2. Social Learning Theory – Behavioural Approach
Learn from direct experience or vicarious experience
(from observing others)
Direct – operant conditioning
Vicarious – social learning theory
More likely to act aggressively if we see aggressive
behaviour being rewarded
Social Psychological Explanations
Social Learning Theory
Deindividuation
Institutional Aggression
3. Aggressive behaviour is influenced by
Previous experience of behaviour
Likelihood of behaviour being rewarded
Success of behaviour in past
Cognitive, social and environmental factors
Is the person they are imitating a role model?
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY IS ALL ABOUT POSTIVE AND
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENTS
Social Learning Theory
4. Social Learning Theory - Research
Bandura – Bobo Doll Experiment
• 66 nursery school children into 3 groups
• Watching a film where an adult acted aggressively on Bobo doll
• Group 1 – Aggressive model received no reward or punishment
• Group 2 – Aggressive model was rewarded
• Group 3 – Aggressive model was punished
• Then taken to a room with Bobo doll and actions were recorded
Findings
Group 1 & 2 – Acted aggressively
Group 2 – Most aggressive
Group 3 – Least aggressive
Evaluation
Supports social learning theory
Small sample size
Culturally bias – USA
Lacks ecological validity
Ethical issues – behaviour wasn’t reversed
5. Supported by research – Huesmann suggested children
learn behaviour from TV
Explains why people act aggressively in different
environments
Explains why some cultures are more aggressive
Wolfgang – ‘culture of violence’ theory
Child soldiers
Takes into account cognitive influences and free will
Ignores biological factors
Relies on lab experiments conducted on children and
animals – can’t be generalised
Evaluation
6. People tend not to act aggressively as it goes against
social norms
In some situations social norms become weakened
causing deindividuation e.g. in a large group
Process when a person loses sense of identity – may
result in aggressive behaviour
Deindividuation
7. Commonly occurs if:
In a group
Wearing masks etc.
Factors that cause the aggression
Anonymity – less chance of being caught
Shift the blame to others
Reduced responsibility
Increased arousal
Deindividuation
8. Deindividuation - Research
Case Studies
Ku Klux Klan
Group that supported the suppression
of black people in USA
Hid their identity with masks
Nazi Germany
Used to explain why many people
ignored the Holocaust
Mann – Baiting Crowd
• Analysed suicides in USA
• Found in 10/21 cases crowd
had taunted person to
jump
• Occurred mainly at night
• More common if jumper
was at a greater distance
from the crowd
• Increased anonymity
Evaluation
Small sample size
Culturally biased
Historically biased
9. Deindividuation – Research
Zimbardo
Zimbardo Prison Study
• Recreated prison in Stanford Uni
• Participants were allocated
prisoner or prison guard
• Prisoners were dehumanised –
made to wear smocks and given
numbers rather than names
• Guards became deindividuised –
wore uniform and mirrored
glasses
• Study was stopped six days in due
to level of aggression
Evaluation
Showed effects of deindividuation and
dehumanisation as all participants passed
psychological tests before starting exp.
