Describe and evaluate research (theories and/or studies) into the effects of two or more environmental stressors on aggressive behaviour.
Describe and evaluate research (theories and/or studies) into the effects of two or more environmental stressors on aggressive behaviour. [24 marks] Environmental stressors such as heat and noise may cause an increase in arousal, which may lead to negative emotions followed by abrasive thoughts and/or aggression. They may cause stimulus reload, interfering with task completion which then leads to frustration. The effects of high temperatures on aggression have been demonstrated in a number of studies. High levels of temperature have been associated with increases in aggressive behaviour. Direct links between temperature and aggression support this. Hotter regions of the world tend to have more aggression than cooler areas. It's the same with hotter seasons and days. It can be argued that it may not necessarily be the heat that causes aggression but other factors associated with heat such as alcohol. The routine activity theory shows that during summer people tend to spend more time outside and engage in interpersonal relationships. They are more likely to go to the park, be in crowded situations, drink beverages and also drive fast. This causes them to get exhausted faster and behave aggressively. This theory can support naturalistic studies but cannot explain temperature itself causing aggression. The negative affect escape theory suggests at high heat levels aggression
The Imperative Relevance of Social Context.
The Imperative Relevance of Social Context Discussion Paper # 2 Mass Communication Theory MMC 6401 Dr. Dardenne January 22, 2004 Jeff Neely The role of society as it affects the development of media is one often overlooked, as pointed out in this week's reading. More often, research is consumed by the more popular consideration of the media's role in shaping society. However, because media is by definition concerned with communication, it must be seen from the perspective of interaction. In any instance of interaction, there must be some sense of reciprocal participation. One participant may or may not be the dominant influencer, but nonetheless, interaction requires a mutual participation between two or more parties. This week's reading from DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach illuminated the historical developments of print, motion pictures, and broadcast media as forms of mass communication. It seems the authors feel the necessity to examine the historical development of media as a foundation from which to evaluate the various proposed theories of how and why the media operates the way that it does. In fact, to this point the authors state, "the many events that make up the history of our mass media cannot be interpreted in a theoretical vacuum." In order to understand why mass media functions as it does, and why it has developed as it has, it is imperative to examine the
The aim of this essay is to show that it has been proven by psychological research that "however much we might like to believe otherwise, when in the presence of others our behaviour changes".
The aim of this essay is to show that it has been proven by psychological research that "however much we might like to believe otherwise, when in the presence of others our behaviour changes". In this many issues within psychology will be discussed to illustrate the effect that the presence of others have. The original definition for social facilitation was "the tendency of people to perform simple or well-earned tasks better when others are present". This has been modified to the current definition of "the strengthening of dominant (prevalent, likely) responses of others". Tripplet (1898), cited in (Myers, D G, Social Psychology, New York, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2002), conducted one of psychology's first laboratory experiments. In this children were told to wind a fishing reel as fast as they could. The findings showed that they wound faster in the presence of others than when alone. Research after this found that the presence of others also improved the speed at which people can do multiplication problems or crossing out designated letters. It was also found by (F.W Allport, 1920, Dashiell, 1930, Travis 1925) cited in (Myers, D G, Social Psychology, New York, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2002) that to improve simple motor tasks e.g. keeping a metal stick in contact with a dime sized disk on a moving turn-table. However, other studies cited in (Myers, D G, Social
Pro and anti social behaviour
Pro and Anti-Social Behaviour. Frustration exists (Dollard et al. (1939)) if: * The organism could have been expected to perform certain acts * That these acts have been prevented from occurring Aggression: intended to cause harm or injury to another object or person in response to the blocking of the goal. Examples of Aggression. * Getting even, cursing when you hurt yourself * Substitute responses help deflect aggression * Aggressive behaviour is frequently forced into culturally defined patterns. Some of these are prohibited, some are permitted and some are actually rewarded by social approval. Dollard et al (1939) - Frustration/Aggression hypothesis -> Freud. * Insight into how aggression towards out-group develops. * Determined by psychodynamics of the in-group and displacement of their feelings towards the leader of the out-group. * Inter-group conflict arises out of irrational feelings and emotional needs of in-group members. * Not based on conflict of material interest (e.g. scarce resources). Evaluation. * Doob and Sears (1939) reported that when participants were asked to imagine frustrating and non-frustrating situations, they generally felt angry in the frustrating situations. * This hypothesis was attacked as if failed to account for justified and unjustified frustration. When Doob and Sears experiment was re-done with justified frustration the
relative deprivation theory
Relative Deprivation Theory. This states that aggression may arise if we feel we are 'hard done by'. In other words, if we perceive that we are deprived of our rights, frustration occurs leading to a 'readiness' to be aggressive (Stouffer et al 1949, Berkowitz, 1972). This theory can explain why people riot as a result of perceived social deprivation following a 'triggering' incident (for example, black community riots in Bristol and Brixton, in the early 1980s) and why aggression is low in societies in which a persons expectations are