Social Psychology Lecture 8 Altruism and Aggression Aggression behavior aimed at causing either physical or psychological pain Types Hostile aggression pain or harm is the only goal Instrumental aggression pain or harm is one goal but there is another goal Example stopping a crime winning a gam Retaliatory vs Offensive Emotional Triggers o Frustration Aggression Hypothesis aggression results from frustration and being blocked from a goal The closer we are to a goal the more frustrated we become and the more likely to show aggression we are o Anger core relational theme personal injustice action tendency attack retribution o Relative Deprivation feeling that oneself or group is not getting fair treatment Situation Triggers o Heat hotter temperature is related with more violent behavior There are more crimes in the summer because there are more human interactions o Presence of a weapon can trigger aggressive behavior than a non weapon o Role expectations bad guys wear black o Deindividuation mob behavior Gender differs in types and rates of aggression Most likely due to differences in hormone levels social learning or evolved tendencies o Direct aggression vs Relational aggression women are less physically aggressive but may be aggressive secretly like spreading rumors Relational aggression is aimed at hurting someone socially or emotionally Culture more violence from males in the Southern US than males in the North They are concerned with defending their reputation of honor and are more likely to aggress Southern males show more facial expressions of anger elevated testosterone firmer grip and more confrontation Roles of attributions triggers aggressive behavior based on different attributions We are more likely to aggress when we see someone as being hostile unfair blocking us or causing us discomfort Heat culture media etc can influence aggressive behavior by shaping how situations are interpreted Reducing aggression defuse anger with apologies talk about why you re angry model nonaggressive behavior gun control build empathy Helping Behavior Story of Kitty Genovese murdered in her own neighborhood Murder was witnessed by 38 of her neighbors and none of them intervened or called the police Situational determinates of helping behavior o Environmental effects rural vs urban environments You are more likely to receive help in a rural area Urban overload hypothesis people living in cities keep to themselves o Audience affects bystander effects o Victim characteristics unambiguous need similarity relatedness and cost of helping Things that lead to less help distraction pluralistic ignorance and diffusion of responsibility People often help people if there is a clear unambiguous emergency similarity relatives friends or damsels in distress There are gender differences in helping behaviors Men are more likely to help in heroic ways Women are more likely to help in ways requiring long term commitments Selfless help o Altruism desire to help another person with no benefit to oneself even at cost to oneself o Empathy ability to put oneself in another person s shoes to experience the same feelings or emotions Empathetic concern is sympathy or compassion for others Empathetic distress is the feeling of anxiety for yourself o Empathy Altruism hypothesis helping results from concern for o Negative state relief hypothesis helping results from trying to relieve another one s own distress
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