LB - Aggresion

• Aggresion


  Behaviour carried out with intent to harm
• Measuring Aggresion

  • analogues of behaviour
  • rating by self or others
  • signal of intention
  • indirect aggresion
  • Difficult to manipulate agg cuz unethical
• Biological theories of aggresion

  • Psychodynamic: conflict between life and death instinct. agg is built and needs to released
  • Evolution: agg safeguards survival, causing social and economic advantages
  • genes: MAO-A gene, higher testosterone + low cortisol predicts agg
• Individual theories of aggresion

  • personality: some traits align with higher tendency to be agg
  • self control (low=more agg)
  • dark triad: narcissism, machiavellianism, psychopathy
  • alcohol: contributes to agg
• Situational theories of aggression

  • heat
  • crowds
• Social theories of aggression

  • frustration-aggression hypothesis: agg rises from frustration
  • social learning theory
  • learnt behaviour - positively/negatively reinforced depending on the outcome (corporal punishment)
• Culture

  • cultures differ in types and freq of violence
  • variation in subcultures (race, age, gender.)
• Gender

  • men = more physically agg
  • women = more indirectly agg
• General Agg Model

  • inputs (personality) -> routes (arousal) -> outcomes (action)
  • these factors explain agg, and result in action
• Agg and Group

  • disinhibition - social controlling to prevent agg
  • dehumanization - stripping people of humanity
  • deindividuation - lose of self, adopt group identity
• Platow and Hunter

  1. ingroup formation
  2. intergroup conflict
  3. reduction of intergroup conflict (through cooperation between all individuals)
• Explanations for Intergroup Conflict

  • Realistic conflict theory: ingroup conflict from competition for resources
  • relation deprivation theory: social comparison that some groups are better
  • egoistic relative deprivation: comparison @ individual level
  • fraternal relative deprivation: comparison @ group level
• Social indentity theory - tajfel and turner

  self categorisation and adopting of group norms
• Intergroup harmony achieved through

  • education
  • intergroup contact/connection
  • superordinate goals