Pro & anti social behaviour

1. Pro & anti social behaviour • What to revise • social psychological theories of aggression (social learning theory, deindividuation & relative deprivation) & the effects of environmental stressors on aggression. • Explanations of altruism (bystander behaviour & cultural differences in helping behaviour) • media influences on pro & anti social behaviour

2. Theories of causes of aggression • What is antisocial behaviour? • ‘those behaviours that show a lack of feeling and concern for the welfare of others’ • Society cannot function if we all act antisocially

3. Different types of aggression • antisocial - ‘all behaviour intended to inflict physical or psychological harm…’(Penrod) • Pro-social - police shoot terrorist • Sanctioned - self defence • Distinction between aggressive behaviours (overt) & feelings (covert)

4. Theories of aggression • Social learning theory • activity - write down all you know about social learning theory including famous studies • Bobo doll (Bandura 1963) - aggression a product of learned behaviour. • ‘Vicarious learning’ - child observes a role model & reproduces that behaviour

5. If behaviour is to be imitated, there must be a reward • Activity - read ‘Bobo doll’ study & make notes • Bobo doll study - 66 children - 3 groups - all groups watched an adult kick & punch doll • Group 1 - adult rewarded • Group 2 - adult punished • Group 3 - neither punished or rewarded • Results? All children had learned aggressive behaviour but group 1 displayed it the most

6. Deindividuation • Activity - write down what you know • What is it? • ‘a process whereby people lose their sense of socialised individual identity and engage in..antisocial behaviours’ • Why do most people act socially? • We are easily identifiable • When are we not easily identifiable? • In a crowd

7. Zimbardo - being part of a crowd can diminish our awareness of being individual, we are faceless & anonymous. This can lessen our fear of retribution and sense of guilt. • Check (1981) - USA - 1/3 of male students said they might rape if no chance of being caught. • Mann (1981) - suicides - 10/21 where a crowd had been present, baiting had occurred. This usually happened at night in a large crowd

8. Activity - think of times when you have displayed aggressive behaviour. What do you think caused it? Think of all factors involved including the environment.

9. Effects of environmental stressors on aggression • Temperature • hotter countries = more aggression • explanation - hot summers - people tend to be outside more and therfore more social contact. • Noise • increased noise may affect the ability to deal with frustrating situations • increases arousal

10. Evans et al (1998) - study looked at 2 groups of 7-8 yr olds in Germany • group 1 - lived under the flight path of airport • group 2 - quiet rural area • 18 months later - children who lived under flight path had increase in blood pressure, stress hormones & had reported a significant decline in their quality of life. • Crowding • personal space violated • does increased density cause aggression? Studies have found for & against

11. Stokols et al (1973) found that increased density is related to increased aggression in males but not in females. • Stokols identified 3 reasons why crowding may lead to aggression • stimulus overload - overloading sensory inputs may exceed our ability to deal with it - negative consequences • behavioural constraint - crowding may reduce our behavioural freedom (queues etc) • ecological model - crowding may result in less resources for all (fighting for food in a famine relief centre)

12. Exam question • Describe & evaluate research into the effects of two or more environmental stressors on aggressive behaviour