Gender biased
Culturally biased
Ethical issues
Other factors may have influenced results which
were highlighted in BBC prison study as they got
different results i.e. Zimbardo acted as prison
superintendent
Halloween Study
Found children acted more aggressively
once putting on Halloween costume
10. Researched into effects of
changed appearance on
aggression in war
Looked at 23 societies
12/13 societies that changed
appearances before war were
more brutal compared than
societies that did not
Deindividuation - Research
Watson
11. A large amount of research to support it
Deindividuation doesn’t always cause anti-social
behaviour, may cause pro-social behaviour
Deterministic – suggests that as soon as we are in
these groups we have no free will
Reductionist – simplifies the complex behaviour of
humans
Can’t explain all aggressive behaviour
Deindividuation – Evaluation
12. Aggressive behaviour that exists within institutions
Prisons
Schools/Colleges – Hazing
Military
Institutional Aggression
13. The inmates rather that the institution cause the aggression
Bring their values and beliefs into the prison
Irwin and Cressey identified 3 groups of inmates helping support the
theory
1. Criminal or Thief Subculture – When in prison they still value traits
such as trust and not betraying others
2. Convict Subculture – tend to come from deprived areas where
crimes are high. Most likely to be aggressive
3. Conventional Subculture – One off offenders who were not part of
criminal subculture before going into the prison, identifies more
with prison officers
Prisons
Importation Model
14. Kane and Janus
Found non-whites and younger men were more likely to act
aggressively
Because…
More likely to live in a subculture of violence and deprivation
before entering prison
Aggression may be valued
Keller and Wang
Prison violence most commonly occurs in prisons that hold
maximum security inmates
Prisons – Importation Model
15. The institution causes the aggression rather then the inmates
Aggression is caused because of the frustration of being
deprived
Sykes identified five main deprivations
1. Liberty – Prisoners are not free as they are not trusted in
society
2. Power – constantly being told what they have to do
3. Heterosexual Relationships - inmates lose self worth as they
are being denied relationships. Fear of rape by other prisoners
4. Goods and Services – deprived of materialistic things which
may result in feeling of failure
5. Security – can be in danger as other inmates are aggressive
Prisons – Deprivation Model
16. The institution causes the aggression
Provides the situation where someone may act
aggressively – provides the heat
If you apply enough heat to a situation inmates will
act aggressively
If one inmate acts aggressively other may then join in
Prisons – Popcorn Model
17. Research evidence to support all theories
Can explain the level of aggression that occurred at Abu Ghraib –
aggressive towards people that we have dehumanised
Importation model fails to explain how prisons could decrease
aggression
Deprivation model fails to explain sudden prison riots
However Attica prison riot was caused due to poor living conditions
within the institution – may be due to a gradual build up
Prisons - Evaluation
18. In USA fraternities pledges have to do dares to gain
membership - Can be harmless
HOWEVER…
1 person dies each year from hazing
Matthew Carrington – Died from water intoxication
after being forced to drink continuously from a five
gallon jug
Hazing
19. Reasons it occurs
Try to create a common bond between ‘brothers’
Trying to be a ‘real man’
Tradition
Commitment to group
Largely influenced by alcohol
Also common in the military to prove to new soldiers they
can face the challenges in the army
Hazing in Russian military lead to the amputation of a soldiers
leg after making him sit on ice for 4 hours
Hazing
21. Low levels of serotonin in prefrontal cortex
Increase in aggression
Decrease in ability to control impulsive responses
Neurotransmitters
Serotonin
Mann et al
Artificially decreased levels of serotonin
Found an increase in aggression but only in men
Method – self report Evaluation
Done on humans so can be generalised
Lacks ecological validity
Demand characteristics as method was self report
22. High levels of dopamine increases aggression
Unclear if the aggression is caused because of
dopamine levels or if people act aggressively to get a
dopamine kick
Neurotransmitters
Dopamine
Buitelaar
Found that by using dopamine antagonists level of
aggression decreased
23. Able to explain why people act aggressively when drunk –
drinking alcohol decreases serotonin levels
A lot of research that supports it – Ferrari’s study on fighting rats
Findings of MAOA support that high levels of dopamine cause
aggression
Fails to support the theory that low levels of serotonin cause
aggression
Unclear whether it is low levels of serotonin or a low serotonin
metabolism causing aggression
Difficult to establish a link between dopamine and aggression
due to experimental difficulties
Evaluation - Neurotransmitters
