Myers_chapter_10_ppt_new Stereotype are the cognitive component of attitudes toward a social group consisting of beliefs about what particular groups are like

Stereotype are the cognitive component of attitudes toward a social group consisting of beliefs about what particular groups are like Stereotype are the cognitive component of attitudes toward a social group consisting of beliefs about what particular groups are like Stereotype are the cognitive component of attitudes toward a social group consisting of beliefs about what particular groups are like

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AP Images/Pat Roque

2. What Is Aggression?
Aggression
Physical or verbal behavior intended to cause
harm
The definition excludes unintentional harm
Hostile Aggression
Aggression that springs from anger; its goal is to
injure
Instrumental Aggression
Aggression that is a means to some other end
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3. Philosophical Views of Aggression
Philosophers have debated whether our human
nature is fundamentally bad or fundamentally good.
The 18
th
century Jean-Jacques Rousseau had argued
that we are basically good, and society is to blame for
social evils
The British philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
had argued that we are basically evil and need to be
restrained by society.
The idea that aggressive drive is innate and thus
inevitable was promoted by Freud and Konard
Lorenz.

4. Freud and Lorenz
Freud saw aggression as the expression of the death
instinct, the Thanatos, that is directed outwardly
Lorenz, and animal expert, saw aggression as adaptive-
the member of the species who is more aggressive
controls more resources and have higher lieklihood to
survive
Aggressive energy is seen by Freud and Lorenz as
instinctive, that is, unlearned and universal; if not
discharged, it build up until “explosion”
Instinct theory fails to account for the variation of
aggressiveness' from person to person and from culture to
culture
Chapter 5:
•Note issues of similarity among people, emphasized by the evolutionary perspective, and the individual differences, emphasized by the cultural diversity perspective. Pp. 158-162
• Be very familiar with the main evolutionary concepts, such as natural selection and examples of the universality of human nature, such as the capacity to learn and to adapt. P. 159
•Cultural diversity and cultural norms. Note examples of cultural similarity, such as incest taboo, norms for friendship and status, etc. pp. 160-167
•What are social roles? What is role reversal and what does it enable us to do? (will NOT be on the test)
•Study well the section on gender similarities and differences. Why were social psychologists reluctant to explore this area in the past? Pp. 168-175
•Note areas of gender differences, such as independence (male), and connectedness (female), social dominance, aggression, and sexuality. Pp. 168-175
•Note how males and females differ in their mating preferences. Give examples. Pp. 176-178
• Note impact of sex hormones, especially testosterone. P. 180
•Note issue of gender roles and how they vary with culture and over time. 182-184
•Note Harris’ ideas of peer-transmitted culture. 184-185

5. What Are Some Theories of
Aggression?
Aggression as a Biological Phenomenon
Instinct theory and evolutionary psychology
Innate, unlearned behavior pattern exhibited by all
members of a species
Evolutionary psychology sees aggression as a strategy for
gaining resources, defending against attacks, etc
Neural influences
Abnormal brains can contribute to abnormally aggressive
behavior
Genetic Influences
Heredity influences the neural system’s sensitivity to
aggressive cues
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6. What Are Some Theories of
Aggression?
Aggression as a Biological Phenomenon
Biochemical influences
Alcohol: Unleashes aggression when people are
provoked. Alcohol enhances aggression by
reducing self-awareness and by focusing attention
on the provocation
Testosterone
Poor diet
Biology and behavior interact
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7. Biochemical (cont-d)
Testosterone: Hormonal influences appear to be
much stronger in animals than in humans, but
aggressive behavior does correlate with the male
hormone testosterone
Drugs that diminish levels of testosterone in violent
human males will subdue their aggressive
tendencies
After age 25 the testosterone levels diminish and so
does violent behavior
Testosterones levels tend to be higher in violent
criminals

8. Testosterone (cont-d)
Testosterone levels tend to be higher among
prisoners convicted of planned and unprovoked
violent crimes
High testosterone levels in men are related to
delinquency, hard drug use, and aggressive
responses to provocation
In men, testosterone increases the width of the
face relative to the length of the face, and men
with relatively wider faces display more
aggression

9. Low levels of Serotonin
Serotonin is one of the brain’s neurotransmitters
Low levels of serotonin were found to be related
to difficulties in impulse- control
Biology and behavior interact: Testosterone may
facilitate aggressive and dominant behaviors, but
dominating behavior (such as winning a soccer
match) boosts testosterone levels.

