Research into aggression

Bobo doll study; 72 children were separated equally into two group and one control group. One group seen an adult role model being physically and verbally abusive to a 5 foot bobo doll. Another group were put into a room with an adult role model who ignored the doll. The control group were put into a room with toys with no adult role model. After 10minutes children were then shown toys they could not play with to cause frustration. The children were then placed back in the room without the role model and given some aggressive toys(dart gun, mallet) and some non aggressive toys(crayons) children who were in the aggressive condition we far more likely to act aggressively to the doll. Boys were also more likely than girls to act aggressively

Supporting evidence for SLT

Used 35 participants who were given a drug which was known to reduce levels of serotonin in the brain, the participants then answered a questionnaire to assess hostility and aggression levels. Male participants showed higher levels of aggression

Used as the IDA for SLT

Compared a group of 78 teenagers who had committed violent offences with teenagers who had no criminal record. Interviews wee used to ask participants about their media habits and their exposure to attitudes of violent content. They found that offenders did not seem to have a greater interest in screen violence. In fact the appeared to have less access to such material and viewed it less than the comparison group.

However SLT

Carried out a variation of milgrams electric shock study. He used female students and allocated half to a deindividuated group who wore bulky lab coats, hoods and were spoken to in groups of 4. The other half were an individuated group who wore their own clothes, name tags and we're all introduced to one another. Al were asked to give shocks to a confederate who appeared to be in pain. The deindividuated group gave twice as many shocks as the individuated group.

Supporting evidence for deindividuation

Studied a meta-analysis of 60 studies of deindividuation and found that disinhibition and anti-social behaviour are not more common in large groups or anonymous settings.

Used for however point in deindividuation

Demonstrated that individuals with damage to the prefrontal corte showed signs of antisocial behaviour and aggression throughout their lives.

Used for however point when debating other explanations of aggression.

Suggest inmate behaviour is a response to the deprivation or pains of imprisonment.

AO1 deprivation model

Found that guards with longer experience were less likely to be victims of aggression.

AO1 deprivation model

Studied 431 male prisoners records in southern states of America and found that prisoners within the most restrictive regimes had the highest incidents of violence towards staff.

research evidence for deprivation

Found that over crowding, lack of privacy and lack of meaningful activity all significantly influence peer aggression within the prison setting.

Research into psychiatric conditions found that increased personal space did not decrease the levels of violence among patients.

Used for however point for deprivation model.

Found that young inmates are thought to have a tougher time in prison and therefore view aggression as an appropriate response to conflict.

Used for AO1 importation model

Found that gang members in the USA were ten times more likely to commit murder

Used for AO1 importation model

Inmates who had greater periods of unemployment lower levels of education and a more serious criminal record were more likely to be aggressive in prison.

AO1 importation model

Found that higher levels of aggression were associated wth the level of alcohol dependency.

Use for AO1 importation

Found that violence was more likely to occur in prisons with troublesome inmates.

Research evidence for importation

Found that inmates with prior street gang involvement were no more likely than other inmates to engage in prison violence.

Used for however AO2 point.

Asked both men and women to explain how they would respond to a situation in a film. Men said they were more likely to say they would respond angrily and use threats where as women said they'd respond emotionally.

However for IDA

Found that 11% of females and 21% of males committed infidelity.

Argues that showing aggressive behaviours would naturally reduce and eliminate the threat of infidelity.

AO1 evolution theory

Studied 44 battered wives in a hostel in Canada 55% said jealousy was the reason for their husbands aggressive behaviour and actual infidelity was the reason for 11 of the cases. Beatings were often motivated by suspicion of adultery.

AO1 evolution

Found that men were more likely to take aggressive action against a rival where as women react emotionally.

AO1 evolutionary

Found that 58 out of 214 cases of murders studied, where two men and a woman were involved, sexual jealousy was the underlying cause.

Found that women who agreed on questionnaire items such as 'he is jealous' were twice as likely to have experienced serious aggression from their partner.

AO1 evolutionary

Found that in 80 murders were the victim and murderer lived together 44 victims were men and 36women and 29% of the occurred as a result of sexual jealousy. Further analysis showed more husbands were killed as a result of the wife using self defence after the husband became violent.

Shackleford et al(2005) completed male retention inventory measuring 104 mate retention strategies in a month and how often they performed 26 violent acts against their partners. Females then answered questions on mate retention and the degree of which their partner had been violent. There was found to be a positive correlation between males that use retention strategies and violence.

AO2 research evidence

Suggest that the evolutionary approach cannot explain why people react in different ways when faced with the same adaptive problems and it cannot account for why different males respond to infidelity in different ways.

Examined 2060 murder in the USA and found women were twice as likely to murder out of jealousy as men

However point for IDA

Found wounds in early remains of humans had signs of man made weapons despite having no possessions to fight over.

IDA evidence

Found violent criminals had lower levels of serotonin when compared to non violent criminals

AO1 biological explanations

Studied 35 participants who had taken a drug known to reduce levels of serotonin. They were then assessed using questionnaires on hostility and aggression. Males showed higher levels of aggression (females did not)

AO2 supporting evidence for serotonin

Found that individuals with damaged frontal lobes were at an increased risk of aggressive behaviours in adult hood.

AO1 brain structures

Found effect in humans after electrically stimulating the amygadala resulted in her becoming very angry and attacking furniture.

AO1 amygadala

Carried out a longitudinal study of 56 men from age 16-26. He found that the men with lower amygadala volumes exhibited more aggressive behaviours from childhood to adulthood

AO2 brain structures evidence

Used PET scans to study whether the brains of violent criminals/murderers were different to those of non murderers. The murderers showed much less activity in the prefrontal cortex.

AO2 link for brain structures

Studied 84 female participant inmates and found that testosterone levels linked to criminal violence

Studied people undergoing sex change operations
Women having testosterone injections became more aggressive and sexual
Men having testosterone suppressants were less aggressive and sexual.

Claims that xenophobia has been acknowledged in virtually every group of animals that display higher forms of social organisation.

Found that male warriors in traditional societies had more sexual partners and more children

In older societies men had to compete with each other for a femal mates and those who did well in battle where rewarded by access to female mates.