Transcript Role Playing & Aggression

Aggression
Words or actions meant to hurt people
Why are people aggressive?
Biological View
• Sociobiology – Social behavior is controlled
by genes
• Aggression seems to help animals survive
and reproduce thus passing the aggressive
genes on to the next generation.
Criticism of Sociobiological View
• It does not take into account the cooperation
that takes place in humans for survival
• No “aggressive” gene has been found
• Aggression varies widely from culture to
culture which shows more than just
genetics.
• Do agree that the brain (amygdala) is
involved in aggression.
Psychoanalytic View
• Freud said aggression is due to frustration.
• We do want to harm those who don’t meet our wishes or
demands but this aggression is mostly repressed.
• Aggression finds outlets in disobeying orders or
destroying other people’s things.
• Freud felt it was important to vent this aggression
(Sarcasm, cheering on your sports team or watching
aggressive sports).
• Venting aggressive impulses called Catharsis
• Unclear if venting works as sometimes people get more
aggressive while doing it.
Cognitive View
• Aggressive behavior reflects a person’s
values and the choices they make.
• Aggression is justified by a person as
necessary for the given situation.
• People decide to act aggressively based on
previous experiences with aggressive
behavior and their interpretation of other
people’s behavior.
Learning View
• Aggressive behavior is reinforced (rewarded) so
people learn to behave aggressively.
• This is especially true in sports.
• Can learn aggression through observation
• By middle school the average child has seen more
than 8,000 murders and 100,000 other violent acts
on television
• TV may reinforce people’s ideas about violence
and lessen their inhibitions against it. Children
will also imitate what they see.
Sociocultural View
• Some cultures encourage independence and
competitiveness which promotes
aggression.
• When one person is encouraged to win over
others aggression can often result.
• Cultures where cooperation and the welfare
of the group are valued see lower levels of
violence.
Role Playing
• Playing a role can influence or change one’s attitude
• Zimbardo’s Prison Study
– College students played the role of guard or
prisoner in a simulated prison.
– The study was ended after just 6 days when the
guards became too aggressive and cruel.
– Want to learn more about this famous study? See
the Stanford Prison Experiment Online Slide
Show or watch Stanford Prison Experiment video
(8 minutes)
– Modern issues of Prison Abuse – see CNN
Report on Juvenile Jails and Abuse – 3 min.
Dr. Phillip
Zimbardo
How would these different perspectives explain
the aggressive behaviors demonstrated in the
Zimbardo Prison Experiment?
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Sociobiological
Psychoanalytic
Cognitive
Learning
Sociocultural