Aggression

Question 1

define aggression

Answer 1

any behaviour that is intended to harm an individual. It may or may not involve physical harm.

Question 2

what are the two types of aggression and define them

Answer 2

1) Proactive aggression: pre-planned, goal direct behaviour, often with little or no provocation.
2) Reactive aggression: impulsive, emotionally driven aggression that occurs in response to a perceived or real threat.

Question 3

Neural Influences: the Limbic system

Answer 3

this idea was developed by Papez and Maclean who suggested that aggression is linked to the limbic system. The limbic system is involved in emotion and motivation.
The limbic system is a group of connected brain structures that controls basic emotions e.g. fear, anger and pleasure.
The limbic system has key structures including: the amygdala, hypothalamus, parts of the hippocampus.

Question 4

What is the amygdala

Answer 4

considered the most important brain structure in aggression.
plays a key role in how humans and animals respond to environmental threats and challenges.
research suggests that the reactivity of the amygdala predicts aggressive behaviour.
those with a more responsive amygdala are more likely to show aggressive behaviour.

Question 5

Evidence for the limbic system and the amygdala

Answer 5

Gospic et al: they investigated the role of the amygdala in aggressive behaviour. They found that when the participants rejected the unfair offer, the fMRI scans showed that there was an increased activation in the amygdala.
When the pps were given benzodiazepine (calming drug) before the game, there were two effects: 1) the number of rejections halved, 2) the amygdala activity decreased.

Question 6

what is the serotonin deficiency hypothesis

Answer 6

• serotonin is a neurotransmitter involved in mood regulation and behavioural control.
• normal levels of serotonin in the orbitofrontal cortex (OBC) helps control behaviour by reducing neural activity, which helps to control impulsive and aggressive responses.
• when serotonin levels are low, the control is weakened, leading to increased impulsivity and aggressive behaviour.

Question 7

Evidence for neural mechanisms: serotonin

Answer 7

Virkkunen et al: studied violent offenders and examined levels of serotonin activity. They found that impulsive violent offenders had lower levels of serotonin breakdown compared to non-impulsive offenders, suggesting reduced serotonin functioning. Impulsive offenders also showed more sleep disturbances which are linked disruptive serotonin activity.

Question 8

What is the male hormonal mechanism in aggression

Answer 8

testosterone: a male sex hormone (androgen) responsible for the development of male characteristics. It’s linked to aggressive behaviour as it acts on areas of the brain such as the amygdala and the hypothalamus, which regulates social behaviour.

Question 9

Animal studies on hormonal mechanisms in aggression

Answer 9

when castrating animals, the testes are removed and so testosterone levels are reduced. They found that aggression levels decreases. When they injected the animals with testosterone, their aggression levels were restored.

Question 10

Human studies on hormonal mechanisms in aggression

Answer 10

Dolan et al: they found a positive correlation between testosterone levels and aggressive behaviour in male offenders in UK maximum security hospitals.

Question 11

Evaluation of neural and hormonal mechanisms in aggression

Answer 11

PEEL++: A strength is that there’s research into the effects of drugs on serotonin levels. Drugs such as paroxetine that increases serotonin levels have been found to reduce the levels of aggression. In Berman et al study, they gave pps either a placebo or paroxetine and then played a lab-based game where pps could give electric shocks after being provoked (e.g. via insults). They found that those taking paroxetine gave fewer and less intense electric shocks than those who took the placebo. This indicates that when having high serotonin levels in the brain, it results in reducing an individual’s aggressive behaviour. This study has methodological strengths since it’s a lab study. This means that it has high internal validity, since all extraneous and confounding variables have been controlled. This means that the researchers can conclude that any changes in aggression is due to the drug taken that increased the serotonin levels. Therefore, it’s a strong study. However, despite this, since it’s a lab study, the lowers the study’s external validity and perhaps the findings cannot be generalised to real life. For example, in real life, people aren’t so likely to give electric shocks when they’re angry, and would properly act in a different manner. Therefore, although the study does have high internal validity, it is difficult to generalise the findings to real life situations.

