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9.6 Altruism and Aggression

4 min readdecember 27, 2022

Sumi Vora

Sumi Vora

Dalia Savy

Dalia Savy

Haseung Jun

Haseung Jun

Sumi Vora

Sumi Vora

Dalia Savy

Dalia Savy

Haseung Jun

Haseung Jun

Altruism 

is the unselfish concern for the welfare of others. We are more likely to feel and act altruistic toward a person if: 

  • 🥺They seem to need or deserve help 

  • They are in some way similar to us 

  • 👩They are a woman 

  • We have just observed someone else being helpful 

  • 🕒We are not in a hurry 

  • 🚜We are in a small town or rural area 

  • We are not preoccupied 

  • We are feeling guilty 

  • 😊We are in a good mood 

Due to the bystander effect, when people share responsibility, they are less likely to help ().

says that our social behavior is based on weighing the costs and benefits of our actions. However, the and the lead us to be altruistic even if it doesn’t benefit us.

  • The is our expectation that people will help us if we help them 🤝 If someone has helped us in the past, we are more likely to be altruistic toward them.

  • The says that we should help those needing our help even if the costs outweigh the benefits.

    • This especially holds true if they are a woman or a child, since our brains are programmed to feel more empathetic toward them. The is the reason that people who attend religious services tend to be more altruistic—they feel more connected to the society and thus more responsible for it 🤗 

Aggression 

is any act of delivering aversive actions towards unwilling victims.  There are two types of : and . has the purpose of satisfying a goal or benefit. You can think of it as a mother fighting her way through a crowd to buy her child the toy that's almost sold out. , on the other hand, is when someone feels anger or frustration. "Road rage" is a good example of this.

So why do we do we get aggressive? Well, Freud thought was a natural human instinct. Other theorists believed culture had a strong influence.

Biological Bases of Aggression 

    • Our can dictate how aggressive we are. In males, the directs aggressive behavior, which is one reason why men tend to be more aggressive.

  1. Outside Influences

    • If a head injury enables a neural system that facilitates , we would become more aggressive. This happened with Phineas Gage

    • Male hormones like also direct aggressive impulses.

    • Alcohol 🍷 can also cause us to act out aggressively, since it triggers increased stimulation in the and decreases .

Psychological and Social Influences on Aggression 

Aversive Events

Experiencing can cause us to act out aggressively. The states that feeling frustrated or feeling as if someone has wronged you creates anger, which triggers aggressive impulses.

Hot temperatures 🌡️, physical pain, personal insults, foul odors 🤢, cigarette smoke, crowding, etc. can provoke aggressive impulses. That’s why when you notice someone acting “on-edge,” you instinctively try not to frustrate or upset them so as not to trigger their

If our experience teaches us that is beneficial, we are more likely to be aggressive in the future. If parents give into temper tantrums, for example, we learn that we can use temper tantrums to get what we want 😎

Modeling

What we see also impacts how aggressive we are. If our parents model violence, we are more likely to be violent as well when we are upset. are culturally modeled guides for how to act in certain situations.

Video games 🎮 and violent TV shows 📺 are shown to make kids more violent if kids play them repeatedly, because these games teach us how to act when we encounter frustrating situations in real life.

Do video games lead to violence?

Yes yes yes!! Because of , , and (which you've learned in previous chapters), video games could really lead to an increase in violence in children.

While playing video games, a child or adult is on high alert as their game is hostile and they have to be hostile back. This, then, leads them to see the real world as hostile unconsciously.

This doesn't mean video games are bad! There are some positive effects too (if you're curious . . . faster reaction times, enhanced visual skills, increased sense of control).

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-YRE86nBMF7MR.jpg?alt=media&token=59981587-e4b7-4a7b-93e0-cc73042b086c

Image Courtesy of Jeel Christine de Egurrola.

🎥Watch: AP PsychologyBystanders, Groups, and Deindividuation

Key Terms to Review (23)

Aggression

: Aggression is any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm or destroy.

Altruism

: Altruism is the selfless concern for the well-being of others. It's when an individual performs an action not for personal gain, but to benefit someone else.

Amygdala

: The amygdala is two almond-shaped clusters located deep within the brain. It plays a crucial role in processing emotions and fear-learning.

Aversive Events

: Aversive events are unpleasant, undesirable experiences or stimuli that an individual seeks to avoid or escape from.

Biochemical Influences

: Biochemical influences refer to how various chemical substances such as hormones and neurotransmitters affect our behavior, mood, and overall mental health.

Biological Bases of Aggression

: This refers to the concept that biological factors such as genes, hormones, and parts of the brain contribute to aggressive behavior.