24. Two hormones linked to aggression
Testosterone – high levels
Cortisol – low levels
Hormones
25. Found in both men and women – higher levels in men
Levels of testosterone peak in young adult males
Explains why it tends to be younger males that act
aggressively
Decreases as you get older
Testosterone makes it more likely to act aggressively
Environmental factors have a massive influence
Hormones
Testosterone
Archer et al
Carried out meta analysis
Found a weak positive correlation between aggression and testosterone
26. Kouri et al
Double blind procedure
Neither participants or researcher knew who had what dose
Participants – young males
Group 1 – given doses of testosterone
Group 2 – given doses of placebo
Those who had been given testosterone showed an increase in
dominant behaviour
Evaluation
Double blind study – reduces chance of demand characteristics
Shows a link between aggression and dominance/aggression
Ethical issues – effects were not reversed
Hormones
Testosterone
27. Hormone produced by adrenal medulla – important in
the reaction to stress
Low levels of cortisol = high levels of aggression
Low ANS arousal is unpleasant so acting aggressively is a
way of provoking a release in cortisol
Cortisol inhibits aggressive behaviour
Hormones
Cortisol
McBurnett – Longitudinal study
Researched young boys that had low levels of cortisol and behavioural problems
Found
• Started doing antisocial behaviours at an earlier age
• Demonstrated 3x more aggressive symptoms than normal
28. Large amount of research to support the links between
both hormones and increase in aggression
Link is strong in sport for those athletes who take
testosterone supplements
Research on testosterone can be inconsistent – Bain et al
found no difference in testosterone levels between
criminals that had committed violent crimes and criminals
that committed non-violet crimes
Contradictory research when looking at levels of cortisol
Evaluation - Hormones
29. Suggests that aggression is influenced by genetic factors
The majority of research is found by:
Twin studies
Adoption studies
Analysis of human genome
Genetic Factors
30. Aggression is highly correlated in MZ twins
McGuffin
Concordance rate of 87% of aggressive behaviour in MZ twins
Concordance rate of 72% of aggressive behaviour in DZ twins
Evaluation
Successfully shows the influence of genetic factors
Ecologically valid
Twins would have been raised together so it’s unclear whether
it’s genetics or environmental influences
Genetic Factors
Twin Studies
Mason and Frick
Meta – analysis
Concluded that 50% of differences between anti social and non-anti
social behaviour is down to genetics
31. If an adopted child demonstrates aggressive traits that their biological
parents had then it must be genetics
If results are that they demonstrate traits of their adoptive parents then
it must be environmental influences
Danish Study
Reviewed 14,000 adoption cases
Found strong correlation between criminal convictions of biological
parents against criminal convictions of their adopted sons
Evaluation
Massive sample size
Supports genetic theory
Is only correlational
Genetic Factors
Adoption Studies
32. Rhee and Waldman 2002
Meta analysis
On 51 twin and adoption studies
Findings
4o% of antisocial behaviour was genetics
60% of antisocial behaviour was environmental
Evaluation
Shows links with genetics and environmental influences
Used different types of methods to collect data throughout
study having an impact on the results – not valid
Genetic Factors
Twin and Adoption
Studies
33. Button et al – found that the hereditability of
aggression was stronger in girls than in boys
Rare to get MZ or DZ twins that were brought up
separately from one another, unknown if aggression
is due to genetics or environment
Unclear whether aggression in adoption studies is
due to genetics or from the feeling of rejection
Evaluation – Genetic Factors
34. An aggressive gene
Candidate genes are:
DRD4 & DRD3 – dopamine receptors
If damaged may cause aggression
Meta-analysis found link between DR and ADHD
MAOA – enzyme which digests serotonin and dopamine
Brunner et al
Family in the Netherlands in which most of the males were
extremely violent
Traced it back to the 1800’s and found that many other males in family
had been aggressive
They all had low level of MAOA
Genetic Factors
Genetics
35. High amount of research to support that aggression
is influences by biological factors
Deterministic – claims that we have no choice in being
aggressive so could be used to get away with crime
Ignores other factors that could have an influence
Researched by lab studies – lacks ecological validity
Animal studies – ethical issues
Evaluation of Biological
36. Aggression is an adaptive response to help us survive
and produce healthy offspring
Evolutionary Explanation of
Aggression
Natural Selection
Characteristics that enhance survival are passed on
Characteristics of those that don’t reproduce are not passed on
Sexual Selection
May be some characteristics that are passed on that hinder our ability to survive i.e.
