PSYC 360 Lecture 20: Social psych - Aggression
Document Summary
Might induce person to imitate their action. Powerful enough to get the child to stop the undesired activity. Child must then justify his or her restraint attitude change. Conventional wisdom suggests that one way to reduce feelings of aggression is to do something aggressive. Get it out of your system has been a common piece of advice. This common belief is based on an oversimplification of the psychoanalytic notion of catharsis. The notion that blowing off steam by performing an aggressive act, watching others engage in aggressive behaviors, or engaging in a fantasy of aggression relieves built-up aggressive energies and hence reduces the likelihood of further aggressive behavior. Participants who inflicted psychological or physical harm on an innocent person: derogated their victims, convinced themselves victim deserved what they got. Makes it easier to do further harm to the victim in the future. Control anger by actively enabling it to dissipate: use simple devices, count to 10, take deep breaths.
