Zimbardo 1973

Deindividuation
Stanford university, simulated prison experiment
24 emotionally stable men, One group prison guards, One group
prisoners.
Guards and prisoners deindividuated to become anonymous
within their group.
Guards had full control over prisoners, who were confined to their
cells except for toilet, work etc.
Found guards created a brutal atmosphere, enjoying the power
Verbal and physical abuse, prisoners felt helpless
Deindividuation leads to a lower sense of personal identity and
increases anti-social behaviour
High ecological validity, realistic behaviour, despite all knowing it
was simulated
Very unethical, large psychological and some physical harm,
lacking informed consent.
Low population, middle class, young, male students.
Supported by Zimbardo 1970

Zimbardo 1970

Female participants dress in either white

lab coat with hoods for anonymity.
Control group wore plain clothes and
had prominent name tags.
Participants give shocks to participants
(confederate)
Anonymous women gave more shocks.
Anonymity contributes to aggression
levels.

Gender bias
Low ecological validity, laboratory setting,
social desirability
Lack of informed consent

Malmuth & Check

Gergen

Found nearly 1/3 US male university

students would rape if there was no
chance of getting caught.
Supports
the
notion
for
deindividuation
enhancing
aggressive behaviour.

Questionnaire, social desirability bias

6 men and 6 women, strangers

led into a pitch black room one at a time
Control group placed in normally lit room
Both told there was nothing the experimenter
wanted them to do.
In pitch black room:0-15m explored the room, chatting idly
15-45m talk turned to serious matters
45-60 participants began getting physical, half
hugged each other, some became intimate. 80%
report feeling sexually aroused.
Shows how deindividuation doesnt necessarily
produce aggressive behaviour.
Aggression the result of emerging social norms, not
deindividuation

Lab, low ecological validity.

Bandura

1960

Low internal validity, social

desirability biasexperimenter wants children
to hit the doll.

Cant generalize to adults,

only child behaviour.

Ethical concerns, informed

parental consent?

Inclusion of other toys, simply

hitting doll didnt count.

Longevity supported by Hicks40%, 8 months later.

20 minute observation, double blind procedure

36 boys and girls
One control, one aggressive model, one non-aggressive
model.
Children taken into room to watch an adult model with
Bobo doll.
After, children mildly frustrated by not being allowed to
play with toys.
Found children in aggression group showed similar levels
of physical and verbal aggression as model
Control and non-aggressive group, 70% had zero
aggressive rating.
Both boys and girls more affected by a male model than
female.
Supports social learning theory
Physical aggression may be seen as a more male-appropriate
behaviour Early socialization?

Children more likely to learn aggression from a male model

Bandura

1963

Similar as above
Learning can also
occur through film,
implications for the
effect of media on
children

10 minute observation
Children watch model video of aggression to Bobo doll,
physical and verbal.
3 scenarios; Reward, Punishment, no consequence.
Children then frustrated
All children offered a reward after a while if behaviour
could be mimicked.
Before a reward was offered, children in model-punished
group produced less imitative behaviour than reward
and control group.
No significant difference between reward and no
consequence group.
After reward, all children performed aggressive
behaviour.
Reinforcement isnt necessary for learning, but
expectancy of reinforcement important for performance
of behaviour.
Supports SLT
Also
supports
Bandura 1960rate in homicides in
Found
increased

Philips

US following a major boxing match

Suggests that adults copy aggression,
and specifically aggression in the
media.
Supports Bandura 1963

Cant at all find cause and effect, many

extraneous variables.
Cant be sure whether criminals actually watched

the match.
Population validity, US only, other cultures condone

aggressive sports.

Social Learning
Theory

Bandura 1960
Bandura 1963
Philips
Charlton et al

Suggests we learn through observation of role models.

Behavioural learning
Classical and operant conditioning.
Behaviour that is reinforced will be repeated
Vicarious reinforcement, from watching someone else be
punished or rewarded.
4 important processes:
Attention - realizing what behaviour entails
Retention Ability to recall the behaviour from long-term
memory.
Production Individual must be able to produce the behaviour,
possessing the capabilities of the model.
Motivation Individual must expect reinforcement before
behaviour is reproduced.
Individuals more likely to copy behaviour if; model is similar to
observer, is admired by individual, the task is neither too easy nor
difficult, individual has low-self esteem.

 Defined as the loss of sense of individual identity, loosening of

normal inhibitions and behaviour lower of internal standards.