PEEL: A limitation is that there’s mixed evidence of the link between testosterone and aggression. Carre and Mehta suggested the dual hormone hypothesis which claims that high levels of testosterone only leads to aggression when cortisol levels are low. When the cortisol levels are high, it blocks the impact of high testosterone levels, which reduces aggression. This suggests that the combined activity of testosterone and cortisol is a more suitable predictor of aggression than either hormone alone.

Question 12

twin studies on genetic factors in aggression

Answer 12

twin studies suggest that genetic factors explain about 50% of the differences in aggressive behaviour.
Coccaro et al: studied adult monozygotic and dizygotic twins. they found concordance rates of 50% in monozygotic twins and 19% in dizygotic twins for physical aggressive behaviour.
This highlights that the environment does play some role since the concordance rate for monozygotic twins is not 100%. However, genetic factors do play a role on aggression since the concordance rate for monozygotic twins is higher than dizygotic twins.

Question 13

how can adoption studies be used to highlights genetic factors in aggression and the study?

Answer 13

Similarities in aggressive behaviour between an adopted child and their biological parents suggests that genetic influences are operating. Similarities in aggressive behaviour between an adopted child and their adopted parents suggests that the environmental influences are operating.
Rhee and Waldman study: carried out a meta-analysis of adoption studies of direct aggression and anti-social behaviour. They found that genetic influences accounted for 41% of the differences in aggression.

Question 14

what gene influences the levels of aggression and what are the two types of the gene.

Answer 14

The MAOA gene is responsible for producing the enzyme MAOA which has been associated with aggressive behaviour.
There are two types of the MAOA gene:
MAOA L = low levels of MAOA. MAOA H = high levels of MAOA.
MAOA L is linked to aggression.

Question 15

How is MAOA L linked to aggression

Answer 15

MAOA L gene variant leads to low MAOA enzyme activity.
This results in lower levels of serotonin in the brain.
Low serotonin is associated with poor impulse control, increasing the likelihood of aggressive behaviour.

Question 16

Gene - environment interactions and study

Answer 16

low MAOA gene activity only appears to be associated with aggression when combined with early traumatic events.
Frazzetto et al: they found an association between higher levels of antisocial aggression and the low-activity MAOA gene in adult males. However, this was only the case in those who had experienced significant trauma e.g. abuse during the first 15 years of their life. Those without trauma were not aggressive as adults even if they had the low-activity MAOA allele.

Question 17

Evaluation of genetic factors in aggression.

Answer 17

PEEL+: strength is that there’s research support that the MAOA gene is involved in aggression. Mertins et al found that low-activity of the MAOA gene is associated with increased aggression. In their study, they found that men with the MAOA-H variant were more co-operative in money distributing games, whilst those with the MAOA-L variant were more aggressive. However, Mertins et al also found that the pps with the MAOA-L gene behaved co-operatively when made aware that other pps in the study were acting co-operatively. This indicates that aggression is also due to social norms and environmental influences, and isn’t primarily due to genetic influences.

PEEL+: A strength is that there’s research support of a link between the MAOA gene and aggression. Brunner et al studied 5 generations of a Dutch family where they studied the male members. Many of them demonstrated violent and aggressive behaviour and found that these men had a defect in the MAOA gene, leading to abnormally low levels of the MAOA enzyme activity. This clearly indicates that low levels of the MAOA gene is associated with increased aggression. A strength of this study is that it was done over a long period time for 5 generations. This suggests that the findings are valid, and also provides support for the idea that aggression is genetic. However, this study is not cross-cultural as it was only done on a Dutch family. This means that the findings cannot be generalised to those in different, more collectivist cultures. Furthermore, the study was only conducted on one family and so acts as a case study, making it difficult to generalise the findings and create nomothetic laws of aggression.

Question 18

define ethology

Answer 18

the study of animals in their natural habitat

Question 19

what do ethologists believe

Answer 19

that animals have innate behavioural responses to specific situations. Aggression is seen as an innate behaviour that’s found in all species.

Question 20

what is Lorenz’s definition of aggression

Answer 20

the fighting instinct in beast and man which is directed against members of the same species.

Question 21

What are the two adaptive functions of aggression and describe them

Answer 21

1) animals know when to accept defeat: When animals of the same species fight, they don’t fight to die. When an animal loses, instead of being killed, its forced to move to another territory. This helps survival as it reduces fighting and death. It also reduces competition for food, mating etc.

