general psych 2 aggression attraction module 55 march 11, 2004 class #14
TRANSCRIPT
General Psych 2 Aggression Attraction
Module 55
March 11, 2004
Class #14
Aggression
Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone
Highly publicized examples…
Why Are People Aggressive?
Freud suggested we have a death instinct Evolutionary psychologists believe aggressive
tendencies ensures the survival of the species Strong evidence for hereditary influences on
aggression Biological influences on aggressive tendencies:
Both the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex influence aggression
Hormones play an important role in aggression Dabbs (1997)
Reported correlations between testosterone and aggressive behavior
Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis
Dolard (1939) Frustration creates anger which can lead to acts
of aggression Just as food deprivation leads to the hunger drive
Berkowitz (1983, 1989) Those made miserable often make others
miserable
Role of Learning and Culture in Aggression Aggressive behavior is more common in individualist
than in collectivist cultures Many learn aggressive responses by watching
others e.g., Bandura’s “Bobo doll” experiments
People become aggressive when rewarded for aggressiveness and less aggressive when punished for aggression
How do rewards influence aggressiveness?
Andrew Golden, at age 11 gunned down 4 students & 1 teacher at age 11…his grandfather is a gun collector who owns hundreds of firearms and is also a licensed gun dealer
• Rewards are reinforcers
• Social learning theory Social learning theory of aggressionof aggression
Glamorizing Violence
Plagens, et al. (1991) Typical American child sees 200,000 acts of
violence on TV by age 18 Children who watch a lot of violent TV are
more violent towards peers Experimental studies, in which violence is
controlled, also find effects of watching violence
Space BlasterSpace Blaster
Doomsday Version 2.5
In this video game, it appears you win by beheading the guy???
Violent Video Games
Several studies have shown significant results indicating that playing violent video games is associated with a history of property destruction and hitting other students… Anderson & Dill (2000)
College students randomly assigned to play a violent video game (Wulfenstein) later had more aggressive thoughts and feelings than those who played a nonviolent game (Tetrix)
Black & Bevan (1992)
Movie-goers filled out an aggression questionnaire as they entered, or left: a violent movie, or a nonviolent movie…
DV: aggression IV: type of movie
Procedures
Subjects were randomly picked as they went to view violent movie or romantic film
In both cases, they were asked to fill out pretest questionnaire on aggression
After viewing the movie, they were again asked to fill out another questionnaire on aggression (posttest)
Results and Implication
What do you think they found?
Attraction:Factors that influence liking and loving Similarity
Relationships with similarity are more balanced Depends on importance - values and interests are
more important Limits to Similarity:
Relationships work best when each partner has their own areas where they excel
Thus, we tend to like similarity in terms of values and interests, but dissimilarity in areas of expertise
Attraction:Factors that influence liking and loving Reciprocity
"I'll like you if you like me" Self-disclosure
the revelation of personal information about ourselves to other people
Implies trust, desire for intimacy When other is not ready to become more intimate, might
backfire Praise and favors
Praise and favors get others to like us, but depends on how those behaviors are interpreted
Works if seen as sincere, not manipulative - if the motivations are seen as positive, they tend to increase liking
And the #1 reason…at least this is what research suggests… Physical attractiveness
Most of us underestimate the effects of physical attractiveness, especially for ourselves
Attractiveness has strongest effect in the beginning
But matching levels of attractiveness is also important for long term - even for friends
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Synder, Tanke, and Berscheid (1977)
Maybe good looks are important? Anderson and Bem (1981)
Replicated the study showing the same effect for women's beliefs about men's attractiveness
Synder, Tanke, & Berscheid (1977) Male college students talked privately on the
phone with female college students Unknown to the woman, the men were shown
a picture of another woman (either very attractive or very unattractive)
Both the men and woman were not aware of the researcher’s deception
Synder, Tanke, & Berscheid (1977) After the conversation, the men rated the
woman’s personality… DV: Personality (warm…cold) IV: Attractiveness of person in the picture
Results?
Sex Differences in Date and Mate Preferences
Gender differences:Women’s Preference for Status Townsend & Levy (1990)
Women prefer a well-dressed unattractive man
to a good-looking man in a Burger King outfit Buss (1990)
Opposite for men judging women In most cultures women place more emphasis
on a potential mate’s income and status
Our obsession with attractiveness: Getting “the right look”… Why would someone want to undergo over
20 operations to try to obtain the “perfect” figure and face?
What would drive a woman to spend a fortune to look like a “Barbie”?
Cindy Jackson, the small town Ohio woman did just that…
Cindy: Before…
Cindy: After…
A total transformation?
1979 1990 1994 2003
Cindy as a child…
For Michael Jackson it probably didn’t quite work out as well…
Lunch with Michael Jackson: What do you think they talked about?
Of course, its not surprising what Howard Stern wants her to do…
Making ourselves physically attractive…
Research seems to indicate that attractive people receive many benefits, including: They are seen as more honest They are more likely to be hired for managerial
positions and elected to public office They receive shorter sentences for felonies
We do all these things…but is it really a waste of time??? Social Spotlight Effect
Researchers say we may overestimate the extent to which we’re in the public eye
According to research from Cornell University psychologist Thomas Gilovich, most people greatly overestimate the amount of attention that others pay to their appearance, causing themselves needless angst
Wear your Manilow T-shirt -- no one's looking Gilovich, Medvec, & Savitsky (1996, 2000)
The famous “un-cool T-shirt” experiments These researchers got students to wear a “Barry
Manilow” t-shirt into their classes
The Social Spotlight Effect The Social Spotlight Effect
The students who wore the t-shirt predicted that nearly half of the others would know who was on the shirt
The students who wore the t-shirt predicted that nearly half of the others would know who was on the shirt
50% 50%
40%40%
30%30%
20%20%
10%10%
0% 0% PredictedPredicted ActualActual ControlControl
The Social Spotlight EffectThe Social Spotlight Effect
In reality, less than a quarter of the other subjects recalled who was on the shirt
In reality, less than a quarter of the other subjects recalled who was on the shirt
50% 50%
40%40%
30%30%
20%20%
10%10%
0% 0% PredictedPredicted ActualActual ControlControl
Final Conclusions…
Lets face it, beauty is valued… Example: Wizard of Oz characters
But at what cost? Where do we draw the line? What does Cindy’s and Michael’s behavior tell
us?
Analyzing Love
Passionate Love Love that is intense, arousing, and marked by
strong physical attraction and deep emotional attachment.
Strong sexual feelings Thoughts of other intrudes on one’s awareness
frequently
Analyzing Love
Companionate Love Love that is less arousing but psychologically
more intimate Marked by mutual concern for welfare of other
Analyzing Love
Equity theory People are most satisfied with a relationship when the ratio between
rewards and costs is similar for both partners Inequitable relationships less likely to endure
Social exchange theory We maximize rewards and minimize costs Although both people feel bad about an inequitable relationship, the
over-benefited person generally feels more satisfied
Picture from slide #10 taken from following website: www.public.asu.edu/~jmacker/350/350_chap10_day19.ppt
Also, several pictures of Cindy Jackson taken from: http://www.cindyjackson.com/photo_album.html