social explanation of aggression
Outline and evaluate one or more social explanations of aggression.
Aggression has been defined as ‘any form of behavior directed towards the goal of hurting or injuring another human being or animal that is motivated to avoid such treatment’ (Baron). Various types of aggression have been identified; person-orientated aggression, which is when the main goal is to harm another person and instrumental aggression, when aggression is used in order to achieve a desired goal. An important factor to take into account when studying aggression is the intent behind the action because it determines if the action is aggressive.
There are many different approaches in psychology that would explain aggression; ultimately most believable and provable explanations come from the social psychological approaches: social learning theory and de-individuation. While two theories are very different in terms of their context, they both point out that the explanations of behavior, in this case aggression, originate from situational context emphasizing little importance on other factors such as biology, evolution or cognitive processes.
The Social Learning Theory (SLT) of aggression states that aggression is not innate; it is learned through the environment. Bandura claims that humans aren’t born aggressive but acquire the behavior through direct or indirect experience by observing the actions of others. He used the term modeling to explain how humans can quickly learn specific acts of aggression and incorporate them into their behavior. Modeling is sometimes referred to as vicarious learning or reinforcement. Term ‘vicarious’ means indirect, this works when we observe aggression in others somehow being rewarded for their aggressive behavior. For instance, if an observer witnessed a child gaining control over a toy through force then the observer has noticed the positive use of aggression and has seen the act of aggression being rewarded with the toy. The aggressive
Aggression has been defined as ‘any form of behavior directed towards the goal of hurting or injuring another human being or animal that is motivated to avoid such treatment’ (Baron). Various types of aggression have been identified; person-orientated aggression, which is when the main goal is to harm another person and instrumental aggression, when aggression is used in order to achieve a desired goal. An important factor to take into account when studying aggression is the intent behind the action because it determines if the action is aggressive.
There are many different approaches in psychology that would explain aggression; ultimately most believable and provable explanations come from the social psychological approaches: social learning theory and de-individuation. While two theories are very different in terms of their context, they both point out that the explanations of behavior, in this case aggression, originate from situational context emphasizing little importance on other factors such as biology, evolution or cognitive processes.
The Social Learning Theory (SLT) of aggression states that aggression is not innate; it is learned through the environment. Bandura claims that humans aren’t born aggressive but acquire the behavior through direct or indirect experience by observing the actions of others. He used the term modeling to explain how humans can quickly learn specific acts of aggression and incorporate them into their behavior. Modeling is sometimes referred to as vicarious learning or reinforcement. Term ‘vicarious’ means indirect, this works when we observe aggression in others somehow being rewarded for their aggressive behavior. For instance, if an observer witnessed a child gaining control over a toy through force then the observer has noticed the positive use of aggression and has seen the act of aggression being rewarded with the toy. The aggressive