2) To establish dominance hierarchies: Male chimpanzees use aggression to rise in their group’s social hierarchy. Higher dominance has advantages e.g. mating rights, access to resources such as food - improves survival and reproduction.
This also happens in humans. Pettit et al found that aggression in young children helped to create dominance hierarchies.

Question 22

What is ritualistic aggression

Answer 22

this is a series of behaviours carried out in a fixed order.

Question 23

What are ritualistic displays

Answer 23

this is when animals present non-physical aggression to intimidate and prevent death.

Question 24

What did Lorenz find with ritualistic aggression?

Answer 24

fights between animals of the same species rarely causes serious physical harm.
Instead, animals use ritualistic displays e.g. baring teeth and showing claws. These displays allow animals to show their strength and intimidate their opponent without fighting.

Question 25

What are appeasement displays

Answer 25

this is what an animal shows when they realise it's weaker. examples include rolling over to expose a vulnerable area. Appeasement displays are adaptive as it reduces injury and death.

Question 26

What are innate releasing mechanisms

Answer 26

They are inborn psychological mechanisms in the brain. Members of the same species share IRMs.

Question 27

How do IRMs work

Answer 27

1) a sign (environmental) stimuli e.g. a particular facial expression, triggers the IRM. 2) Once activated, the IRM releases a fixed action pattern (FAP). FAP are series of behaviours that an animal goes through to display aggressive acts. FAP are innate, stereotypes sequences of behaviour that are carried out automatically.

Question 28

what are the 6 main features of FAP

Answer 28

1) the same sequence of behaviours. 2) the same behaviour is found in every individual of a species. 3) the behaviour is unaffected by learning as its innate. 4) The behaviour is ballistic meaning it cannot be changed once it's triggered until its finished. 5) the behaviour only takes place in a specific situation. 6) the behaviour is a response to a specific stimuli.

Question 29

Tinbergen's research: method

Answer 29

he studied male sticklebacks during breeding season when they develop a red underside and become territorial. If another male enters the territory (with a red underside), the male stickleback already occupying the area shows a fixed action pattern of aggressive behaviour. The sign stimuli that triggered the aggression was the red underside. Tinbergen tested this by presenting wooden models of sticklebacks of different shapes.

Question 30

Tinbergen's research: findings

Answer 30

regardless of the shape, if the model had a red spot, the male stickleback showed aggressive displays and attacked. No red spot meant no aggression. Once triggered, the aggressive FAP always ran to completion.

Question 31

Evaluation of the Ethological Explanation of Aggression

Answer 31

PEEL+: A strength of the ethological approach is that the studies used to support it have methodological strengths. For example, Tinbergen's study is a strong one since in the study they use fish of different sizes and shapes to prove that no matter how it looked as long as it displayed a red spot did the actual fish attack. This indicated that it's the colour that activates the IRM increasing the internal validity of the study. This means that the study can be generalised increasing the validity of the ethological explanation that aggressive FAPs are unchanging and must run to completion. However, this is quite an old study and more recent research has suggested that FAPs are not fixed and can change within the environment. Hunt found that FAPs are influenced by environmental factors and learning experiences which has led to them being referred to as model behaviour patterns. This limits what can be learnt from Tinbergen's findings and from the ethological explanation and perhaps aggressive behaviour can change. PEEL+: One strength of the ethological explanation of aggression is that there is research support suggesting aggression has a genetic and evolutionary basis. Brunner et al. found evidence for a genetic explanation of aggression by studying five generations of a Dutch family. Many of the male members displayed extremely violent and aggressive behaviour, including arson and sexual violence. These men were found to have a defect in the MAOA gene, which resulted in abnormally low levels of MAOA enzyme activity. This supports the ethological explanation by suggesting that aggression can be inherited and has a biological basis. However, it has been found that aggressive behaviour changes from one country to another. Nisbett found that a type of homicide caused by reactive aggression was more common in southern states in the USA. This may be due to aggression being more normalised in the southern USA than the north and so homicide rates in the north would be lower. This indicates that this aggressive behaviour is learnt instead of being innate. Despite that there is evidence to suggest genes influence aggression from Brunner’s study, the evidence from Nisbett limits Brunner’s findings and implies that aggressive behaviour varies between different cultures. Therefore, due to Brunner’s study not being cross-cultural this limits what can be understood from the ethological explanation.

