Soc 319: Sociological Approaches to Social PsychologySlide 2Slide 3Why didn’t anyone come to the rescue of Kitty Genovese?Slide 5Slide 6Slide 7Slide 8Slide 9Slide 10Slide 11Defining Aggression?Types of AggressionBiological PerspectivesEvolutionary PerspectivesIf aggression were biological or evolutionary in its roots, however, we might expect to see roughly similar levels of aggression across time and place…Slide 17Socialization/Social Learning PerspectivesBandura’s classic “Bobo doll” study.Results of Bandura studyImplications for Children’s Behavior?Effect of TV violence on child behavior (Liebert & Baron, 1972)Critiques of Social Learning Theory?Is media violence cathartic??Contextual Influences on AggressionFrustration-Aggression Hypothesis (Dollard 1939)Culture of Violence?Slide 28Slide 29Slide 30Situational Influences: Heat/SeasonIndividual-Level InfluencesBiological InfluencesReinisch et al., (1991): Pre-natal testosterone exposure & child aggressionFamily Background“Coercive Cycle” of Family Violence (Patterson, 1982)Personality Traits that Foster Aggression?Gender (Eagly et al., Harris, 1994)Soc 319: Sociological Approaches to Social PsychologyAltruism (cont’d) & AggressionApril 23, 2009Evolutionary PerspectivesPuzzle: If an organism acts altruistically, it may decrease its own reproductive fitness.Importance of kin selection: behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by natural selection.Impact of reciprocity, or expectation that helping others will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future. Simon (1990): The best learners of societal norms (esp. altruism) have a competitive advantage.80806060202000 High(parents, siblings, children) High(parents, siblings, children)Cunningham et al., (1995)Cunningham et al., (1995)4040Degree of RelatednessDegree of Relatedness Mod. (grand-parents) Mod. (grand-parents) Low (first cousins) Low (first cousins) None (attractive strangers) None (attractive strangers)Would you lend this person your car? Proportion saying “yes” are plotted values.Why didn’t anyone come to the rescue of Kitty Genovese?[Reprinted with permission from the March 27, 1964 New York Times. Copyright © 1964 by the New York Times Co.] 37 Who Saw Murder Didn't Call the Police Apathy at Stabbing of Queens Woman Shocks Inspector By MARTIN GANSBERGFor more than half an hour thirty-eight respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens. Twice the sound of their voices and the sudden glow of their bedroom lights interrupted him and frightened him off. Each time he returned, sought her out and stabbed her again. Not one person telephoned the police during the assault; one witness called after the woman was dead.Influences on Prosocial Behavior: Social ContextNumber of bystanders (Latane & Darley)Diffusion of responsibilityUrban v. ruralurban overload hypothesis (Milgram): persons living in cities keep to themselves to avoid being overloaded by all the stimulation they receive.Cultural context Collectivist cultures more likely to help in-group members and less likely to help out-group members than in individualist cultures. (In general, in-group favored)Darley & Latane: Number of bystanders & helping behavior # in Group: One Two FivePercent Helping85 62 31Lag Time(second)52 93 166Diffusion of responsibilityA decrease in the individual sense of responsibility for taking action in an emergency because of the presence of other bystanders. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely each person is to act.Bystander effect: As number of bystanders increases, likelihood of helping decreases and more time passes before help occurs.Darley/Latane Model of HelpingBystander must perceive an emergency.The unaware cannot act.Bystander must interpret situation as an emergency.Pluralistic ignorance: misinterpretation/inaction by many may stifle action.Bystander assumes responsibility to act.Must know what to do, show expertise.Bystander must decide (and know how) to help.Must assess costs and efficacy of routes.Bystander actually does help.Does not ensure effectiveness.80806060202000 Alone AlonePercentage Reporting SmokePercentage Reporting Smoke4040 With 2 other real subjects With 2 other real subjects With 2 calm confederates With 2 calm confederatesDarley & Latane: Smoked filled room where “subjects” were completing questionnaires.Influences on Prosocial Behavior: Characteristics of Help Recipient“Deservingness”: Responsibility is assigned to victims in varying degrees.Piliavin et al. “subway” studiesWeiner et al. Reason why patient as AIDS (e.g., sex v. blood transfusion)Attractiveness/likeabilitySimilarity to help-giverPersonal stylePolitical viewsRace/ethnicitySource: Levine (2003)Defining Aggression?Behavior that results in personal injury or destruction of property (Bandura, 1973).Behavior intended to harm another of the same species (Scherer et al, 1975).Behavior directed towards the goal of harming or injuring another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment (Baron, 1977).The intentional infliction of some form of harm on others (Baron & Byrne, 2000)Types of AggressionInstrumental: Actions that are intended to hurt others, but for a specific outcome (e.g., punishment, sports, warfare)Emotional/Hostile: Driven by feelings, reactive, impulsive. Intent is to harm or injure target. Tends to be focus of most aggression research.Biological PerspectivesViolent, aggressive behavior is innate.Lorenz (1966): “fighting instinct” is necessary for survival.Freud (1930): Humans have a powerful “death instinct” (thanatos). Destructive energy must be expelled (catharsis) to avoid personal psychological harm.Evolutionary PerspectivesIndividuals must maximize their resources and competitiveness relative to others, and thus enhance their own chances of reproductive success.Men and women face different evolutionary challenges, and respond accordingly.Buss and Dedden (1990) examined the pattern of intra-sexual aggression and found that:Women were more likely than men to verbally derogate the physical appearance and promiscuity of their same sex rivals.Men were more likely than women to physically aggress against male rivals.If aggression were biological or evolutionary in its roots, however, we