Deindividuation

Zimbardo 1970
Zimbardo 1973
Gergen
Malmuth and Check

An individual is transformed when part of a crowd

Through combination of anonymity, suggestibility and contagion,
a collective mindset takes possession of the individual.

LeBon believes anonymity is the most important factor.

Zimbardo argued there was more to this than anonymity,

Importation
model

Mills et al
Kane and Janus
Irwin and Cressey
DeLisi et al

Deprivation
Model

Bloomberg and
Lucken
Cheeseman

Popcorn
model

Irwin and Cressey

Prisoners bring aggressive characteristics into the

prison with them.

Cheeseman - Prisoners have a certain way of

behaving, and just apply that behaviour to a new

setting.
Many pre-existing factors may account for levels of
aggression displayed in prisons eg. Alcoholism
Many prisoners may come from subcultures within
society that see violence as a value, is respected
and therefore reinforced, thus being imported into
the prisons.
Model doesnt give suggestions on how to best
manage aggression in prisons
Sykes, study on prisoners during incarceration.
Believed that prison subcultures originate from within the
prison, not outside of it.
5 deprivations;
Liberty Not trusted to live in the free world, rejected by
the rest of society, have to ask to do anything eg. Eat
Autonomy No power, leads to feelings of helplessness,
frustration then anger. Told what to do with no reason.
Goods & services Dont have the possessions from the
free world, structured to make people live practically in
poverty. Sense of failure.
Heterosexual relationships straight me find female
companionship part of self-identity, reduces mens self
worth, homosexual behaviour leads to anxiety.
Security Prisoners fear for their safety from other
prisoners, can feel threatened, refer to aggression to
force away offenders.
Cant explain why prison riots occur without any stimuli

First individual to act aggressively is like the

first piece of popcorn in a pan.
States that if the prison environment is sorted
out, then there will be no heat to pop the
popcorn.
Prisoners who dont bring values of aggression
into prisons with them can become
aggressive if enough heat is applied.
Can explain why prison riots suddenly explode
with seemingly no environmental stimuli.

Megargee
Johnston
McCorkle

including reduced responsibility, increased arousal, sensory

overload and altered consciousness due to drugs or alcohol.
People do not often act aggressively due to social norms that
inhibit this, and they can be easily identified as the perpetrator.
Aggression occurs when deindividuated because people feel
anonymous and cant be held responsible in a faceless crowd.
2 types of self awareness;
Public concern about the impression given to others, which is
reduced by the anonymity of a crowd.
Private Concern for their own thoughts and feelings, reduced by
becoming completely involved in something and forgetting
yourself.

Management
model

McCorkle
Johnston

Mills et al

Kane and
Janus
Irwin and
Cressey

Aggression in prison occurs as a result

of failed management, high staff
turnover, and lack of discipline
among staff.
McCorkle et al

Canadian prison
202 new inmates
Used alcohol dependence scale
Those who had higher levels of alcohol
dependence
were
linked
with
more
aggression shown in prisons.
Attitude imported into the prison.
Also supports deprivation hypothesis, where
being deprived of alcohol may make them
feel withdrawal symptoms, be more agitated
and thus more aggressive.

Inmates who had suffered greater

periods of unemployment lower
education level and more serious
criminal record were more likely to be
aggressive in prison.
Brought these issues into the prison
with them
Existing factors will affect the level of
aggression in prison

Found 3 categories of subcultures in prisons;

Criminal or Thief Follow norms associated with this
culture, with values of not betraying each other and
being trustworthy among other criminals important.
Primary reference group=thieves
Convict Raised in the prison system, and look for
positions of power/influence in the system. Most
aggressive group, are influenced by deprivation prior to
incarceration, and bring this subculture in with them.
Also found an conventional/ straight culture, who were
one-time offenders and werent part of a criminal
subculture beforehand, and reject other prisoners,
identifying with officers and staff.
Shows how aggressive behaviour is imported by

certain types of inmates.

DeLisi et al

Blomberg &
Lucken

Prison records of 831 US male inmates

Assessed for violent records of those
previously involved in street and prison gangs.
Found a small but significant relationship
between gang membership and prison
aggression.
Suggests sub-cultural values are imported into
prisons by gang members
Extraneous variables possible such as
demographic and race.
(Research found that young, non-white
prisoners most likely to be aggressive)

Found prisoners had to gain permission to

eat, sleep, shower and interact
Lack of interaction restricts maintenance
of relationships with family and friends
Supports deprivation theory
Deprivation of liberty influences prison
aggression.

