Aggression is something that people will experience throughout life whether they are experiencing it directly or indirectly. Throughout the years, aggression has been studied in many different forms and ways. It ranges greatly and can range all the way from destructive behavior down to an insulting remark. Direct aggression would be referred to as a physical altercation or incident and indirect aggression would someone spreading gossip throughout a group of people Aggression comes in many different shapes and sizes. Defining the term aggression has been a major argument throughout the scientific community for many years. The most widely accepted definition of the term aggression was defined by Buss ( 1961: 1) as “a response that delivers noxious…
One social psychological theory of aggression is Bandura’s social learning theory, in which he combines both social and cognitive psychology in his social cognitive perspective of human behaviour. Bandura believed that behaviour was not only motivated by psychological factors but also by more socio-environmental factors. He argued that the individual and the environment were linked, something which he called reciprocal determinism. Bandura believed that the presence of a role model from whom behaviour could be imitated was the key part of the social learning theory, and that this role model would either be similar to the person imitating the behaviour (e.g. same age or gender) or is in a position of power (e.g. celebrities or parents). Despite this the individual imitating the behaviour still needs to have a level of self confidence in order to imitate, which Bandura referred to as self-efficacy.…
These men were set apart because of their inherent need for violence. Learning theory recognizes that people have the ability to behave aggressively but whether or not they use that aggression is learned. Certain factors that influence the use of aggression are external reinforcement, vicarious reinforcement and self-regulatory mechanisms. Hill was taught that aggression and violence are tools for men to get what thy want. He receives external reinforcement through goods that he is able to sell.…
Bandura’s Social Learning Theory suggests that acts of aggression are learnt through the observation of role models. His original “Bobo Doll” study showed that when exposed to aggressive behaviour small children copied this behaviour, not just by being physically aggressive but even copying the verbally aggressive behaviour. However this study focuses on children who are supposed to learn in this manner, this doesn’t demonstrate that this would also be true in older children or adults who already have a set moral compass that would interfere with copying aggressive behaviours. However Bandura’s later study showed that if children saw someone get punished for aggressive behaviour they were less likely to be aggressive themselves when they were allowed to play with the bobo doll but if they saw someone get rewarded for this aggressive behaviour then they were much more likely to act aggressively themselves, this shows that vicarious reinforcement is important to the learning of aggression through the social learning theory, as receiving direct positive reinforcement leads to people having high self efficacy making them very likely to repeat the aggressive behaviour that they were rewarded for. In terms of aggression this reward could come in many forms such as acceptance from a violent gang they want to be a part of or just attention from a parent or teacher. Moreover, Walter and Thomas' study in 1963 further supported this theory as the results of the study demonstrated that aggressive behaviour was a result of imitation of role models. However, the social learning theory does not explain what triggers aggression. Additionally, the study emphasises nurture and learning through observation - ignoring nature and biological explanations.…
Aggression is the feeling of anger and hatred that may result in threatening or violent behavior. It is also a physical or emotional expression of the feelings of dissatisfaction arising out of the comparison between what people presently have and what they believe they should have, what they ought to have or what they believe is ideal. The theories of aggression assert that aggression is the inevitable result of frustration or conflict, they affirm that aggression results out of an innate instinct flowing towards destructive tendencies and maintain that aggression arises out of social dysfunction. According to Dollard (1939) the frustration-aggression theory of aggression asserts that aggression is always an inevitable result of frustration.…
The instinct theory of aggression states that aggression is natural and involves innate tendencies that are stable and enduring, meaning they are difficult to modify. It proposes the idea that aggression is a result of survival instinct to protect or survive. Aggression is said to occur in high arousal situations where stressful cues act as triggers for that aggression, often caused by others as a result of retaliation. However, not all people show aggression as a result of high arousal or stressful cues, so this theory lacks some validity when explaining aggression. Also, aggression is shown by different…
