- Observed in most vertebrates, related to mating
- Men are more physically aggressive than women
- The large sex differences indicate that sex hormones play a role

Intermale aggression

- Classical psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud considers aggressive impulses to be innate and derived from what he considered a death instinct
- Many non-Freudian psychoanalysts and most nonpsychoanalytically oriented psychologists view aggression as socially learned or as a reaction to frustration

Aggression in Psychoanalysis 

- Hostile aggression
- Instrumental aggression
- Affective aggression

Types of Aggression

Bullying refers to the repeated negative behavior or treatment of an individual. This can include inflicting harm, insulting, injuring, and humiliating another individual. Bullying can be physical, verbal, and psychological.

Bullying

According to the American Psychological Association, aggression is a behavior aimed at harming others physically or psychologically. While anger is oriented at overcoming a target, aggression often entails harm or destruction whereas anger may not. 

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- Aggression
- Androgens seem to increase aggression
- Aggression has several neurochemical correlates
- A topic of controversy

Neural circuitry of violence and aggression

- Group Processes
- Attraction and Relationships
- Prosocial Behavior
- Aggression
- Discrimination
- Social Influence
- Social Network

Interpersonal Phenomena

- Self-categorization theory
- Social Motives
- Social Identity Theory
- Honneth's theory of social recognition
- Social proof 
- Autism as "mind-blindness"
- Social presence theory 
- Terror management theory
- Rule of 150
- Attribution theory
- Emotion
- Social Influence
- Situationism
- Social roles and Social Role Theory
- Social norms
- Prejudice and Discrimination
- Attitudes and Persuasion
- Aggression
- Prosocial behavior

Theories and Focuses of Social psychology

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). APA Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association. https://dictionary.apa.org/aggression. 

APA Dictionary Definition of Aggression

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

Androgens are hormones that contribute to growth and reproduction in both men and women
- Androgen and aggression in animals
- Androgen and aggression in humans
- Some complicated variables in the relationship between androgens and aggression

Androgens seem to increase aggression

Aggressive behavior is modulated by neurotransmitter systems.
- Negative correlation between serotonin and aggression
- GABA and aggression
- Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)

Aggression has several neurochemical correlates

- A controversy: some intense violence are derived from temporal lobe disorders (emotional dyscontrol syndrome)
- psychopath
- Biological studies of aggression are controversial

A topic of controversy

Aggression

The ways a person’s “attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and behavior” are affected by real or imagined pressure from others. It can be broken down into three main applications: conformity, compliance, and obedience.

Social Influence

Any act or behaviors intended to benefit others

Prosocial Behavior

Discrimination refers to the behavior(s) that are caused as a result of prejudice (attitudes of an individual) and stereotypes (beliefs of an individual). 

Discrimination in Social Psychology

Social networks are social structures consisting of interconnected patterns of relationships among different individuals.

Social Network 

Robert Sternberg proposed a triangle of three components of love that define multiple types of love. The three basic components are intimacy, passion, and commitment. Different combinations of those components result in seven types of love: Romantic love, Consummate love, Companionate love, Liking, Infatuation, Fatuous love, and Empty love.

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

It is an ordinary and normal experience to reduce experience from "I" and "me" to "us" and "we". The self then becomes defined in terms of other persons, instead of a singular, experiencing self. Sometimes the self identifies almost (if not) entirely with a class against another and is subjectively experienced through a social collective.