Prison overcrowding to increased aggression

Increased competition for resources, so
violent nature is adopted either individually or
in groups.
Gain extreme in-group/out-group beliefs.
Suggests situational factors are at play

Johnston

Found aggression in prisons was negatively

correlated with amount of living space for
each prisoner.
Possibly
because
when
prisons
are
overcrowded, Management strategies occur
which attempt to compensate.
Distinction between social density space
available when prisoners interact, and spatial
density space each prisoner has in their cell.

Megargee

McCorkle

Role of the
Amygdala

Research has been carried out into its stimulation and

destruction and size.

Research had indicated that the hypothalamus was important,

and specifically the Amygdala in aggression.

Earliest links established by Kluver and Bucy Rhesus monkeys.

It has been recognized that behavioural changes can occur

Kluver-Bucy
Narabayashi
Mark and Ervin
Muller et al

Serotonin &
Dopamine

Mann et al
Couppis et al
Badawy
Ferrari et al

Testosterone

Wagner et al
Pillay
Kimura
Harrison et al
Kalat

Investigated relative strength of deprivation

and management models.
37 US state prisons
Individual and collective violence
Found deprivation less useful in explaining
rates of violence.
There was a stronger link between
management style and violence.

when the Amygdala is destroyed, creating more placid

behaviour.
Stimulating the Amygdala has been linked with an increase of
behaviour of fear and rage, and thus increased aggression.
The size of the amygdala has also been implicated in the levels of
aggression in an individual, where it is believed that a smaller
than average sized Amygdala will result in higher levels of
aggression.
Exact role the Amygdala plays is unclear however, to technically
only cause and effect at this time.
Its been suggested that certain brain areas are wired to to inhibit
of enhance certain behaviour, amygdala=increased aggression
while prefrontal cortex=inhibitor of aggression.

Neurotransmitters=chemicals that allow impulses to be

transmitted from one brain area to another.
Serotonin Believed to reduce aggression by inhibiting
response to emotional stimuli
Low levels in the pre-frontal cortex therefore are linked
with higher chances of impulsive, aggressive behaviour.
Support for the theory has come from the major
metabolite that tends to be low in the cerebrospinal fluid
people with impulsive-aggressive behaviour.
Dopamine High levels are believed to cause higher
aggression levels in people.
Link is less established than Serotonin.
Support has come from the use of amphetamine use,
which increases dopamine levels and has created
aggressive behaviour, and also dopamine antagonists
which reduce levels, and have resulted in reduced
aggression, especially in schizophrenic patients.

Male

sex hormone Androgen, consistently

implicated in increased aggression, but link is not
clear.
Testosterone levels peak around the age of
puberty, supported by increased aggression in
boys around this time.
Produced by the Leydig cells in the male testes
and the adrenal cortex.
Follows a natural circadian rhythm of hormone
release.
Males also have higher levels of testosterone than
females.

 1930s
Removed parts of the temporal lobes of Rhesus

monkeys (destroying Amygdala)

Found behavioural changes of loss of fear and a

taming effect.

Kluver-Bucy

First experiment to realize the role of the temporal

lobes (+amygdala)
Very low animal ethics, destroying part of an

animals brain.
Cause and effect, another part of the brain near

the temporal lobe that was destroyed may have

been the cause of change.
Cant extrapolate findings to human population,
as although they are our descendants, monkeys
do have a different anatomy to humans.

Reported 43/51 patients undergone operations to

Narabayashi

Mark and Ervin

Mann et al

destroy amygdala showed more normal behaviour

after.
Reduced aggression
Supports Kluver Bucy effect
Supported by similar research that found very
similar findings of 48/58 people having showed
improvement in aggressive behaviour.
Improves the ecological and generalizability of
Kluver-Bucys research.
Non-generalisable to other populations of people
with normal behaviour, it may not only be the
amygdala thats is causing the behaviour.

Case study of a woman

Underwent electrical stimulation of the amygdala
Showed firstly facial grimacing, then became very angry
and ultimately flung herself at the wall, beating it with her
fists.
Shows how amygdala does have some control over the
level of aggression.
Supported by cases of people with temporal lobe
epilepsy, who become increasingly aggressive towards
people when they are having a fit, even towards
inanimate objects.
Case study, cant be generalized to a male population
as she is female, and a general other female population
as she must have had an abnormality in the first place.
Questionable ethics here, whether physical harming the
patient can be justified within the findings.

