PSY 331 Chapter Notes - Chapter 23: Deindividuation, Social Trap, Leonard Berkowitz
Conļ¬ict and Cooperation!
I. Theories Explaining Aggression!
A. Aggression is behavior intended to do physical or psychological harm to others.!
B. Violence and aggression seem to be increasing in our society.!
C. Psychologists have proposed that biology, learning, personality, and a personās environment
all inļ¬uence aggressive behavior.!
D. Psychologists have proposed several theories that explain aggression. Psychologists claim
that several factors may play a role in aggressive behavior and warn against any one factor
being a root cause.!
II. Biological Factors/Inļ¬uences!
A. Psychologists have proposed that humans have innate biological factors that cause
aggression.!
B. Neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, inļ¬uence a personās aggressive behavior.!
C. When a person has too much serotonin in the brain, he or she may experience violent
outbursts.!
D. Psychologists, though, warn against labeling aggression as caused by only biological
factors.!
!
III. Cognitive Factors!
A. Psychologist Albert Bandura proposes that children learn aggressive behavior by observing
and imitating their parents.!
B. His social learning theory also proposes that aggressive behavior may be reinforced in
several ways:!
1. Parents who use aggression to discipline their children may be teaching their children to
use aggression.!
2. The mediaātelevision, movies, video games, and musicāmay also be teaching
aggressive behavior to children.!
IV. Personality Factors!
A. Certain personality traits, such as impulsiveness and having little empathy, combined with
favoring domination can turn a person into a bully.!
B. Usually past experience is the best predictor.!
C. An aggressive child usually becomes an aggressive adult.!
V. Environmental Factors!
A. Sometimes something provokes you and you become violent.!
B. Psychologists explain acts of violence that arise from unexpected!
situations with the frustration-aggression hypothesis.!
C. This is the idea that frustration or a failure to obtain something!
expected leads to aggression.!
D. The hypothesis, though, fails to note that frustration does not always lead to aggressive
behavior. Leonard Berkowitz modiļ¬ed this theory stating that frustration only leads to
aggression in certain circumstances.!
VI. Controlling Aggression!
A. Aggression is a combination of biological, cognitive, personality, and environmental factors.!
B. One method of controlling aggression is through catharsis. Catharsis is releasing anger or
aggression by letting out powerful negative emotions. It is like āgetting something oļ¬ your
chestā.!
C. Critics of catharsis believe that any expression of aggression is negative.!
D. Other strategies of controlling aggression include punishing children for violent behavior and
cutting down on the violence they observe.!
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Document Summary
Psychologists claim that several factors may play a role in aggressive behavior and warn against any one factor being a root cause. Personality factors: certain personality traits, such as impulsiveness and having little empathy, combined with favoring domination can turn a person into a bully, usually past experience is the best predictor, an aggressive child usually becomes an aggressive adult. Leonard berkowitz modi ed this theory stating that frustration only leads to aggression in certain circumstances. Controlling aggression: aggression is a combination of biological, cognitive, personality, and environmental factors, one method of controlling aggression is through catharsis. Catharsis is releasing anger or aggression by letting out powerful negative emotions. Group con ict vs. cooperation: con icts between groups are a fact of everyday life, a group of psychologists (sherif & hovland, 1961) created a boys" camp to study intergroup relations. Ex: local governments passing ordinances requiring citizens to recycle their garbage.
