Social Psychology-Dynamics of Human Behavior….

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The Dynamics of Human Behavior: Attraction and Aggression

Interpersonal Attraction
It is important that we know what are some of the hidden influences in our behavior? This is an important fact for
it will have a profound effect on how we “choose” to interact with others. If we do not know what is making us
act, then we are the “victims” of moods, situations, and action of others and unable to have any say on our own
actions.

Attribution Theory
The attribution theory proposes an explanation for understanding, “how we determine the causes and reasons of
our own, and primarily other’s behavior,” or put another way, how we form our opinions of others behavior.

There are three aspects to the attribution theory:

¾ Antecedents: this is all of the information within us that is a part of our understanding of the world and
people, for example, our experiences, motivations, beliefs, attitudes, etc. Whatever conclusions we make
about another’s actions we will base on all of the antecedents within our mind.

¾ Attribution: these are the causes or reasons that we believe explain the behavior of another person, i.e.,
why does this person act or do what they are doing? Sometimes are antecedents are wrong, e.g., prejudice
is base on false antecedents, and sometimes our antecedents are correct, e.g., “My best friend always acts
a little strange when she is fighting with her boyfriend, so don’t take what she says to personal.”

¾ Consequences: What I do, or how I act towards someone is dependent on what I believe about his/her
actions. These beliefs are the result of the conclusions I make about them (attributions) which I make
based on my beliefs (antecedents). Thus, I now act, for example, I am kind if I think what they did was
an accident or that they were sincere, or, I am unkind because I think they acted in a mean manner.

This theory is important to us because it is how we explain what is happening to us, and around us, even if our
attributions are not always accurate. It helps us establish some sense of reality. This “sense of reality” is either
accurate or distorted based on our own antecedents and attributions. We need to be careful that we don’t look for
clues, or generate reasons for one’s behavior simply to support our own bias or distorted antecedents.

Interpersonal Attraction:
Our liking of other people is not something that is a specific science, or can easily be studied. It is not
always easy to figure out, or understand why two people are attracted to one another. (Often we wonder how did
those two ever come together?)

Interestingly, some of the first “indicators” of love are actually similar to the physical indicators that individuals
experience in physical distress or excitement, e.g., both in love and in fear our heart rate increases, stomach
contracts, etc. As a result, we cannot simply measure one’s physical responses and come to a conclusion that it is
a sign of attraction or love, for in fact it may be fear. (When you think about it sometimes we probably should be
“afraid” when we are falling in love – it is a great responsibility.)

Associations – Our lives are filled with a multitude of associations that help to strengthen our liking and/or loving,
or our disliking of another person, e.g., this is our song, our place, the favorite food of my boyfriend, or the bad
experience I had with persons of color, the discrimination I felt from other men, etc. Clearly if the association is
good then I will like the other more, and vice versa.

Elements of liking and loving:

¾ Flirting or Courtship behavior: all animals have this type of ability to attract another through courtship
behavior, or what we call flirting. We use these techniques to guide or selection of another. Take a
moment and think of all the ways we as humans court or flirt with one another, as well as what works and
what doesn’t work depending on who you are. (Did you ever have a guy try to flirt with you and you felt
his actions were a total turn-off?)
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¾ Flirting usually happens with those we consider to be physically attractive. This is the only indicator we
have from a distance. Thus, if we are to move toward another, there are some physical indicators that
draw some of us and repel others. Over time this is not such a significant factor, but in the beginning it
plays an important role for all of us. It is important to remember, however, that what one person finds
physically unattractive another finds super attractive, thus the definition of physical attractiveness will
vary from person to person and from culture to culture.

¾ Familiarity is a major factor because it reduces our unknown factors and anything that may seem
threatening to us. One must be careful, however, for there is the issue of “familiarity breeding contempt!”
How does it happen that too much familiarity, even from those we love, can be oppressive.
o Too much familiarity will suffocate the individual and send them clamoring for their own
personal space (a guy or girl who will not leave the boyfriend/girlfriend have a minute of peace!)

On the other hand there is the problem of the person who does not give enough familiarity, e.g., the guy
who tells his girlfriend that he didn’t think it was important to give cards on birthdays, Christmas, etc.
o Too little familiarity and closeness and the relationship will eventually wane and come to an end.

This last issue is important because it supplies the balance regarding any dialogue concerning the
relationship. Remember, when there is a good relationship, the issue is not the issue. If the relationship is
always in need of dialogue then there is something missing. No one wants to be in a relationship with
someone else and be forced into, “talking about us and how we are doing,” every other day!!