peacocks tail weighs it down so can’t run away from predators
However it increases chance of finding a mate to produce offspring
37. Men have evolved mate retention strategies to keep their
mates – so they can pass on their genetics
Mate guarding
Prevents mate from talking or being near other males
Looking through personal belongings – phones
Domestic abuse
Needs to avoid being cuckolded – bringing up another
males offspring without knowing
Infidelity and Jealousy
Daly and Wilson
38. Large sample of men and women in relationships from the USA (men and
women were not together)
Men completed MRI
Found males used 2 mate retention strategies
Intersexual negative inducements (shouting at her)
Direct guarding
Found males who used emotional manipulation were more likely to be aggressive
Women answered questions about partners mate retention strategies
Confirmed findings from previous study on the males
Infidelity and Jealousy
Shackelford
Evaluation
Large sample size
Only correlational – cannot identify cause and effect
Only done on young participants
Culturally biased
39. Unlike females, for males there is a level of uncertainty regarding
whether offspring is biologically theirs or another mans
Camilleri – Cuckoldry Risk Hypothesis
When risk of cuckoldry is high chance of sexual coercion increases
Lalumiere et al
Supports Camilleri as found men are more likely to carry out rape
to decrease parental uncertainty
Examples in animals…
Lions often kill the cubs of other males
Chimps often kill rival males
Infidelity and Jealousy
Cuckoldry
40. Research supports that sexual jealousy is often a major
factor involved in domestic violence
Studies by Camilleri support the idea that men who rape
their partners often believe that they are being unfaithful
Supported by events in wildlife
Theory can be used to spot early signs of when domestic
violence may occur, preventing it from happening
Deterministic – suggests the behaviour is adaptive
therefore can be used as an excuse for rape
Evaluation – Infidelity and Jealousy
41. Murder must have been beneficial at some point in our
evolutionary history
Preventing harm
Maintaining reputation
Protection of resources
Women find men who are more dominant more
attractive – may be why aggression occurs
Evolution of Murder
Buss and Duntley
42. Daly and Wilson
Found that men and women murder for different things
Men kill out of sexual rivalry
Women kill out of self defence
Found that men were more aggressive in their early 20’s
at the peak of the reproductive competition
Could be due to testosterone
Evolution of Murder
Gender Differences
43. Sexual Jealousy
Men are commonly both the killers and victims
Daly and Wilson found that in same sex murders involving
love triangle 92% were between males
Lack of resources
Females are attracted to men with resources
Daly and Wilson found most of the murderers in Detroit were
unemployed
Threats to status
Females are attracted to dominance
Evolution of Murder
Three Factors
44. Commonly seen in nature
High levels of research
Ignores cognitive processes
Deterministic
Most people do not murder their reproductive
competition
Cannot explain cultural differences
Evaluation of Murder
45. Belief that people behave differently in groups
Lynch mobs
Dehumanisation
Power Threat Hypothesis
As minority groups grow so do majority groups in order
to display dominance
When number of African-American citizens increased
lynching increased as a power display
Group Displays
46. Dehumanisation
In lynching's the bodies were often broken down or
burnt so victims couldn’t be recognised as human
Black people were perceived by lynch groups as being
animalistic
Seen in Nazi Germany by the way in which Jewish
people were treated
Group Displays
47. Large amount of evidence for dehumanisation –
commonly still occurs in many countries
Mainly based on case studies so is valid
Not reliable as cannot be generalised
Contradictory evidence to power threat hypothesis –
a lot of people who have been murdered in group
displays of aggression are those who are of no threat
Can be just as easily explained through
deindividuation
Evaluation
48. Rituals in certain cultures and religions can be
extremely brutal and aggressive
In Islam there is a ritual where you beat yourself with
chains and knives until bloody to pay respects to a
martyr
Seems to contradict the evolutionary theory
They do it because…
Shows commitment
Co-operation which can be described as adaptive
Group Displays - Culture
49. Aggression is common in sport and in war
Sport
Intimidates other team
Haka – All Blacks
Brings them all into the same mentality
Fans may be aggressive to show commitment
Podalin et al
Xenophobia in football matches strengthened cultural
identity of the support
Group Displays – War and Sport
50. War
Important to show high commitment to ensure
survival
Binds group together
Chagnon
Tribe in Amazon who fight for women
Success in battle gives men higher status
Men who had not killed were rarely married
Group Displays – War and Sport