Administered the drug Dexfenfluramine

35 healthy adults
Drug is known to deplete serotonin in the brain.
Used a questionnaire to assess aggression levels
Found among males, but not females, aggression
increased.
There may be gender differences occurring in the
effects that serotonin has on the body
Theory doesnt account for these differences.
Social desirability bias very possible through
questionnaires as the people wouldnt have
wanted to appear dislikeable and aggressive.
Reduced reliability of results.

 Claims the influence of serotonin on aggressive

Badawy

behaviour may be important in explaining the wellestablished link between alcohol and aggression.
Found that alcohol consumption caused a major
disturbance in the brains metabolism of serotonin.
Acute alcohol intake depleted levels of serotonin
in normal individuals.
In susceptible individuals, this alcohol intake may
induce very aggressive behaviour.
Not simply depletion of serotonin that can lead to
aggression, as depletion needs a cause in the first
place.

Ferrari et al

Rats
Allowed to fight for 10 days
On 11th day, rat not allowed to fight and researchers
measured levels of serotonin and dopamine in its brain.
Found increased serotonin levels and decreased
dopamine levels, despite not actually having fought.
Experience can physically change the biochemistry of
the brain.
Supports the roles of serotonin and dopamine in
aggression.
Shows that aggression can technically be learnt in an
individual, which is not accounted for initially in the
biological model, for aggression.
Animal research cant be generalized to humans,
especially rats, as their anatomy is far smaller than ours
and may function in a different way.

Couppis et al

Suggested a different explanation of the relationship

between dopamine and aggression
Well established that dopamine is produced by
rewarding stimuli such as food, sex and recreational
drugs.
Found that dopamine can also play a reinforcing role in
aggression.
Suggests that some individuals actively seek out
aggressive encounters because of the rewarding
sensations created by the secretion of dopamine in
reaction to these encounters.
Again, highlights a link between behavioural learning
theory where aggression had been learned due to
reinforcing factors through the pleasant feelings from the
secretion of dopamine during aggressive arousal.
Means that it less less reductionist than originally thought.

Wagner et al

Castrated male mice

Found that overall levels of aggression reduced
Then gave them testosterone injection
Found that aggression then increased
Shows that there is a direct relationship between
testosterone and aggression.
Less testosterone production = less aggression
Animal ethics, whether physically mutilating an animal is
seen as justified in the implications of the findings, not so
much, could have been done another way eg.
Antiandrogen?
Difficult to generalize and extrapolate findings to humans,
anatomies are very different, for example in size and the
amount of testosterone secreted perhaps.

 Noted

Pillay

testosterone associated with varying

athletic qualities.
94 athletes
Samples of saliva taken to find the levels of
testosterone in blood
5 different sports measured, football, wrestling,
basketball, softball and swimming.
Results showed that males and females in the most
aggressive sports (wrestling) had the highest levels
of testosterone.
Cause and effect cant be found, other variables
may have been in affect for example what other
drugs/steroids were being taken at the time?
Individual differences may be in play here eg.
Height, weight etc.

Adds to Pillays findings

Women with higher testosterone levels tend to

have increased performance on spatial ability.

Kimura

Effects of testosterone are not always negative

then.
Females have a generally lower testosterone level

than men anyway, gender bias results as other

hormones seen more in women may be added
factors. Findings then cant be generalized to a
male population.

Harrisson et al

Issues with individual differences.

Gave testosterone to 56 men, aged 20-50
Given frustration inducing video game
Found that aggressive responses were significantly
increased, but effects were not the same in all
samples.
Changes were largely psychological, and little
effect of physical behaviour was seen.
Individual differences play a part in the effects of
testosterone on people
Possibly caused by the differing ages, older men
for example may become less affected or
intolerant to high levels of testosterone as in high
doses it can damage the immune system.

Evolutionary
theory

Reproductive challenges faced by our ancestors can

help explain aggressive behaviour seen in people.
Aggression occurs in order to increase our survival
chances and enhance reproductive potential.
Aggression is then seen as having been produced
through natural selection.
A man can never be certain of paternity of a child unless
he prevents his partner having relations with other men.
Explains why jealousy is often cited as the reason for
domestic violence, and in many countries it is
acceptable to murder an adulterous wife or her lover, for
example in the Nuer people of East Africa.

Jealousy &
infidelity

Jealousy Occurs through fear of losing affection or status.