ASIDE: Some final, but important things to always keep in mind in any relationship:
Sometimes individuals overlook very common and important aspects of the relationship, e.g.:
¾ Do not get into a relationship, especially a marriage, with the idea that this person will be fine
once he/she makes a few changes – and you are the one who thinks you can make those changes
happen!
¾ Jealousy in small doses is cute – but too much of it dooms the relationship and is lethal.
¾ If there is any violence in the relationship it is there to stay – so get out!!
¾ Love is ultimately a very fragile balance of self and other, give and take, will and feeling.

Aggression and Violence

Unfortunately, violence and aggression have been with the human race for all of our history. There are even
fossil records of violence among the Neanderthals who lived over 100,000 years ago. Why is violence so
prevalent in our society? Why are we such a violent species? Some speculations include:
¾ We are similar to all other animals, yet other animals for the most part, can and do control their
aggression, especially towards one another. (This is not fool proof due to some instinctive behavior,
but not as bad as humans who have a developed intellect, yet still systematically kill one another.)
¾ We are descendants of the “hunter-gather” category and more than likely when food ran short there
were battles among the tribes for the limited food. This behavior is a part of our psyche.
¾ Are we carnivores or herbivores? Our digestive tract is more designed to be a herbivore, but still we
feast almost daily on meat. What effect does this have on our being prone to violence? Sound far-
fetched? Perhaps it is, but one must look at every possibility when seeking an explanation.
¾ Much of what we do and how we behave is social learning, and our society is filled with aggression.

What are some of the possible explanations for our violent behavior?
I. Influences upon the brain – When we speak of such influences we are not only speaking of chemical
or otherwise, but even our thoughts, e.g., if you believe that some action was accidental or was it
intentional, this will make all the difference in the world as to how you will respond. Quite obviously
our tendency to be aggressive runs deeper than simply trying to save our food supplies as in
prehistoric days.
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II. Cultural factors that influence aggression:
¾ We are a violent country and we were even “conceived” in violence. The chances of being murdered
in the U.S. are actually seven to ten times more likely than in a European city.

¾ Homicide is the second highest cause of deaths for people between the ages of 15-24.

¾ Our almost obsessive concern for individual rights and freedom has caused us to forget about the
common good. (An aside I will discuss in class: The Time article on “hoarding cipro” and the plea for
us to not do this as a way of showing our patriotism.) In cultures where the welfare of the group is
primary it appears that violence and aggression are reduced, e.g., they downplay competition.

¾ What is the effect when a culture sanctions certain places and people for doing violent acts, e.g.,
sports, certain clubs (NRA), war, etc. Do we learn that violence is okay in some places?

III. Social Factors in Aggression:

¾ It appears in many cultures that men are more aggressive than women. Why?
It could be a difference in the hormones of men and women. It can also be the social learning and
upbringing of the individuals, as well as the individual self-esteem levels.

¾ Sometimes the anonymous nature of groups assist the individual to feel deindividuated, i.e., a state
where the individual feels that they can do something that they would not do by themselves, but will
do it now because they can hide behind the group’s action.

When there is a loss of individuality we have more unpredictable behavior because we can blame the
consequences and results on someone else in the group. This is often referred to as the risky shift
phenomenon. In such a situation an individual feels a lower risk because they can shift the burden of
the risk to all of the members involved. In such a situation one is more likely to take a risk
because the responsibility factor has been lowered. (“I wasn’t the only one cheating!”)

IV. Biological Factors in Aggression

Sometimes it is amazing what can be causing a violent reaction, e.g., the hypothalamus sits at the center
of our brain and controls rage, anger, pleasure, etc. If someone has an allergic response to some food, etc.,
and this causes the brain to swell then pressure on the hypothalamus could cause unexpected physical
aggression and violence. So ALLERGIES can be the cause of some violent reactions. (There is a case of a
woman who was allergic to the dye in pancakes and had a violent aggressive reaction toward her family.)

There is also the possibility of drugs causing problems, e.g., amphetamines (SPEED). Alcohol has many
effects on an individual, not the least of which is a reduction of inhibitions that can lead to a violent response
with little control.