Question 32

Define cuckoldry

Answer 32

where a male unknowingly invests resources in offspring that are not genetically his.

Question 33

Sexual jealousy as an evolutionary explanation of human aggression?

Answer 33

sexual jealousy is a major motivator of aggressive behaviour in males. Males can never be 100% sure that they are the biological father of their partner's child. This creates paternity uncertainty which presents an adaptive problem for men due to the risk of cuckoldry. Sexual jealousy has evolved as an adaptive response that motivates male aggression to deter rivals, protect mating opportunities, and maximise reproductive success. Males who avoided cuckoldry in ancestral past were more reproductively successful than those who did not. This led to the natural selection of psychological mechanisms that promote anti-cuckoldry behaviour in males.

Question 34

What are male retention strategies

Answer 34

Wilson and Daly identified several male retention strategies that are designed to prevent a partner from leaving or being unfaithful. 1) Direct Guarding: involves restricting a female's freedom by monitoring her whereabouts. This is done to reduce infertility. 2) Negative Inducement: threats of violence or violence itself, to discourage a partner from straying.

Question 35

Evidence for a link between male retention strategies and aggression in intimate relationships.

Answer 35

Wilson et al: They found that women who reported that their husbands use MRS were twice as likely to have experienced physical violence. Of these women, 73% required medical attention and 53% said they feared for their lives. This research highlights the darker side of MRS, suggesting that when such behaviours become extreme, then can escalate into serious aggression. While these strategies may be explained as adaptive from an evolutionary perspective, the findings demonstrate that it can result in significant harm even in modern day era.

Question 36

Research investigating the relationship between men retention strategies and intimate partner violence.

Answer 36

Shackelford et al: The study used a sample of 107 married couples who had been married for less than a year. The men completed a Male Retention Inventory, which measured the frequency of male retention behaviours such as direct guarding. Women completed the Spouse Influence Report which assessed the extent of their partner's use of violence. They found a strong positive correlation between men's self-reported use of mate retention behaviours and women's reports of violence from their partners. This suggests that the more frequently men engaged in behaviours such as direct guarding, the more likely their partners were to experience aggression.

Question 37

Evolutionary Explanation of Bullying for Human Aggression

Answer 37

Bullying occurs due to a power imbalance where a powerful individual deliberately uses aggression against a weaker person. Bullying may have been an adaptive strategy in ancestral past. By using bullying behaviour, individuals could increase their chances of survival by promoting their own health, gaining dominance, and creating greater opportunities for reproduction.

Question 38

Difference between male bullying and female bullying.

Answer 38

Male Bullying: this is argued to function as a way of demonstrating dominance over others, which can increase access to resources and mates in a group. Female Bullying: this more often takes place within a relationship and is a method used for controlling a partner. This behaviour helps to secure a partner's fidelity and continued provision of resources for his and her offspring. Therefore, in both males and females, bullying can be understood as an adaptive strategy than enhanced survival and reproduction in our evolutionary past.

Question 39

Evaluation of evolutionary explanations for human aggression

Answer 39

PEEL+: A strength is that the evolutionary theory can explain why there are differences in male and female aggressive behaviour. Campbell argues that it is not adaptive for a female with offspring to be physically aggressive because such behaviour would put her own survival at risk and that of her own child. A more adaptive strategy for females to use is verbal aggression to retain a partner who provides resources. However, when differences between males and females are exaggerated this can result in alpha bias. This can lead to stereotypes and prejudice resulting in discrimination against those males or females whose aggressive behaviour is different to what the evolutionary theory suggests it should be. PEEL+: The Kung San people of western Africa were studied by Thomas an were referred to as the 'Harmless People' due to their extremely low levels of aggression. She found that the Kung San society strongly discourages aggression from early childhood. Both boys and girls are taught to avoid aggressive behaviour. Those who did engage in aggression face loss status and reputation, which further discourages violent behaviour. However, there is controversy over how accurate the portrayal of the 'harmless' Kung San people is. Lee challenged this view, noting that the homicide rate among the Kung San was surprisingly high, contradicting the idea that they are not entirely non-violent. One reason for these contradictions is observer bias. Researchers may see what they expect, or study a group that is not representative of the whole community. Different groups may show different levels of aggression.