10. What Are Some Theories of
Aggression?
Aggression as a Response to Frustration
Frustration
Blocking of goal-directed behavior
Frustration-aggression theory
Theory that frustration triggers a readiness to aggress
Displacement because of fear of punishment
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11. What Are Some Theories of
Aggression?
Frustration-Aggression Theory Revised
Original theory overstated the frustration-
aggression connection
Frustration produces anger, an emotional
readiness to aggress
Theory is designed to explain hostile aggression, not
instrumental aggression
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12. What Are Some Theories of
Aggression?
Aggression as a Response to Frustration
Relative Deprivation
Perception that one is less well off than others with
whom one compares oneself
Explains why happiness tends to be lower and crime
rates higher in communities and nations with large
income inequality
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13. What Are Some Theories of
Aggression?
Aggression as Learned Social Behavior
Rewards of Aggression
Through experience and by observing others, we learn
that aggression often pays
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14. What Are Some Theories of
Aggression?
Observational Learning
Social learning theory
We learn social behavior by observing and imitating
and by being rewarded and punished
Family
Culture
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15. What Are Some Influences on
Aggression?
Aversive Incidents increase the likelihoods of
acting aggressively
Pain: aversive stimuli
Heat: as well as offensive odors, cigarette smoke,
air pollution
Studies found that when the weather is hot,
violent crime is more likely
Attacks
Includes insults
Over-crowding
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16. What Are Some Influences on
Aggression?
Arousal
A given state of bodily arousal feeds one emotion
or another, depending on how the person
interprets and labels the arousal
This is the Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
(Schachter and Singer, 1962)
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17. What Are Some Influences on
Aggression?
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Aggression cues:
Violence is more likely when aggressive cues
release pent-up anger
The sight of a weapon is such a cue

18. What Are Some Influences on
Aggression?
Media Influences: Pornography and Sexual
Violence
Distorted Perceptions of Sexual Reality
Studies confirm that exposure to pornography
increases acceptance of the rape myth
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19. What Are Some Influences on
Aggression?
Media Influences: Pornography and Sexual
Violence
Distorted Perceptions of Sexual Reality
Aggression Against Women
Studies suggest that the exposure to violent
pornography increase punitive behavior toward women
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20. What Are Some Influences on
Aggression?
Media Influences: Television and the Internet
Media’s Effects on Behavior
Correlating Media Viewing and Behavior
Frequent result of correlating children’s TV viewing
with aggressiveness is the more violent the content the
more aggressive the child
Extends to indirect aggression
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21. What Are Some Influences on
Aggression?
Media Influences: Television and the Internet
Media’s Effects on Behavior
Violence Viewing Experiments
Anderson (2003) and Coyne (2008)
Showed college students and girls exposed to more
violence led to an increase in viewer aggression
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22. What Are Some Influences on
Aggression?
Media Influences: Television and the Internet
Media’s Effects on Behavior
Why Does Media Viewing Affect Behavior?
The arousal that it produces
Viewing violence disinhibits
Media portrayals evoke imitation
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23. What Are Some Influences on
Aggression?
Media Influences: Television and the Internet
Media’s Effects on Thinking
Desensitization
Social Scripts
Culturally provided mental instructions for how to act
in various situations
Altered Perceptions
Media portrayals shape perceptions of reality
Cognitive Priming
Media portrayals prime thinking
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24. What Are Some Influences on
Aggression?
Another Media Influence: Video Games
Effects of Video Games
Games are becoming more violent and sometimes
include
Carjacking
Shooting
Sex
Murder
Games that are rated “M” for mature are often
marketed to those younger
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25. What Are Some Influences on
Aggression?
Another Media Influence: Video Games
Effects of the games kids play
Increases aggressive behaviors
Increases aggressive thoughts
Increases aggressive feelings
Habituation in the brain
Greater likelihood of carrying a weapon
Decreases in self-control and increases in antisocial
behavior
Decreases in helping others and in empathy for others
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26. What Are Some Influences on
Aggression?
Group Influences
Can amplify aggressive reactions partly by
diffusing responsibility
Increases with distance and number
Social contagion
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27. How Can Aggression Be Reduced?
Catharsis?
Contrary to the catharsis hypothesis, expressing
aggression by catharsis tends to breed further
aggression, not reduce it
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28. How Can Aggression Be Reduced?
A Social Learning Approach
Controlling aggression by counteracting the
factors that provoke it
Reducing aversive stimulation
Rewarding nonaggression
Modeling nonaggression
Eliciting reactions incompatible with aggression
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29. How Can Aggression Be
Reduced?
Culture Change and World Violence
Cultures can change
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