V. Effect of Mass Media

Mass media has always presented some questions, not the least of which is censoring what one considers
“inappropriate” behavior. In the 1600’s the Imitation of Christ was banned because it was believed to instill
religious violence (Individuals believed they must “force” Christianity on others for the sake of Jesus.) Then
in 1850, the Scarlet Letter was banned, and in 1925 the movie version was given an appropriate moral
updating that seemed sadly ridiculous (the couple who committed adultery were to be married – HELLO –
does anyone see the problem?!)

1. What do the studies tell us about violence, TV and movies?

¾ When watching a movie where there was violence, more violence was evident in the viewers.
¾ When feeling the violence was justified in the movie, the violence level increased even more in the
viewer. This is an important piece of information because it tends to tell us that violence that is
justified is okay. (e.g., the movie, A Time to Kill) And that is a problem because most people
feel that when they are violent it is for a justifiable reason, e.g., if someone kills someone, then it
is just and right to take that person’s life.
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2. Children and Television

Although children do imitate violent behavior on TV, they also imitate other exciting behavior on TV.
Thus, the variable seems to be excitement and action, as well as variety and not necessarily violence. The
trick for children is to keep plenty of activity and nonviolent novelty. Keep their attention. This will bring
about imitation learning.

3. Catharsis – the idea of cleansing and purifying one’s emotions through vicarious violence, although
seemingly a wise idea, does not work. What happens instead is not a reduction of violence, but rather an
increased agitation and the belief that in the future violent activity will reduce my feelings of aggression.

4. Witnessing real life violence – This is one of the causes of violence in individuals. An exposure to
violence leads one to a constant state of anxiety, sleeplessness, nightmares, and withdrawal from others. In
short this individual becomes like any service person suffering from PTSD(post traumatic stress disorder).

5. Government sanctioned violence - This type of sanctioning also plays a part in individual violence, e.g.,
wars and killing in war is viewed as okay? This can create a problem in our thinking, as well as conditioning
soldiers into behavior they cannot simply stop once they are out of the war zone.

Helping Behavior
In studies designed to see if individuals will help one another in an emergency situation the results have
repeatedly been that the more people present the less likely anyone will stand up to help out.

Why is this the case:

1. When others are present we are less likely to help for fear of looking foolish in public.
2. If others are present we will monitor their behavior as a guide for how we should act, so if you
don’t act then neither will I (less risk of looking foolish or being wrong if I act like you do).
3. Diffusion of Responsibility – if others are present I will assume it is someone else’s
responsibility to act. (Think about it in our own school – who picks up the paper on the floor, or
the tray in the cafeteria, or alerts the staff of a spilled drink on the floor- It is simply a
restatement of our individualistic spirit over the common good, i.e., “I didn’t do it!”
4. Calling the police or any authority may be an admission that there is an emergency and that I
should actually be doing more. It is as if there is a snowball effect regarding my responsibility
and what I say or do, so the less I do the less responsible I am for the situation.
5. We are definitely less likely to help in a strange environment where we do not know the rules, the
situation or the surrounding. This is due to evaluation apprehension, i.e., we are always
apprehensive about our behavior and the less familiar the situation the greater our sense of
apprehension, or evaluation apprehension, so we will choose to take no action at all!

Environmental Effects on Aggressive Behavior

Noise levels: A noisy environment can lead to high blood pressure and other physical responses,
including violence. (This is why the city builds sound barriers around highways in order to reduce noise
levels.)

Territoriality: animals (aside from human animals) reveal this type of concern quite readily, e.g., walk
into the territory of a dog who is protecting their home. But we do the same, e.g., if someone does not
knock on a door and just comes barging in to your room or home. When we move into one another’s
territory without permission we are a threat.
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Personal Space: the territoriality of humans is often “carried with them!” This is known as our personal
space and if you invade that space you also threaten me and make me feel uncomfortable.

Personal space is just that, it is personal. Thus we have many variations:

¾ We vary personal space depending on how well we know someone.
¾ We realize that the issue of personal space is different depending on one’s culture.
(In Egypt the men consider it an insult to not hold hands when walking together.)
¾ Men in the United States seem to have a need for a larger personal space than women.

Overcrowding: This can be a real problem for all animals (human or otherwise) and the effects it has on their
behaviors. If you cram mice into a small space all types of aberrant behavior will occur. If you cram humans
into a ghetto with little personal space you will find similar problems and numerous issues that do not exist in
a more habitable and spacious environment.

¾ Density – the number of people or animals in any given space

¾ Crowding – the feeling of being too close (this is totally relative to the individual and the
situation, e.g., no one feels too crowded at a rock concert, yet can feel very crowded in a different
situation with the same number of people.