Self-categorization theory (Turner, Hoggs, Oakes, Reicher, and Wetherell 1987)

- 1) Love: recognition through relationships of strong emotional attachment from a small number of people (lovers, family, friends)

- 2) Rights: recognition from the respect that political, social and civil rights (abilities) provide through their enabling of an individual

- 3) Solidarity: recognition from the social defined worth of an individuals characteristics 

Axel Honneth's Theory of Recognition (a threefold conceptualization of intersubjective recognition)

- “the ability of learners to project their personal characteristics into the community of inquiry, thereby presenting themselves as ‘real people’” (Garrison, Cleveland-Innes, & Vaughan, 2001). 
Social Presence is evident through three indicators: affect, open communication and group cohesion. 
- "the degree of salience of the other person in the interaction and the consequent salience of the interpersonal relationships.” (Williams, Short, Christie, 1976)
- “the degree to which a person is perceived as a ‘real person’ in
mediated communication" (Gunawardena, 1995)
- "definitions of social presence tend to lie on a continuum where a focus on interpersonal emotional connection between communicators is on one end and a focus on if someone is perceived as being ‘present’, ‘there’ or ‘real’ at the other end" (Lowenthal, 2011)

Social Presence 

To cope with the awareness of mortality that continually exists in human cognition, and more so when threatened, one sustains faith in worldviews and self-esteem to manage the fear and anxiety. Humans' fundamental systems are designed for survival with a flight or fight arousal activation and cognitive awareness that potential danger is omnipresent, unpredictable, and unescapable.  Terror management theory (TMT) posits that ancient civilizations gravitated toward symbolism and meaning, order, documentation, and cultural growth to manage this constant terror. Early in childhood, one is taught the specific social behaviors that illicit good feelings and security, and other unwanted behaviors make the world seem scary and uncertain. Psychological security becomes based on the immortality of familial, cultural, and religious groups. Moreover, the fear of mortality drives in-group/out-group biases and self-serving behavior.

Terror Management Theory

Humans have evolved to have up to 150 stable, meaningful relationships at a time (the growth of the neocortex is likely responsible). 150 is also the approximately optimal size for a human community. Humans can remember important information of up to 150 group members (such as which are likely cheaters and which are most likely to return a favor). Early tribes often splintered into different sects shortly after suprassing 150 members.

Rule of 150

It describes how our most important associations with religious, political, national, and occupational groups provide us with a sense of belonging, worth and shapes our thinking of people in/outside of these groups. Developed by Henri Tajfel, a polish jew who ended up in a Nazi prisoner of war camp during WWII. 

Social Identity Theory

In addition to physical needs for survival, humans also have social motives that shape our thinking, relationships, and emotions. When our motives are fulfilled we will tend to feel good, and when they are not, we will tend to feel stressed or unhappy. Some major social motives are:
- belonging
- predicting others' behavior accurately
- control
- self-enhancement (a need to matter)
- trust

Social motives

A complex personal and subjective cognitive state brought about by the interaction of subjective experience, experiential, behavioral, cognitive, and physiological aspects. The particular emotion felt is influenced by the specific stimulus experienced by the individual. 

Emotion

People have two emotional systems: 
- Disposition system : governs excitement and enthusiasm
- Surveillance system : governs anxiety, stress and fear

Affective Intelligence Theory

standing by previous conclusions even if new evidence shows we should not

Belief Perseverance 

When making causal explanations, people make two separate kinds of attributions:
- Dispositional attribution
- Situational attribution

Attribution

Refers to the expected pattern of attitudes and characteristic behaviors for an individual occupying a specific role or performing a function within a particular setting or group. For example, being a student or a spouse. 

Social Role 

Refer to shared socially determined consensual expectation regarding appropriate and acceptable behavior in a given context. Social norms carry an evaluative quality, leading to negative judgment for those who violate them without a valid explanation.

Social Norms

Prejudice in social psychology refers to the negative attitude an individual holds against another simply because of the latter's membership in a social group. 

Prejudice in Social Psychology

Attitude refers to an individual's examination of another individual, concept, or object. A situation can influence an individual's attitude and beliefs.

Attitude

Persuasion refers to an active technique an individual uses to change someone else's beliefs, emotions, or attitudes.

Persuasion

Situationism refers to the social psychologists' perspective that an individual's behavior are determined by their environment and situations. This perspective is opposite of "dispositionism." 

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