Chapter 8/9

aggression - behavior intended to harm someone

• person doesn’t want to be harmed

• ex: George Zimmerman was aggressive towards Trayvon Martin

violence - extreme physical harm (aggression)

• used to achieve a goal

TYPES OF AGGRESSION

• emotional or impulsive: little planning

  • ex: road rage, crimes of passion

• instrumental or cognitive: intentional/planned

  • used to achieve a goal

  • ex: assassination

  • bullying

  • terrorism

TYPES OF NON-PHYSICAL AGGRESSION

• verbal - yelling/name-calling

• relational or social aggression - intentionally harming another person’s relationships or social status

  • gossip

  • ostracization

  • being shady

    • bullying

• consequences:

  • depression/anxiety

  • women are more likely to experience more smoking and suicidality

  • alcohol

  • worse academic performance

  • worse than physical aggression

  • showing aggression —> higher status

    • girls that use social aggression are more respected

    • men that use physical aggression are seen as more competent

genetics, evolution, biology

• foxes - act like dogs

  • friendly genes in wolves

  • selected based on level of aggression shown (less/mmore)

• brain structures

  • amygdala - fear/aggression

  • prefrontal cortex - judgement

    • shrinks due to age/damage

• hormones

  • testosterone - aggression

    • higher in men

    • 99% of rapes, 90% of robberies, assaults, and murder

    • grosser frats

  • society

    • women: caring, nurturing, friendly

      • emotional outlet

    • men: independent, assertive/strong —> to get what you want

      • instrumentally

• alcohol - lowered executive function —> inhibition

  • increased myopia —> cant see long-term consequences (or see closer)

• heat - increased aggression —> acclimated?

• frustration-aggression principle —> we lash out when mad

  • frustration leads to aggression (not really in a direct way)

• displacement - you are mad and misplace aggression towards something else

• catharsis - release aggression —> become angrier

• MAOA gene - warrior gene

  • x chromosome

  • women could be twice as likely to have it

  • breaks down neurotransmitters —> makes them dissipate faster

• environment —> trauma/abuse —> epigenetic

  • modeled/learned behavior

    • as seen in Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment

• violent media

  • correlation and causation

    • bullied/bullying

    • desensitization

    • mirror neurons

  • watching leads to violent:

    • thoughts

    • behavior

altruism

• def: doing things to be nice, and not expecting reciprocation

• social responsibility norm

  • culturally normed

  • affects perception of values

    • ex: volunteering, donating to charity

• kitty genovese

  • 37 people watched a woman get stabbed and did not intervene!!!

• the bystander effect

  • Latane/Darley

  • pluralistic ignorance - other people know something you dont

  • diffusion of responsibility - someone else will handle a problem

  • # of bystanders - more people there are means it takes longer to step up/intervene

    • we learn from modeling

• embodied cognition

  • physical state can affect emotional state + mood

    • ex: leaning left means you support democratic policies

• macbeth effect

  • guilt leads you to find help

    • minimize discomfort

• negative state relief

  • get help

  • walk away

• dependency oriented help

  • recipient feels inadequate —> helplessness

  • ex: participation trophy?

• autonomy oriented help

  • helper thinks recipient can do it (depending on circumstance)

  • independent/capacity

  • ex: school

gendered altruism

• men —> strength, single incidents

  • western individualistic cultures don’t like to ask for help

  • less-likely to demonstrate help if its considered a women’s issue

• women —> long-term care, community, volunteering, family activities

pretending like its ur own interest —> more likely to be altruistic