Question 40

Who formulated the frustration-aggression hypothesis and what does it state (social psychological explanation 1)

Answer 40

Dollard et al It states that frustration always leads to aggression, and aggression is always the result of frustration.

Question 41

What is the frustration-aggression hypothesis based on - what does it suggest

Answer 41

The hypothesis is based on the psychodynamic concept of catharsis and suggests that aggression is an innate drive that needs to be released. Once the aggression is released, the individual will immediately feel satisfied and it will prevent further aggression.

Question 42

Define catharsis and link to aggression

Answer 42

The process of releasing strong or repressed emotions, often leading to a sense of relief. When a goal directed behaviour is blocked, frustration occurs, creating an aggressive drive that can lead to aggressive behaviour. According to the catharsis principle, expressing this aggression reduces the drive and produces a sense of relief, thereby lowering the likelihood of further aggression.

Question 43

What are the three reasons why aggression may not be directed at the actual cause of frustration

Answer 43

1) Abstract Causes: sometimes, frustration comes from broad or intangible issues, like the economy and so making direct aggression is impossible. 2) Powerful Source: if the cause of frustration is something too powerful, acting against it could lead to punishment, so aggression is redirected elsewhere. 3) Unavailable Source: the target of frustration may not be present at that time, preventing direct aggression.

Question 44

The Weapon Effect: Berkowitz study

Answer 44

Berkowitz demonstrated that cues are required for an individual to get aggressive even if they are already angry. Cues are considered an additional element to the frustration-aggression hypothesis. Procedure: pps were given real electric shocks by a confederate which made them angry and frustrated. The pps were then given the opportunity to give fake electric shocks back to the confederate. Findings: they found that the number of shocks given was greater at 6.07 when there were two guns on the table compared to another condition when no guns were present and the average number of shocks was 4.67. Conclusion: the study supports Berkowitz's belief that the presence of an aggressive environmental cue stimulates aggression.

Question 45

Research on frustration-aggression: Geen study

Answer 45

Geen presented how frustration affects aggression. Procedure: uni students were asked to complete a puzzle. The experimenters manipulated their level of aggression in one of three ways: 1) the puzzle was impossible to solve, 2) they ran out of time as another student in the room (confederate) kept interrupting, 3) the confederate insulted the pp as they failed to solve the puzzle. All the pps were than able to give the conf. electric shocks. Findings: the group of pps who were insulted gave the strongest shocks, followed by the interfered group, and then the group where it was impossible to complete the puzzle. All the groups gave more intense shocks than the control group.

Question 46

Evaluation of the frustration-aggression hypothesis

Answer 46

PEEL+: A limitation is that evidence has been found which goes against catharsis. Bushman found that participants who vented their anger by repeatedly hitting a punchbag became angrier and more aggressive, rather than less. Doing nothing was more effective at reducing aggression than venting their anger. Venting reinforces aggressive behaviour rather than helping to calm down. This indicates that catharsis may not be a valid reason as to why people are aggressive, therefore limiting the frustration-aggression hypothesis. In addition to this, there are other, perhaps more effective ways that one can reduce their anger levels. For example, meditation could be used to help an individual lower their anger and feel satisfied. This clearly highlights that one does not always need to release their anger in order to feel calm. This further limits the idea of catharsis and suggests that its an invalid concept limiting the frustration-aggression hypothesis. PEEL+: A limitation is that frustration doesn't always lead to aggression, and aggression can occur without frustration. While frustration can create conditions that may trigger aggression, many individuals respond in different ways. Some may experience sadness or anxiety rather than lashing out. Likewise, aggressive behaviour isn't exclusively the outcome of frustration. It can stem from biological influences, social learning or environmental cues. Therefore, this suggests that the frustration-aggression hypothesis is inadequate as it only explains how aggression arises in some situations but not in others. However, Berkowitz reformulated the initial hypothesis to take into account all the criticisms. His negative affect theory argued that frustration is just one of many negative emotions than can cause aggression. Other emotions include loneliness, jealousy and pain, all of which can lead to aggression. The outcome of frustration can be a range of responses, where aggression is only one of them. Therefore, although the frustration-aggression hypothesis may be inaccurate, reformulated versions may be more accurate.

