SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS

• Dollard's Frustration Aggression Hypothesis argues frustration always leads to aggression and aggression is a result of frustration
• One aspect is Catharsis - the process of realising strong and repressed emotions to produce relief
• If our attempt to achieve a goal is blocked by an obstacle we become frustrated. This caused an aggressive drive which leads to aggressive behaviour. This is cathartic because our aggression from the frustration is satisfied, reducing the aggressive drive, making further aggression less likely.
• The hypothesis also acknowledges that aggression may be displaced an not always directly expressed against the frustration source. The source may be abstract, too powerful or unavailable and so the aggression is displaced onto an alternative
• AO3 - FRUSTRATION HYPOTHSESIS STRENGTH


  PIRKS found when a Swedish football team performed worse than expected, fans threw objects onto the pitch and supporters were more likely to fight the opposition

  • suggests aggression increases when good expectations are frustrated
• AO3 - FRUSTRATION HYPOTHSESIS WEAKNESS


  NOT ALL AGGRESSION ARISES FROM FRUSTRATION:

  • some arises from unpleasant experiences. E.G - REIFMAN found as temperature increased in a basketball game, aggression of those playing also increased.
• AO3 - FRUSTRATION HYPOTHSESIS WEAKNESS


  EVIDENCE AGAINST THAT CATHARIS REDUCES AGGRESSION:

  • BUSHMAN found that when people behaved more aggressively, they would display more aggression in the future. They also kept angry/aggressive feelings in memory.
  • contradicts claim that catharsis reduces aggression
• Social Learning Theory suggests aggressive behaviour is learned through the observation and imitation of role models.
• If a child sees aggressive behaviour being positively reinforced with good consequences, they are likely to imitate this behaviour themselves as they expect similar consequences. This is know as Vicarious Reinforcement.
• We are more likely to imitate the behaviour of those who we identify with (role models). Modelling is likely to occur when the role model is similar to the observer, attractive or has high status.
• Bandura argued that metal processes are involved in learning aggressive called mediational processes which explain that for aggression to be imitated there must be:

  1. ATTENTION
  2. RETENTION
  3. REPRODUCTION
  4. MOTIVATION
• When imitating aggression, children develop confidence in there ability to be aggressive. If their aggression is successful this increases their sense of self-efficacy in their ability to use aggression to revolve conflicts.
• AO3 - SLT STRENGTH

  BANDURA found that when children observed an aggressive and no-aggressive role model showing violence towards a bobo doll, the children who observed adults who were aggressive to the doll were also aggressive to the bob doll.
• AO3 - SLT STRENGTH

  SCIENTIFIC as these learning behaviours can be observed/measured in controlled conditions. E.G - Bandura research was highly controlled and it was clear to observe/measure the child learning.

  • empirical evidence
• AO3 - SLT STRENGTH

  PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS:

  • SLT can shape TV programming to ensure there are ore non-aggressive TV characters that promote pro social behaviour.
  • benefit society by encouraging less aggression
• De individuation is a psychological state in which an individual loses their personal identify and takes on the identify of the social group.
• De individuation occurs from being in a large group/crowd because it this frees the individual from the constraints of their sense of moral responsibility and social norms thus making anti social and aggressive behaviour more likely.
• Factors that contribute to De individuation include anonymity (e.g - wearing a uniform), shared responsibility (less personally responsible = collective mindset) and intoxication.
• Zimbardo argues that in crowds of de individuated people, there are less fear of negative consequences and a reduced sense of guilt as they take on the identity of the crowd. As a result the moral responsibility shifts from the individual to the group, making aggression more likely
• AO3 - DE INDIVIDUATION STRENGTH

  ZIMBARDO found in his hooded electric shock study that when 4 female undergraduates were to deliver electric shocks to a student to aid learning, those who were de-individuated an wore hoods to hide their face, shocked the learned twice as long as the participants who wore their normal clothing and name tags
• AO3 - DE INDIVIDUATION STRENGTH

  REHM found that when school children were playing in the same orange shirts, thy would play more aggressively than the children playing in their normal clothes.
• AO3 - DE INDIVIDUATION WEAKNESS


  DE INDIVUDATION CAN LEAD TO PRO-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR NOT ANTI-SOCICAL:

  • JOHNSON AND DOWNING replicated Zimbardo's study and found that participant's shocked more than a control group when dressed like the Ku Klux Klan, but shocked less when dressed in nurse uniforms.
  • suggests aggressive behaviour is dependent on the norms associated with the uniforms as opposed to the uniforms themselves
• AO3 - SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS

  IGNORE BIOLOGICAL FACTORS:

  • may be due to genetic, MAOA gene, testosterone, limbic system
  • limited in the amount of aggressive behaviours they can successfully explain, other explanations may be needed.