Pro and Anti Social Behaviour Essay

a) synopsis two psychological theories of hostility (12 marks) b) Evaluate two theories of hostility that you issuelined in part a) in calls of relevant research studies (12 marks) a) Outline and evaluate two psychological theories of belligerence (24 marks) Aggression is an typeface of anti- kind doings. It has been defined as any form of demeanour say towards the goal of harming or injuring other(prenominal) spiritedness being who is motivated to avoid such(prenominal) harm. societal Psychological theories of infringement These explain pugnacity as a event of social inter strikeionsSocial schooling conjecture (SLT) One of the virtually prestigious theories of aggressiveness is the Social teaching surmisal put forward by Bandura (1973). The char displaceer of the supposition suggests human infringement is knowing either through direct buzz off or by observing rapacious behavior in other muckle i. e. indirect experience. Bandura produced two assumptions in sex act to the social breeding opening. He state that if a child acts raptorially against another child and as a result gets what they want, their raptorial behavior has been reinforced.This is an example of education by direct experience, derived from the principles of the traditional erudition possibility operant and classical conditioning. Secondly, he stated that if a child observes another psyche behaving in an high-pressure manner, they may imitate that behaviour them selves, particularly if they stick out the model reinforced for behaving in that way. This is an example of vicarious experience. Results from Banduras studies nurse shown that children be to a greater extent likely to imitate models if they ar similar to themselves, flummox some patient of of status or who ar seen to be rewarded for their actions.He also applied these factors to his Social Learning theory. Bobo gentlewoman vignette Bandura (1961) hold in for the Social Learning theory comes from studies enforce Bobo dolls (an inflatable toy). This was conducted by Bandura et al (1961). He carried out a subject where nursery school children watched a film where an with child(p) model behaved assertively or non- offensively towards a Bobo doll. The adult model dis flirted some characteristic physical acts of aggression, for example kicking it and use communicatory aggression such as PowFollowing this, the children were taken to a live and shown attractive toys that they were forbidden to play with. This created a sense of frustration inside the children. They were past taken to a room containing a Bobo doll and other toys and were then rated for the amount of aggression they showed. Bandura anchor that children in the aggressive condition reproduced the physical and verbal behaviours modelled by the adult. In contrast children in the non-aggressive condition showed very little aggression towards the doll. This shows that children shag acquire aggressive behaviours from notice the actions of others.Evidence that supports the Social Learning opening Further research evidence has been carried out in singing to aggression which supports Banduras theory. Silvern and Williamson (1987) investigated the effect delineation games have on aggression. They found that aggression levels in children increase after playing uncultivated games. This suggests that this was due to imitation or modelling. However, the breeding lacks validity because it only identifies short term aggression, not long term aggression therefore, it does not prove any constant effect.Furthermore, Margeret and Mead (1935) studied aggression in relation to cut across cultural differences. She studied common chord New Gunea phratrys and found that each tribe behaved different in terms of aggressive tendencies. This suggests that the fact that some societies were more aggressive than others supports the role of social learning in aggression. However, the fact that t he men were relatively more aggressive in each monastic order suggests that some aspects of aggression are biologicly determined. Evidence that challenges the Social Learning TheoryHowever, this theory has been challenged by a public figure of psychologists. Johnston et al (1977) carried out another analyse in which he found that children who behaved most aggressively towards the doll were the iodins rated by the teachers as most violent generally. Also, Durkin (1995) suggested that Bandura made no distinguish between aggressive behaviour and play fighting. These studies therefore suggest that the findings from the Bobo Doll study lack reliability. In addition, the study has ethical issues as it encourages aggression in children.Furthermore, the situation is unlike a serve of real-life modeling as hitting a doll is no the same as hitting a person. This channelises to the assumption that Bandura over exaggerated the extent to which children imitate the behaviour of models. Th is also leads to the criticism that the study lacks bionomical validity due to its artificial set therefore the results may not apply to real life. Also, some critics argue that the children were manipulated into responding to the aggressive movie. This was because the children were teased and became aggressive because they could not situation the toys.Finally, there is a problem that the study suffers from high demand characteristics due to the children being given cues how to behave, resulting in the participants to behave in certain predictable ways. substitute theories Alternative social psychological theories of aggression have also been produced, challenging the idea that aggression is solely based upon imitation, modelling and reinforcement. Deindividuation theory One of these is the Deindividuation theory proposed by Zimbardo (1969). Deindividuation refers to the passing of a sense of personality personal identity that stinker occur when we are for example, in a large press or vesture a mask.We then constitute more likely to engage in anti-social, un-socialised behaviour. Zimbardo (1969) distinguished between idiosyncratic behaviour, which conforms to unexceptionable social standards, and deindividuated behaviour, which does not conform to edicts social norms. He chooseed that state dont normally act aggressively because they are easily specifiable in societies that have strong norms against aggressive behaviour. Being anonymous (and therefore in effect unaccountable) in a conference has the backwash of reducing inner restraints and increasing behaviours that are usually inhibited.According to Zimbardo, being in part of a crowd can reduce awareness of our own individuality. In a large crowd, each person is faceless and anonymous (so the larger the group, the greater the anonymity), reducing the fear of negative military rank of our actions and a diminishing the sense of guilt. Therefore, individuals tactile property less constrained by the norms of social behaviour and as a result, they may be more inclined to act in an anti-social way. This is support by Mann (1981) who found evidence of Deindividuation in the baiting crowd (crowds who frequently baited a potential felo-de-se victim to jump).Mann found that baiting increased under conditions which increased the anonymity of the crowd (e. g. numbers, darkness and distance from the victim). This therefore supports the claim that deindividuation increases aggressive behaviour. The deindividuation theory is also supported by Zimbardo (1969) who unexpended chuck out cars in New York and a small town in California. He found the abandoned car in the big urban center was stripped and vandalised very quickly whereas the one in the small town was left alone.This suggests that the larger the group, the more anonymous the individual is and, consequently, the more extreme the antisocial behaviour becomes. Futhermore, Zimbardo (1963) conducted a study specifically to instal the effects of deindividuation on aggression. Participants were asked to shock a confederate. Some were deindividuated (wore a hood, no name calling were used and they sat in a dimly lit room) and others were easily distinctive (they wore name tags and sat in a bright room). The findings showed that the deindividuated students administered the most shocks, i.e. were most aggressive, suggesting that deindividuation plays a role in producing anti-social behaviour. However, the major worry with using Deindividuation as an explanation for aggression is the fact that it does not always lead to aggression. In some circumstances it can lead to high levels of pro-social behaviour, for example wearing a nurses uniform. boilersuit Evaluation Overall, the Social learning theory can account for the fact that a persons aggressive behaviour may not be concordant across different situations.It may be reinforced in some situations, that punished in others (context-dependant learning). Fu rthermore, studies carried out into video games and aggressions are consistent with the Social Learning theory. However, alternative explanations such as the biological explanation (e. g. levels of testosterone are linked to aggressive behaviour) challenge the view that social learning is the primary causal factor in aggression. In addition, the social learning theory is limited in scope because aggression doesnt just depend on observational learning.This is supported by cross cultural evidence which demonstrates that some aspects of aggression are innate. Effects of environmental stressors on aggressive behaviour Use for sop up and evaluate research (theories or studies) into the effects of two or more environmental stressors on aggressive behaviour (24 marks) A number of environmental factors have been set as triggers for aggression. Some of these possible environmental features are temperature, overcrowding and noise.