Question 47

Social Psychological Explanation 2: Social learning theory - how do we learn?

Answer 47

SLT suggests that we learn by observing others.

Question 48

What is direct and indirect learning?

Answer 48

Aggression can be learned directly via operant conditioning. However, aggressive behaviour cannot always be explained by direct learning. Bandura suggested that most aggressive behaviours occur via observational learning which is indirect.

Question 49

Observational Learning and Vicarious Reinforcement

Answer 49

Children observe models (e.g. siblings, parents) performing aggressive behaviour. Children also observe the consequences of the aggressive behaviour, If it's rewarded, then the child learns that aggression is effective. This process is known as vicarious reinforcement which means that the child is more likely to adopt and imitate the role model's behaviour (if the behaviour is rewarded) The opposite is vicarious punishment: if the models aggressive behaviour is punished, then the child observing is less likely to imitate the aggressive behaviour.

Question 50

What are the four cognitive conditions for learning

Answer 50

1) Attention: the observer needs to focus on the model's aggressive behaviour. 2) Retention: the observer must remember the model's aggressive behaviour in order to have a mental representation of how the behaviour is performed. 3) Motor Reproduction: the observer needs to be able to physically carry out the aggressive behaviour that they observed. 4) Motivation: the observer needs a reason as to why they are imitating the behaviour.

Question 51

What is self-efficacy

Answer 51

This is the extent to which we believe our actions will achieve desired goals. A child's confidence in their ability to be aggressive grows as they learn that aggression can bring rewards.

Question 52

Bandura et al research : Bobo doll study

Answer 52

Procedure: Children observed an adult physically assaulting a bobo doll. The behaviours included throwing, kicking it, and hitting it. After, for some time, the children were forbidden from playing with any toys, further increasing frustration levels in the children. The children were then introduced to the bobo doll along with some other toys. Findings: They found that even though the children were not instructed to act aggressively, many of them imitated the adult's behaviour. Many children copied exactly what they had seen done to the bobo doll by the adult. Boys were more likely to be aggressive than girls, and boys also imitated the same-sex model more than girls. This was compared to a control group who watched adults act non-aggressively and found that the children were unlikely to act aggressively.

Question 53

Evaluation of social learning theory as a social psychological explanation of aggression 2

Answer 53

PEEL+: A strength of social learning theory is that there's research support. Researchers found that aggressive boys aged 9-12 tended to befriend other aggressive boys. This supports SLT because aggression was maintained and increased through modelling and reinforcement. For example, the boys observed each other using proactive aggression successfully to gain rewards. Seeing these positive outcomes provided vicarious reinforcement, making aggression more likely to be imitated. However, the study did not find a similarity between friends for reactive aggression. The boys were much less likely to influence one another's impulsive aggressive outbursts. Although they observed these behaviours, they generally did not imitate them. This may be because reactive aggression often leads to unpredictable or negative consequences, meaning it provides little vicarious reinforcement compared to proactive aggression. PEEL+: A strength of social learning theory is that it's based on a study conducted in a controlled environment. Due to Bandura's study being carried out in a lab setting this means that all extraneous and confounding variables were controlled. This ensures that any chance in the dependent variable of aggressive behaviour from the children must have been due to the manipulation of the independent variable of whether the children watched the models act aggressively or not. This means that by Bandura using a controlled environment it allows Bandura to establish that social learning processes may cause aggressive behaviour. However, due to the high control over variables, this lowers the external validity of the study. It means that Bandura's study and other social learning studies do not replicate real world social learning situations. For example, in Bandura's study, the bobo doll could not fight back but in real world situations someone would be able to retaliate if someone is acting aggressively towards them. This limits what can be understood and applied to real world situations from social-learning studies.

Question 54

What is de-individuation (social psychological explanation 3)

Answer 54

De-individuation: the idea that anonymity within a group reduces self-awareness and personal responsibility, leading to a loss of inhibitions and an increased likelihood of aggressive behaviour.