Bystander Effect

: The bystander effect is a social psychological phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present.

Diffusion of Responsibility

: Diffusion of responsibility refers to individuals feeling less responsible for taking action or making decisions when they are part of a group because they assume someone else will take on the responsibility.

Frontal Lobe Activity

: Frontal lobe activity refers to functions performed by the frontal lobes of our brains which include problem-solving tasks, memory management, language skills development & expression of personality traits.

Frustration-Aggression Principle

: The frustration-aggression principle suggests that frustration - the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal - creates anger which can generate aggression.

Genetics

: Genetics is the study of heredity and variations in organisms due to genes.

Hostile Aggression

: Hostile aggression is aggressive behavior driven by anger and performed as an end in itself.

Instrumental Aggression

: Instrumental aggression refers to harmful behavior enacted in order to achieve a specific goal.

Modeling

: Modeling is a type of learning where individuals ascertain how to act or perform by observing another individual.

Phineas Gage

: Phineas Gage was a railroad construction foreman who survived a severe brain injury in the mid-19th century. His case is often studied in psychology because of the dramatic personality changes he experienced after his accident, which provided early evidence for the role of the frontal lobes in personality and behavior.

Priming

: Priming is a technique whereby exposure to one stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention.

Psychological and Social Influences on Aggression

: These are factors that can impact a person's likelihood to behave aggressively. Psychological influences might include personality traits or mental health conditions, while social influences could be things like peer pressure or societal norms.

Reciprocity Norm

: The reciprocity norm is a social expectation that we should return help to those who have helped us.

Social Exchange Theory

: Social exchange theory suggests that our relationships and interactions with others are based on an analysis of costs (negative outcomes) and benefits (positive outcomes).

Social Responsibility Norm

: An expectation that people will help those dependent upon them or those who need assistance even if doing so may not offer any visible reward.

Social Scripts

: Social scripts are guidelines for how to behave in certain social situations. They're like a playbook that society gives us for different scenarios.

Testosterone

: Testosterone is a hormone that plays a key role in male sexual development and function. It's also involved in building muscle mass, bone density, and influencing behavior.

Y-Chromosome

: The Y-chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes in mammals, including humans, and is responsible for determining male biological sex.

9.6 Altruism and Aggression

4 min readdecember 27, 2022

Sumi Vora

Sumi Vora

Dalia Savy

Dalia Savy

Haseung Jun

Haseung Jun

Sumi Vora

Sumi Vora

Dalia Savy

Dalia Savy

Haseung Jun

Haseung Jun

Altruism 

is the unselfish concern for the welfare of others. We are more likely to feel and act altruistic toward a person if: 

  • 🥺They seem to need or deserve help 

  • They are in some way similar to us 

  • 👩They are a woman 

  • We have just observed someone else being helpful 

  • 🕒We are not in a hurry 

  • 🚜We are in a small town or rural area 

  • We are not preoccupied 

  • We are feeling guilty 

  • 😊We are in a good mood 

Due to the bystander effect, when people share responsibility, they are less likely to help ().

says that our social behavior is based on weighing the costs and benefits of our actions. However, the and the lead us to be altruistic even if it doesn’t benefit us.

  • The is our expectation that people will help us if we help them 🤝 If someone has helped us in the past, we are more likely to be altruistic toward them.

  • The says that we should help those needing our help even if the costs outweigh the benefits.

    • This especially holds true if they are a woman or a child, since our brains are programmed to feel more empathetic toward them. The is the reason that people who attend religious services tend to be more altruistic—they feel more connected to the society and thus more responsible for it 🤗 

Aggression 

is any act of delivering aversive actions towards unwilling victims.  There are two types of : and . has the purpose of satisfying a goal or benefit. You can think of it as a mother fighting her way through a crowd to buy her child the toy that's almost sold out. , on the other hand, is when someone feels anger or frustration. "Road rage" is a good example of this.

So why do we do we get aggressive? Well, Freud thought was a natural human instinct. Other theorists believed culture had a strong influence.

Biological Bases of Aggression 

    • Our can dictate how aggressive we are. In males, the directs aggressive behavior, which is one reason why men tend to be more aggressive.

  1. Outside Influences

    • If a head injury enables a neural system that facilitates , we would become more aggressive. This happened with Phineas Gage

    • Male hormones like also direct aggressive impulses.

    • Alcohol 🍷 can also cause us to act out aggressively, since it triggers increased stimulation in the and decreases .

