Aggression: Social Learning and Deindividuation

Definition: People behave aggressively because they have observed others behaving aggressively.
Environmental Influence: Children exposed to constant aggressive behaviors in their environment are more likely to perceive it as an acceptable way to behave, and thus more likely to express those behaviors themselves, compared to children not exposed to such environments.
Albert Bandura's Bobo Doll Studies (Early 1960s):
- Methodology: Seminal studies in social psychology where children observed an adult model interacting with a large inflatable Bobo doll (punch, kick, slap, bounces back).
- Groups:
  - One group watched a model behave in a subdued and gentle manner with Bobo.
  - Other groups observed the model verbally and physically attacking Bobo, either in real life, on film, or in a cartoon.
  - A control group observed no model at all.
- Results: Children who observed the model acting aggressively towards Bobo displayed nearly twice as much aggressive behavior when playing with toys later, compared to those who watched the non-aggressive model or no model at all.
- Note: The video for this original study is recommended for viewing to understand the actual occurrence.

Research Interest: Bandura's studies sparked extensive research into the links between violent video games and aggressive behavior.
Challenges: Difficult to find definitive trends due to many confounding factors, such as:
- Individual personality characteristics.
- Observation of violence or aggression outside of video games (e.g., at home, within peer groups).
Inconclusive Findings: Some results suggest a link, while others do not. This research remains inconclusive but continues to grow as underlying factors are better understood.

Core Concept: Humans are considered essentially aggressive and impulsive, but are socialized to inhibit these tendencies.
Definition: In a crowd, individuals may lose their personal identities and their ability to judge right from wrong. This phenomenon is called deindividuation.
Mechanism: People become anonymous and no longer consider themselves accountable for their aggressive behavior.
Mann's Study (1981): Examined 21 cases where crowds were present when a disturbed person threatened to jump from a building, bridge, or tower.
- Observations: Baiting or jeering occurred in 10 of these cases.
- Contributing Factors (from newspaper accounts): Deindividuation played a role, identified by factors like:
  - Membership in a large crowd.
  - Occurrence during nighttime.
  - Physical distance between the crowd and the victim.
- All these factors are associated with anonymity, which facilitates deindividuation.
Modern Examples of Deindividuation:
- Cyberbullying: Occurring