A reaction related to fear and rage, to protect, maintain and
prolong romantic associations.

Men evolved different strategies to deter their partners from

Harris
Buss et al 1992
Buss et al 1999
Daly and Wilson
Miller
Griskevicius et al
Bettencourt et al
Wilson and Daly

Harris

Buss et al 1992

Daly and
Wilson

committing adultery, from vigilance to violence. These are results

of male jealousy.
Man runs the risk of cuckoldry if female infidelity occurs, jealousy
may therefore have evolved to prevent infidelity
Buss said that men and women react differently to infidelity.
Men are more stressed by sexual infidelity due to unsure paternity,
while women tend to fear emotional infidelity more as they risk
losing their security and resources in the man.

Males have then evolved a tendency for retention techniques, including

guarding her and negative inducements.

Violence most often occurs when men cant provide positive benefits for the
female, and so she is less willing to stay, leading to violent methods and
ultimately is an explanation for Uxorcide.

Females, generally viewed as less aggressive, tend to be more verbally

aggressive and guard against infidelity by playing down any rivals verbally
by abusing their traits compared with their own .

Meta-analysis of 32 studies
Sex differences in emotional response to infidelity
Men were more distressed by sexual infidelity
Women more distressed by sexual infidelity
Supports evolutionary theory of aggression.
Only in imagined scenarios, highly lacks ecological
validity.
In real life, he found both sexes were more threatened by
emotional, because emotional could lead to sexual
infidelity.
Results from imagined scenarios may have been due to
sexual arousal from males, rather than feeling
threatened.
Dont even know exactly what the person was thinking,
whether they were imagining the scenario or not.

Measured stress levels of university students.

Shown pictures of sexual infidelity and emotional infidelity
Males had higher stress levels from viewing the sexual
infidelity (49% : 19%) while females by viewing the
emotional. ((81% : 51%)
Different environmental cues trigger aggression in males
and females
Supports evolutionary theory.
Forced choice methodology doesnt allow for level of
agreement, so answers may not be representative of
what they were actually feeling.
The percentage results showed that in fact more men
were distressed by emotional infidelity than sexual, which
contradicts the evolutionary theory.
Lab method, social desirability bias.

Looked at 214 cases of murder

Found underlying factor 58/214 was sexual jealousy
Involved 2 men contesting a female partner.
Attempts to constrain female sexuality by threat or
use of aggression, appears cross-culturally
universal.
Suggests that aggression used for this purpose is
adaptive, giving men greater confidence of
paternity, and to ward off other suitors.
Ethical to use peoples data, confidentiality
breach?
What were the other factors? Not even half were
due to sexual jealousy.

44 battered wives, womens hostel in Canada

Found that 55% cited jealousy as the reason
for their husbands behaviour.
Beatings often initiated through suspicion or
fear of adultery, not so much actually
occurrence.
Supports theory
In Western cultures, morbid jealousy is
deemed in need of medical treatment in a
person, however in some cultures it is seen as
quite normal to constrict your wifes
movements eg. Greece, worst form of
disgrace occurs if wife commits adultery.

Miller

Meta analysis
127 lab studies.
Found that women saw aggressors as being in

greater danger as a result of displaying.

Bettencourt

Griskevicius et
al

Possibly inciting retaliatory aggression from an

opponent.
Proves how women are much less likely to act

physically aggressively towards another person,

supporting evolutionary theory
Lacks ecological validity due to laboratory setting
and possible questionnaire use, cant be
generalized to real life settings.

Survey of 153 college students

Also asked how they would respond to a situation where
a person of the same sex spills a drink on them but
doesnt apologise.
Found males were 4X more likely to use direct physical
aggression than women.
Majority of men said they would likely respond with
physical aggression, while women would most likely walk
away.
Supports Bettencourt for female response.
Supports evolutionary theory
College students are not representative of a general
population, tend to be younger with increased
testosterone in males, and cant generalize findings to
other ages/populations.
Cultural bias as only conducted in the US, eg. Kung San
tribe.

Study of homicides in Detroit, USA

Found 43% male victims and

Wilson and
Daly

41% male
perpetrators were unemployed, despite only11% of
adult men in the area being unemployed that
year.
Also, 69% victims and 73% perpetrators were
unmarried.
Supports the notion that lack of resources and
inability to attract long term mates could lead to
increased social and male-male competition.
Cultural bias, only conducted in US, certain
minorities possibly effect results and other factors
like level of education.