What are four theories of aggression? Describe the major contentions of each. Which have the strongest support and why? The four theories are the instinct, frustration-aggression, social learning and revised frustration-aggression theories. People have an instinct to be aggressive, which builds up until it must be expressed. Aggression is the direct result of a frustration that occurs because of goal blockage or failure. Aggression is learned through observing others (modeling) and then having similar behavior reinforced. Combines elements of frustration–aggression theory with social learning theory. Frustration does not always lead to aggression. It increases the likelihood of aggression by increasing arousal, anger, and other thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Increased arousal and anger result in aggression only when socially learned cues signal the appropriateness of aggression in the…
Social learning theory was proposed by Alburt Bandura. He used the word modeling to explain how humans can quickly learn acts of aggression and incorporate these into their behavior. According to this theory aggressive behavior can be learned by observing and imitating the aggressive behavior of other people. SLT also uses the concept of vicarious learning, this means indirect learning. Bandura suggests that we can learn aggression without being directly reinforced for aggressive behavior. This works when we observe someone else being rewarded for acts of aggression. For example we may see a child gaining control of a toy (being rewarded) by using aggression, and then imitate this behavior in the hope we are also rewarded.…
Tiffany, us as humans use micro aggression unintentionally, which usually tends to hurt others feelings. Although we do not mean what we say in a bad way, it seems to project in a negative way. A lot of individuals do not see that they are privileged until they compare themselves to someone else. So, therefore, in todays society we are very quick to state our opinions before thinking about others…
There are many social psychological explanations for aggression that try and explain the cause of aggression. The social learning theory originated from work by Tarde who looked at key characteristics of imitation and the ways in which our social behaviours and responses could be shaped by the actions of others.…
In the social learning theory (SLT) of aggression, Bandura (1962) suggested that the expression of aggression is learnt through social learning not ignoring the fact that the potential for the human aggression was biological. Bandura claimed that we learn specific aggressive behaviours for example, the form in which the aggression takes and how it is addressed to the target. Skinner, 1953 suggested that a child learns the aggressive behaviour through direct reinforcement while Bandura argues that a child learns by observing role models indirectly. Moreover, the SLT can be used to explain other behaviours such as eating disorders, personality etc. Research carried out by Phillip (1986) suggested the daily homicide rate…
Social learning theory (SLT) is just one of the few theories that attempt to explain aggression, in regards to social psychology.…
For decades sports psychologists have disputed the question of whether aggression in any form is instinctive/ biological or is modelled by our interaction in society i.e. we learn it. Aggression is defined by Coakley (2014) as “verbal or physical actions grounded in intent to dominate, control, or do harm to another person” and emphasizes the two main components: that the behavior is aimed at another human with intention to inflict harm and that the behavior is reasonably thought to be as such that can actually cause harm. Frankl (2001) cites Bredemeier (1983) definition of aggressive behavior in sport as: "The intentional initiation of violent and or injurious behavior; 'Violent' means any physical, verbal or nonverbal offense, while 'injurious…
Bandura and Walters (1963) proposed the social learning theory initially to explain aggression in children, yet they argued it can be readily applied to any behaviour. SLT suggests we acquire new behaviours via observing others, then modelling the observed behaviour. We are more likely to model behaviours if the behaviour is rewarded, via indirect, vicarious reinforcement. We can also learn new behaviours via being reinforced or punished directly. Therefore, learning is a combination of indirect and direct reinforcement, both key aspects of the behaviourist approach.…
aggression) can be acquired by observation and imitation. This study is known as the Bobo doll experiment, the reasoning behind the experiment was to add credibility to his belief that all human behavior was learnt through social imitation and copying rather than genetic factors [5] (nature), the study involved two groups of children, one group were made to watch a adult in the room behaving aggressively towards a Bobo doll, the second group children observed adults behaving calm with the doll. The two groups of children were then also put into the room with the doll alone and individually, there behaviors and actions were observed and recorded and it was concluded that the children who saw the adults behaving aggressively also behaved aggressively and those who witnessed the adult acting calm with the doll also acted friendly and calm with the…