Question 55

Crowd Behaviour - Le Bon

Answer 55

De-individuation is based on the crowd theory of Le Bon. Le Bon argued that when individuals are part of a large, anonymous crowd, they gain a sense of freedom and are more likely to behave in antisocial or aggressive ways. In such situations, a collective mindset develops, causing individuals to lose personal responsibility and act as one unified group.

Question 56

Contagion - definition and how it results in an aggressive behaviour

Answer 56

contagion: behaviour spreads rapidly from one person to another. This creates a collective mindset, where individuals lose personal responsibility and are more likely to act in the same, often antisocial way as the group.

Question 57

Factors that contribute to de-individuation

Answer 57

1) anonymity - feeling less visible. 2) Altered consciousness - the emotional intensity of the crowd reduces self-control and increases impulsive behaviour.

Question 58

The process of de-individuation

Answer 58

1) Anonymity in a crowd reduces self-awareness and personal responsibility, weakening inner restraints. 2) The larger the group, the greater the anonymity, increasing the likelihood of disinhibited, often aggressive behaviour.

Question 59

What is reduced self-awareness

Answer 59

Dunn and Rogers argued that de-individuation does not automatically cause aggression. It's not the anonymity itself, but the reduced self-awareness that it produces that causes aggression.

Question 60

What are the two types of self-awareness

Answer 60

1) Private self-awareness: this refers to the awareness of one's own values and moral standards. In a crowd, attention shifts to the group, reducing ones focus on their personal beliefs and increasing conformity to group behaviour. 2) Public self-awareness: this refers to the concern about how others perceive you. In a crowd, anonymity reduces public self-awareness, making individuals feel less accountable and more likely to behave in ways that they would normally avoid.

Question 61

Dodd's study

Answer 61

Procedure: He asked 229 students in 13 classes a question: "If you could do anything humanly possible with complete assurance that you would not be detected or held responsible, what would you do?". The students answers were completely anonymous. Three independent rates who did not know the hypothesis decided which category of antisocial behaviour the responses belonged in. Findings: He found that 36% of the responses involved some form of antisocial behaviour. 26% were criminal acts. A few students included murder or rape. 9% of responses were prosocial behaviour to help people.

Question 62

Evaluation of de-individuation as a social psychological explanation of aggression 3

Answer 62

PEEL+: One strength is that there's supporting research that de-individuation can result in aggression. Researchers studies behaviour in online chat rooms and instant messaging. They found a strong correlation between anonymity and flaming, where ppl sent hostile or threatening messages to others. Aggression was most common when users identities were hidden. This supports the idea that anonymity can result in one's self-awareness being reduced, thus increasing aggressive behaviour. However, this study only measures a correlation between de-individuation and aggression. It does not measure a causation. This suggests that there may be other reasons as to why people acted aggressively, such as biological aggression, instead of anonymity. This limits the study and its findings, therefore limiting de-individuation as an explanation for aggression. PEEL+: A limitation of de-individuation as an explanation for aggression is that there's a lack of support. Researchers found that anonymity does not always increase aggression. In their study, 8 participants were place in a dark room in order to create anonymity and were told they could do whatever they wanted. Instead of becoming aggressive, their behaviour became more intimate, such as kissing and touching. This clearly indicates that anonymity does not always result in aggression, limiting de-individuation as an explanation for aggression. However, this study is methodologically flawed. This is because it has a low ecological validity as placing strangers in a dark room is highly artificial and unlikely to occur in the real world. This means that the study and therefore the findings cannot be generalised to situations in the real-world where de-individuation takes place, such as in riots. Furthermore, the study consisted of a small sample size, of only 8 pps which makes it even harder to generalise the findings. Therefore, although the study does indicate that de-individuation does not always result in aggression, due to the low external validity of the study, this limits the findings and suggests that in real-world situations de-individuation could result in aggression.

Question 63

What is institutional aggression

Answer 63

aggressive or violent behaviour that takes place within the social context of prison or other formal organised settings.

Question 64

1) Dispositional explanation: Importation model

Answer 64

Importation model stats that behaviour is a result of personal characteristics as opposed to the situation. It was developed by Irwin and Cressey who argued that prisoners bring behaviour and attitudes from the outside world into the prison - they import their behaviours into the prison. The prisoners' aggressive behaviour comes from their background, experiences, and personalities before they entered the prison, rather than being caused by the prison environment itself. Prisoners may bring into the prison: their beliefs and attitudes, norms and values from criminal subcultures, past experiences of crime or violence, personal characteristics such as temperament. Prisoners may use aggression to gain power and status, as well as helping them have access to resources within the prison social hierarchy.

