Aggression Behavior with goal/intention of harming another who is motivated to avoid harm Sometimes linked with control Important Human motive is to control our own lives Intelligence is negatively correlated with aggression – intelligences allows for other mechanisms of control Negative reinforcement & punishment not aggression – they are done with intention of helping Do males or females display more aggression (or are they equal)?

Types of Aggression Motives across species Predatory Intermale Fear-induced Territorial Maternal Irritable Sex-related Instrumental

Types of Aggression Human Dimensions Physical Verbal Direct – verbally confrontation Indirect – spreading rumors, gossiping, excluding Anger Anger without aggression & aggression without anger Hostility Caused by dislike or perceived injustice

Male & Female Aggression Very small differences but males tend to be slightly more aggressive Principle difference is in physical aggression (small or no differences in verbal, anger, & hostility) Testosterone Some weak evidence linking it to aggression May be related to social dominance (aggression is one mechanism for establishing control/dominance)

Motives for Aggression External (Instrumental) Motives To obtain explicit reward or avoid punishment Money, social rewards/punishment, induce compliance in another, etc. Internal (Affective) Motives Frustration, anger, hostility, etc. Internal motive may (and is likely) due to external trigger

Frustration Goal-directed behavior is blocked or threatened Relates to control Frustration that leads to negative affect Goal-directed behavior blocked either accidentally or intentionally Attributions about frustration can lead to anger Intentional (compared to accidental) likely to evoke anger Anger is less likely to occur when goal-blockage is expected, not arbitrary, etc.

Frustration Negative affect mediates impact of frustration Factors that influence negative affect can promote aggression (stress, temperature, etc.) Frustration Negative Affect (Anger) Aggression

Frustration Inhibition People learn to inhibit aggression (e.g., children are punished) Alcohol reduces inhibition Displacement Aggression that is not directed at source of problem Generalization Inhibit aggression toward cause and direct at related stimulus Coworker instead of boss

Social Learning Social Learning History Previous rewards/punishments and the expectation that aggression will have desired effect Instrumental motives (not internal) Seeing “models” use aggression to obtain desired outcome Peers, parents, country, etc. Aggression on TV  Correlation (but not necessarily causation)  Can lead to slight increases in minor aggressive acts

Retribution Punishment for deviating from acceptable (normative) behavior Attributions about blame for negative event Intended  Justified  Unjustified – assign blame, aggression appropriate Not Intended  Foreseeable – assign blame, aggression appropriate  Not foreseeable

Prosocial Behavior Behaviors that benefit others Helping (Volunteering) Comforting Sharing Cooperating Two explanations Altruism  Helping in absence of obvious, external rewards  Motivation to increase others’ welfare Egoism – motivation to increase own welfare

Determinants of Prosocial Behavior Situational – aspects of the situation/environment that promote (or prevent) helping Recognizing need for help – ambiguity of need Taking responsibility – number of others present Deciding how – match ability to need Other factors – similarity to victim, friendship, group membership,

Determinants of Prosocial Behavior Dispositional – individual differences that affect person’s likelihood to help across many different situations Empathy Positive emotion – tend to help Negative emotion – help with certain emotions (sad & anxious) when they have some ability to control emotions (not overwhelmed)

Determinants of Prosocial Behavior Situation and Disposition interact to predict helping Emergency - self-confidence and independence predict helping Donation (Non-emergency) – no effect of self- confidence and independence Dispositional factors manifest in situations where: Social pressure is weak Situation primes (activates) dispositional motive for helping

Social Learning Helping as function of rewards and punishments Rewarding children (candy) for giving or sharing makes them more likely to do so again Rewarding adults (thank you) for helping makes them more likely to help Modeling Children model parents prosocial behavior (e.g., donating) Seeing someone help person (e.g., change tire) leads to more helping later Self-reward Pleasure of helping others (guilt for not helping) Older children make larger donations when depressed (compared to neutral) where as young children donate equally when depressed/neutral – helping not yet self-rewarding for young People in good mood also more likely to help – maintain good mood

Distress reduction Seeing a person in need of help is distressing Leads to arousal and negative affect People with higher autonomic activity are more likely to help than those with lower autonomic activity Helping occurs relieve others (and self) distress Older people who volunteer are healthier and live longer More helping when people feel upset, sad, guilty, etc. Individual differences in how much empathy and distress people feel

Norms & Roles Norms – groups written or unwritten rules of appropriate behavior Reciprocity Norm – someone helps you, you need to help them Reciprocity can drive initial help (expect someone to help you in future) Situations can make norms more/less salient and thus affect helping Roles – expected behavior of person in a particular social position Roles and norms can explain many differences in helping between men & women, majority and minority members, etc. Men more likely to help in potentially dangerous situations; women more likely to help with comfort/sympathy

Attributions Attributions – inferences about the causes of events Dispositional or situational Attributional biases – other’s behavior more likely to be interpreted as dispositional; our own due to situational factors Attribution about another’s need More likely to help if we believe person is innocent victim compared to when their problems are self-caused Attribution about own behavior Dispositional attributions might result in more helping Obvious situational causes (e.g., rewards) might lead to situational attributions and less helping later

Prosocial Behavior Egoistic Explanations Reduces empathic distress Avoids social/self punishment Promises social/self-rewards Altruistic Explanations All of the above are true but not necessary Pro-social can occur even without egoistic causes Kin-selection – gene survival for relatives (might manifest as familiar/similar) Reciprocal altruism (reciprocity norm) Collectivism – group benefit with people who help do better than those that do not

Summary Aggressive behavior and Prosocial behavior are social behaviors that are multiply determined Both are necessary and can be good or bad (not so good) Emotion is important mediator for both Aggression – anger Prosocial – distress; increase happiness Social Learning important for both Attributions about cause of other (& self) behavior important Social norms important for both