Deindividuation is a social psychological explanation of aggression. It refers to the loss of personal identity and responsibility that occurs as a result of being in a crowd of people, or wearing a mask. DEINER detailed deindividuation as 4 effects of decreased...
Institutional aggression refers to aggression within or between groups or institutions. Much of the research on models of institutional aggression has been done in prison environments. The importation model was introduced by IRWIM ET AL which suggests that inmates in...
A lot of research has been conducted into how aggression is affected by the structure of and hormone levels in the brain. Androgens, and in particular testosterone, has been linked with higher levels of aggression in both males and females. NELSON conducted a...
The genetic explanation of aggression suggests that it is influenced through our genes, and that such behaviour is therefore inherited. It is thought that aggression is due to a defective gene that is inherited by following generations. One possible gene is the...
The evolutionary theory states that a human’s main aims are to survive long enough to pass on their genes, and to ensure that those genes live on in their children. If the desire to achieve these goals is not met, or is threatened; humans can become aggressive. Men...
Group display refers to displays of aggressive behaviour by groups which are described as three or more people gathered together for a common purpose. By studying animals that display aggression, it is clear that this sort of display is an adaptive response that...
It is defined as a hostile or destructive tendency or behaviour. There are several possible reasons: Legacy of an evolutionary past Biochemical/ neural causes Learnt behaviour Lack of cognitive SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY This was proposed by Bandura and Walters (1963)...
THE IMPORTATION MODEL- Interpersonal Factors and Gang Membership Irwin and Cressey (1962) claim that prisoners are not blank slates when they enter prison, they bring in their social histories and personal traits. Allender and Marcell (2003) have found that gang...
Neural Mechanisms and Aggression: Research in the 1930’s pointed to the involvement of a circuit of structures in the brain with emotional behaviours, including aggression. Specifically there is a circuit from the areas of the amygdala, down to the hypothalamus and...
Aggression in Humans as an Adaptive Behaviour From an evolutionary perspective, the existence of aggression in humans must mean that it has survival value. Despite the apparent contradiction that behaviour which can cause harm could aid survival, research suggests...
Evolutionary Explanations of Group Displays They are based on the idea that we are a social species and that individuals and genes have a better chance of survival when we work as a group. These displays are often ‘threat’ displays that are meant to be intimidating to...
One social-psychological theory of aggression is the social-learning theory. BANDURA suggested that as well as being learnt through direct experience, aggressive behaviour can be learnt indirectly, through observation of others. If a person observes aggressive...