Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the relationship between mental states and social situations, studying the social conditions under which thoughts, feelings, and behaviors occur, and how these variables influence social interactions.
Aggression is a behavior aimed at opposing or attacking something or someone. Though often done with the intent to cause harm, it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reactively or without provocation. In humans, aggression can be caused by various triggers. For example, built-up frustration due to blocked goals or perceived disrespect. Human aggression can be classified into direct and indirect aggression; whilst the former is characterized by physical or verbal behavior intended to cause harm to someone, the latter is characterized by behavior intended to harm the social relations of an individual or group.
Albert Bandura was a Canadian-American psychologist. He was a professor of social science in psychology at Stanford University.
Psychological abuse, often called emotional abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder amongst other psychological problems.
The Bobo doll experiment is the collective name for a series of experiments performed by psychologist Albert Bandura to test his social learning theory. Between 1961 and 1963, he studied children's behaviour after watching an adult model act aggressively towards a Bobo doll. The most notable variation of the experiment measured the children's behavior after seeing the adult model rewarded, punished, or experience no consequence for physically abusing the Bobo doll.
Passive-aggressive behavior is characterized by a pattern of passive hostility and an avoidance of direct communication. Inaction where some action is socially customary is a typical passive-aggressive strategy. Such behavior is sometimes protested by associates, evoking exasperation or confusion. People who are recipients of passive-aggressive behavior may experience anxiety due to the discordance between what they perceive and what the perpetrator is saying.
Dog aggression expressed by dogs is considered to be normal behaviour and various types of aggression are influenced by a dog's environment and genetic predisposition. Dogs commonly display possessive aggression when defending resources or themselves.
Intermittent explosive disorder is a behavioral disorder characterized by explosive outbursts of anger and/or violence, often to the point of rage, that are disproportionate to the situation at hand. Impulsive aggression is not premeditated, and is defined by a disproportionate reaction to any provocation, real or perceived. Some individuals have reported affective changes prior to an outburst, such as tension, mood changes, energy changes, etc.
School violence includes violence between school students as well as attacks by students on school staff and attacks by school staff on students. It encompasses physical violence, including student-on-student fighting, corporal punishment; psychological violence such as verbal abuse, and sexual violence, including rape and sexual harassment. It includes many forms of bullying and carrying weapons to school. The one or more perpetrators typically have more physical, social, and/or psychological power than the victim. It is a widely accepted serious societal problem in recent decades in many countries, especially where weapons such as guns or knives are involved.
Sex differences in crime are differences between men and women as the perpetrators or victims of crime. Such studies may belong to fields such as criminology, sociobiology, or feminist studies. Despite the difficulty of interpreting them, crime statistics may provide a way to investigate such a relationship from a gender differences perspective. An observable difference in crime rates between men and women might be due to social and cultural factors, crimes going unreported, or to biological factors for example, testosterone or sociobiological theories). The nature or motive of the crime itself may also require consideration as a factor.
Relational aggression, alternative aggression, or relational bullying is a type of aggression in which harm is caused by damaging someone's relationships or social status.
The study of violence in mass media analyzes the degree of correlation between themes of violence in media sources with real-world aggression and violence over time. Many social scientists support the correlation, however, some scholars argue that media research has methodological problems and that findings are exaggerated. Other scholars have suggested that the correlation exists, but can be unconventional to the current public belief.
Personality and Individual Differences is a peer-reviewed academic journal published 16 times per year by Elsevier. It was established in 1980 by Pergamon Press and is the official journal of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences. The editors-in-chief are Peter K. Jonason, Julie Aitken Schermer, Aljoscha Neubauer, Michelle Yik and Colin Cooper. Previous editors include Donald H. Saklofske, Philip A. Vernon, Gísli Guðjónsson and Sybil B. G. Eysenck. The founding editor was Hans Jürgen Eysenck. The journal covers research about the structure of personality and other forms of individual differences, the processes which cause these individual differences to emerge, and their practical applications.
The field of psychology has been greatly influenced by the study of genetics. Decades of research have demonstrated that both genetic and environmental factors play a role in a variety of behaviors in humans and animals. The genetic basis of aggression, however, remains poorly understood. Aggression is a multi-dimensional concept, but it can be generally defined as behavior that inflicts pain or harm on another.
The Journal of Social Psychology is a bimonthly academic journal covering social psychology published by Routledge, who acquired it from Heldref Publications in 2009. The journal was established in 1929 by John Dewey and Carl Murchison. It covers all areas of basic and applied social psychology. The journal was subtitled Political, Racial and Differential Psychology until changing its name in 1949. The Journal incorporated with Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs between 1925 - 2006
Workplace aggression is a specific type of aggression which occurs in the workplace. Workplace aggression is any type of hostile behavior that occurs in the workplace. It can range from verbal insults and threats to physical violence, and it can occur between coworkers, supervisors, and subordinates. Common examples of workplace aggression include gossiping, bullying, intimidation, sabotage, sexual harassment, and physical violence. These behaviors can have serious consequences, including reduced productivity, increased stress, and decreased morale.
A serenic, or antiaggressive agent, is a type of drug which reduces the capacity for irritability and aggression.
Since their inception in the 1970s, video games have often been criticized by some for violent content. Politicians, parents, and other activists have claimed that violence in video games can be tied to violent behavior, particularly in children, and have sought ways to regulate the sale of video games. Studies have shown no connection between video games and violent behavior. The American Psychological Association states that while there is a well-established link between violent video games and aggressive behaviors, attributing acts of violence to violent video gaming "is not scientifically sound."
Hostile attribution bias, or hostile attribution of intent, is the tendency to interpret others' behaviors as having hostile intent, even when the behavior is ambiguous or benign. For example, a person with high levels of hostile attribution bias might see two people laughing and immediately interpret this behavior as two people laughing about them, even though the behavior was ambiguous and may have been benign.
Dan Olweus was a Swedish-Norwegian psychologist. He was a research professor of psychology at the University of Bergen, Norway. Olweus has been widely recognized as a pioneer of research on bullying.
