or-treaters, significantly more stealing of sweets and money occurred under anonymity and in larger groups.

Services like Xbox Live reduce personal identity through 'handles' and provide a worldwide 'crowd' of players, promoting de-individuation.

Imagining walking in synchrony with a crowd produced emotional closeness, so losing oneself in a crowd can produce prosocial rather than aggressive behaviour.

Participants dressed in KKK-style outfits gave more shocks, while those dressed as nurses gave fewer, so normative cues determine the outcome of de-individuation.

False.

Aggression and prosocial behaviour are both possible outcomes, with cues in the situation determining which is more likely.

It portrays crowd behaviour negatively, which affects how protests are viewed and policed and may reinforce stereotyping of groups.

De-individuation theory is nomothetic, seeking general laws such as 'anonymity means more aggression', and overlooks personality and moral reasoning.