Psychological and Social Influences on Aggression 

Aversive Events

Experiencing can cause us to act out aggressively. The states that feeling frustrated or feeling as if someone has wronged you creates anger, which triggers aggressive impulses.

Hot temperatures 🌡️, physical pain, personal insults, foul odors 🤢, cigarette smoke, crowding, etc. can provoke aggressive impulses. That’s why when you notice someone acting “on-edge,” you instinctively try not to frustrate or upset them so as not to trigger their

If our experience teaches us that is beneficial, we are more likely to be aggressive in the future. If parents give into temper tantrums, for example, we learn that we can use temper tantrums to get what we want 😎

Modeling

What we see also impacts how aggressive we are. If our parents model violence, we are more likely to be violent as well when we are upset. are culturally modeled guides for how to act in certain situations.

Video games 🎮 and violent TV shows 📺 are shown to make kids more violent if kids play them repeatedly, because these games teach us how to act when we encounter frustrating situations in real life.

Do video games lead to violence?

Yes yes yes!! Because of , , and (which you've learned in previous chapters), video games could really lead to an increase in violence in children.

While playing video games, a child or adult is on high alert as their game is hostile and they have to be hostile back. This, then, leads them to see the real world as hostile unconsciously.

This doesn't mean video games are bad! There are some positive effects too (if you're curious . . . faster reaction times, enhanced visual skills, increased sense of control).

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-YRE86nBMF7MR.jpg?alt=media&token=59981587-e4b7-4a7b-93e0-cc73042b086c

Image Courtesy of Jeel Christine de Egurrola.

🎥Watch: AP PsychologyBystanders, Groups, and Deindividuation

Key Terms to Review (23)

Aggression

: Aggression is any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm or destroy.

Altruism

: Altruism is the selfless concern for the well-being of others. It's when an individual performs an action not for personal gain, but to benefit someone else.

Amygdala

: The amygdala is two almond-shaped clusters located deep within the brain. It plays a crucial role in processing emotions and fear-learning.

Aversive Events

: Aversive events are unpleasant, undesirable experiences or stimuli that an individual seeks to avoid or escape from.

Biochemical Influences

: Biochemical influences refer to how various chemical substances such as hormones and neurotransmitters affect our behavior, mood, and overall mental health.

Biological Bases of Aggression

: This refers to the concept that biological factors such as genes, hormones, and parts of the brain contribute to aggressive behavior.

Bystander Effect

: The bystander effect is a social psychological phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present.

Diffusion of Responsibility

: Diffusion of responsibility refers to individuals feeling less responsible for taking action or making decisions when they are part of a group because they assume someone else will take on the responsibility.

Frontal Lobe Activity

: Frontal lobe activity refers to functions performed by the frontal lobes of our brains which include problem-solving tasks, memory management, language skills development & expression of personality traits.

Frustration-Aggression Principle

: The frustration-aggression principle suggests that frustration - the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal - creates anger which can generate aggression.

Genetics

: Genetics is the study of heredity and variations in organisms due to genes.

Hostile Aggression

: Hostile aggression is aggressive behavior driven by anger and performed as an end in itself.

Instrumental Aggression

: Instrumental aggression refers to harmful behavior enacted in order to achieve a specific goal.

Modeling

: Modeling is a type of learning where individuals ascertain how to act or perform by observing another individual.

Phineas Gage

: Phineas Gage was a railroad construction foreman who survived a severe brain injury in the mid-19th century. His case is often studied in psychology because of the dramatic personality changes he experienced after his accident, which provided early evidence for the role of the frontal lobes in personality and behavior.

Priming

: Priming is a technique whereby exposure to one stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention.

Psychological and Social Influences on Aggression

: These are factors that can impact a person's likelihood to behave aggressively. Psychological influences might include personality traits or mental health conditions, while social influences could be things like peer pressure or societal norms.

Reciprocity Norm

: The reciprocity norm is a social expectation that we should return help to those who have helped us.

Social Exchange Theory

: Social exchange theory suggests that our relationships and interactions with others are based on an analysis of costs (negative outcomes) and benefits (positive outcomes).

Social Responsibility Norm

: An expectation that people will help those dependent upon them or those who need assistance even if doing so may not offer any visible reward.

Social Scripts

: Social scripts are guidelines for how to behave in certain social situations. They're like a playbook that society gives us for different scenarios.

Testosterone

: Testosterone is a hormone that plays a key role in male sexual development and function. It's also involved in building muscle mass, bone density, and influencing behavior.

Y-Chromosome

: The Y-chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes in mammals, including humans, and is responsible for determining male biological sex.


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AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.


© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.

AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.