Social Psych 2 Lecture 10 Aggression

bystander non-intervention

presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency situation

diffusion of responsibility (assume others will take action), normative influence (inaction to avoid standing out and being ridiculed), informational influence (copy others because assuming they know more)

decreases when information about this phenomenon

prosocial behavior

voluntary action intended to help

motivations for helping: egoistic motives (social exchange, cost-benefit, warm glow, negative-state relief), evolutionary motives (kin selection, reciprocal altruism), social norms (reciprocity norm, social responsibility norm), altruistic motive (genuine empathy and to benefit others)

prosocial behavior motivations for helping

egoistic motives (social exchange, cost-benefit, warm glow, negative-state relief), evolutionary motives (kin selection, reciprocal altruism), social norms (reciprocity norm, social responsibility norm), altruistic motive (genuine empathy and to benefit others)

prosocial behavior identifiable victim effect

single specific named victim gets more help that statistics

emotional reaction, perceived impact, perceived responsibility

Princeton Seminary study “The Good Samaritan” parable

people SHOULD help

aggression

intended to do physical/emotional harm to another

impulsive aggression: stems from anger/hostility and aimed to inflict pain (spur of moment, lower by calming down, likely for those with low impulse control)

instrumental aggression: have a goal like attention, wealth, political, ideological causes so intentional aggression, lowered by increasing empathy and changing goals, individuals have high Machiavellians (manipulative)

learned behavior (banduara bobo doll): aggressive behavior was imitated (normative influence) after seeing but if adult was punished then prevents = learns what is accepted/punishable (informational influence)

predictors: higher temperature reduces inhibition and info processing, increases reliance and arousal, attributed to hostile attribution bias (interpret behaviors as hostile)

Machiavellians

personality traits characterized by strategic manipulation, emotional detachment, cynical view, self-interest, power

Bandura Bobo Doll

foundation of social learning theory: attention, retention, reproduction, motivation

adult aggression to doll is initiated (normative influence) but if they are punished then the children will not be aggressive (informational influence/learning what is right)

live, filmed, cartoon models all increased aggression

limitations: hitting is play not real aggression, children may think they are supposed to hit, short-term behaviors only measured, ecological validity, ethics of deliberately teaching aggression/frustration

milgram obedience (70v10%), bystander effect, prosocial modeling (drivers likely to help another driver if they drove past a car helping another)

Social Learning Theory

foundation is Bandura Bobo Doll

processes - attention (noticing the model especiall gif similar, high-status, or attractive), retention (remember the behavior), reproduction (physically be able to do it), motivation (need a reason to perform it like vicarious reinforcement or expected rewards)

vicarious reinforcement

Bandura Bobo Doll

observe another person perform behavior and receive a reward so it increases the observer’s motivation to imitate that behavior

aggression predictors

higher temperature reduces inhibition and info processing, increases reliance and arousal, attributed to hostile attribution bias (interpret behaviors as hostile)

Hostile attribution bias

interpret behaviors as hostile

functional infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)

measure concentration of oxygenated/deoxygenated blood = measuring intentionality, hostility, anger, blameworthiness

Catharsis

venting anger releases built-up aggression to make you feel less aggressive afterwards but NOT TRUE. waiting/calming down, distraction, reappraisal, self-distancing actually reduces anger

effects of alcohol on aggression

alcohol narrows attention to the most salient, immediate cues

reduces attention to more distant inhibited cues

magnifies whatever is most salient cues

distraction can reduce alcohol-related aggression by pulling attention away from aggression

imparts prefrontal cortex (self-control, planning, inhibition) so less able to override aggression

expectancy effects