Question 65

DeLisi et al study: importation model

Answer 65

Procedure: studied a group of minors who committed juvenile acts in California, all of which had had negative backgrounds including childhood trauma, anger, history of substance abuse and violent behaviour. The prisoners brought these characteristics into the prison with them, as well as the consequences of them. They compared the experimental group to a control group who did not have any of the negative characteristics. Findings: They found that the inmates with negative behaviours were more likely to engage in suicidal activity, sexual misconduct and acts of physical aggression.

Question 66

2) Situation Explanation - Deprivation Model

Answer 66

The deprivation model states that behaviour is a result of the context an individual is in, as opposed to their personal characteristics. The deprivation model was developed by Clemmer who argued that aggression in prisons is caused by the prison environment itself, particularly due to the deprivation that inmates experience. He suggested that psychological factors can lead to deprivation. Examples of psychological factors include: loss of freedom, lack of sexual relationships. Also physical factors that lead to deprivation: deprived of goods and services e.g. personal items. The nature of the prison regime can lead to aggression. Prisoners may experience unpredictable rules, frequent lock-ups and a lack of stimulation or activities. These conditions can cause frustration, boredom, and stress, which may lead to inmates to behave aggressively as a way of coping.

Question 67

Steiner study: Deprivation model

Answer 67

Procedure: he investigated factors that predicted aggression in 512 US prisoners. Findings: Where there were more female staff, or overcrowding, or inmates in protective custody, they found that inmate-on-inmate violence increased. These are all examples of prison-level factors as they do not rely on the individual characteristics of the prisoners. This indicates that the prison environment is a cause of aggression.

Question 68

Evaluation of the Importation Model (PEEL+, PEEL)

Answer 68

PEEL+: A strength is that there's research support. Camp and Gaes studied male inmates with similar criminal histories and predispositions to aggression. Half were randomly placed in a low security prison and the other half were placed in a high security prison. They found that there's was no significant difference in aggression over 2 years between the inmates (33% and 36%). This indicates that aggression is due to the inmates' characteristics and not because of the environment of the prison, therefore providing support for the importation model. A methodological strength of this study is that the participants were randomly placed into their groups. This means that there were high levels of control in the study, further increasing the validity of the findings and the study. Therefore, Camp and Gaes's study is a strong study due to using high levels of control further supporting the importation model. PEEL: A limitation of the importation model is that it ignores key factors. Dilulio claims that factors such as prison management, leadership, and institutional culture are significant in determining prison violence. He proposed the Administrative Control Model (ACM) which states that poorly managed prisons are more likely to experience violence due to weak leadership, unofficial inmate rules, staff distancing themselves from inmates and a lack of educational opportunities. This limits the importation model as it implies that the way the prison run is a much stronger factor in causing aggression than the inmates' personal characteristics.

Question 69

Evaluation of the Deportation Model (PEEL+,PEEL)

Answer 69

PEEL+: A strength is that there's supporting research. Cunningham et al analysed inmate homicides in Texas prisons from 2000-2008. They found that the motivations behind these homicides were linked to deprivations identified in Clemmer's deprivation model such as deprivation of goods and sexual intimacy. The most common triggers were arguments between cellmates over boundaries being crossed, drugs, sexual activity, and personal possessions. This study clearly highlights that the prison conditions are the main cause of violence, thus supporting the deportation model. A methodological strength of Cunningham et al study is that it has high ecological validity. This is because they used data from real-life prison records which means that the data reflets genuine aggressive behaviour that took place in natural prison environments. This also means that there are no demand characteristics since the prisoners were unaware that they were being studied. This increases the validity of Cunningham et al findings and therefore increases the validity of the theory. PEEL: A limitation is that there's contradictory research. Hensley et al analysed 256 male and female inmates from two prisons in Mississippi, a state that allows conjugal visits. They found that there was no significant link between participation in conjugal visits and a reduction in aggressive behaviour. This challenges the deprivation model as it implies that deprivation of sexual intimacy is not a factor that influences aggression.