Aggression II: Situational Cues

Aggression II: Situational Cues To what extent is aggression a learned behavior? • Genetic/biological factors contribute • Learning also contributes • Direct reinforcement • Observational learning • In natural environment • Media

Situational cues to aggression: Role models • Albert Bandura’s Bobo doll studies • IV: Adult model behaves aggressively or not while child is doing an art activity • DV: Preschool child’s behavior during free play • Results: Those who saw the aggressive model behaved more aggressively than those who did not. Imitated adult.

Social Learning: Social behavior can be learned by observing others and imitating them.

Who do we observe? • Aggressive models in everyday life • Parents • Teachers • Peers • Media figures

When people watch TV violence, are they more likely to behave aggressively? • (National Television Violence study, 1997) • 6 in 10 programs contain violence • By end of elementary school, the avg child watches about 8,000 TV murders and 100,000 other violent acts • Of the shows that contain violence, about 78% show aggression without remorse, criticism, or penalty for that violence. • About 40% of the violent incidents on TV in this study were initiated by characters who were heroes or other attractive role models for children.

Does watching violence on TV have any bearing on what children actually do? • The evidence is clear: Watching violence on TV increases children's aggressive behavior. • Evidence from correlational studies, field studies, and controlled laboratory experiments. • Also true for violent video games

Longitudinal Studies of children (Eron & Huesmann) • 875 children at age 8 to ages 19 and 30 • Violence viewing at age 8 predicted how aggressive the person was at age 19 • But behaving aggressively at age 8 did NOT predict watching more violence at age 19. • At age 30, men who as children had watched a great deal of violent television were more likely to have been convicted of a serious crime.

Correlational Limitations • Prospective data, but still cannot be sure of cause-and-effect • 3rd variables: Kids w/more aggressive tendencies might watch more aggressive shows on TV and become more aggressive later in life. • Still, better than most correlational studies because prospective & test many alternative explanations.

Experimental evidence: Cause and effect relationship • The experimental evidence overwhelmingly shows that watching violence on TV does indeed increase aggressive behavior in children.

Controlled experiments: Detection of a cause-and-effect relationship • Liebert and Baron • Elementary school children (ages five to six and 8-9, half boys, half girls) • IV: extremely violent TV episode police drama (The Untouchables) or exciting but nonviolent TV sporting event (running, jumping) • DV: “Hurting” or “helping” another child • Children who watched the more violent show were more likely than those in the control group to “hurt” the other child and to play more aggressively in later “free play” session.

Field studies • Leyens and colleagues • Delinquent boys watched different amounts of media violence over an extended period of time. • Most kids showed more aggressive behavior after being exposed to large amounts of media violence than after exposure to more benign programs. True even for kids who were LOW in aggression.

Studies of adults • (Phillips, 1986) • Daily homicide rates in the U.S. increased during the week following a heavyweight boxing match. • More publicity, greater increase in homicides. • Homicides directed toward race of loser

Studies of adults: General findings • Numbing effect of TV violence • Habituation/desensitization • General findings: After watching violence in a TV show, adults are less physiologically reactive to additional violence, and they behave more aggressively than those in control groups.

Is viewing violent pornography related to aggression? • Yes. • Research by Neil Malamuth, Ed Donnerstein and colleagues. • Exposure to violent pornography promotes greater acceptance of sexual violence toward women & more actual aggression.

Effects of violent pornography • Donnerstein experiment • Female confederate angered participants. • IV: Men watched an aggressive-erotic film involving rape, a purely erotic film without aggression, or a neutral film that was neither aggressive nor erotic. • DV: Administer electric shocks to the female confederate when he or she gave incorrect answers • Those men who had earlier seen the rape subsequently administered the most intense shocks to the female confederate. • Other work: Seeing violent pornography increases aggression to female confederate but not to a male confederate.

Ethical issues? • Explain clearly what kinds of films the Ps will be watching • Ps give their full consent • Extensively debrief by explaining the differed experimental conditions, and discussing the myths communicated in the films.

What is the effect of debriefing on men’s attitudes? • Other work: When college men were shown a pornographic aggressive film (vs. control), their belief in the rape myth increased. But after full debriefing, they became LESS accepting of rape myths than a control group.

Is viewing violent less sexually explicit material (e.g., X-rated slasher films) related to aggression? • Yes. • Linz and colleagues exposed male participants to as few as 2 slasher films spaced two days apart. Compared to nonviolent pornography and teen movies w/sexual content. • Compared men's emotional reactions and perceptions of women after the first and second films. • After 2nd film, men showed less emotional response to the violent content of the film and found the treatment of the women in the film less degrading than after the 1st film (habituation).

Linz et al. • TWO days later…”unrelated study” involving reenactment of a rape trial: • Perceptions of rape trial: Men exposed to slasher films expressed less sympathy for the rape victim in the trial than those who had watched the nonviolent pornography or teen films w/sexual content. • Also, men exposed to the slasher films expressed less sympathy for the rape victim in the trial, as well as less empathy for rape victims in general.

Summary • Combination of sex and violence increases aggression and often increases the acceptance of violence toward women.

Is viewing nonviolent pornography related to aggression? To attitudes toward women? • If mildly arousing, no. • If highly arousing & pornographic, yes. • Increases male to female aggression more than male to male aggression.

Nonviolent pornography & aggression (Zillmann and Bryant, 1984) • IV: Exposed to large number of pornographic films (Zillmann and Bryant, 1984) or not (neutral films or no films) • DV: Attitude toward rapist and rape (when reading about rape trial) • Exposure to large number of pornographic associated w/less aggression by men and women toward a same-sex confederate than controls. • Later: Those exposed to large number recommended a lighter sentence for the rapist than did controls; true for both MALE AND FEMALE students.

Watching nonviolent pornography increases male to female aggression more than male to male aggression possibly because films depersonalize or objectify women and indirectly support more negative attitudes toward them.

How can we reduce violence and aggression? • Conventional wisdom: Vent your feelings. • Sometimes called “catharsis” – The idea that behaving aggressively (hitting a punching bag) or watching aggression relieves and reduces pent-up aggressive feelings. • Evidence suggests that catharsis is____________.

How can we reduce aggression? • Everyone who has gone to public school knows that schoolyard bullying is a pervasive problem. Using material from text and lecture, discuss strategies for reducing bullying.

Aronson – jigsaw technique • Argues that to reduce school violence must eliminate exclusionary, cliquish atmosphere of most high schools. • Teach problem-solving skills • Build empathy

Aggression II: Situational Cues