Evaluate Lorenze's Ethological Approach And The Social Learning Theory

This assignment will evaluate two theories of aggression; Lorenze’s ethological approach and the Social Learning Theory. It will then determine the role of media on pro and anti-social behavior and will finally discuss individual, social and cultural diversity in pro and anti-social behavior.

Aggression has been defined by social psychologists as ‘any behavior whose proximate intention is to harm another person.’ (Fiske, 2004, P.495) This definition emphasizes that intention has an important role to determine the type of aggression. Psychologists have determined that there are two types of aggression; the first, hostile aggression, has a sole aim of hurting another, this is usually impulsive, automatic and derives from anger. The second is

Ethologists consider aggression to be a vital part in the development of the species. It is what allows us to adapt to our environments and survive them, by protecting our territory and competing for resources. Lorenze (1966 ) defined aggression as ‘the fighting instinct in beast and man which is directed against members of the same species.’ (cited in Gross, P.496) However this theory is mainly based on the study of non-mammals such as fish and insects and we cannot generalize this to humans as humans are more

One of these being that he has completely ignored the influences of learning and cultural factors that may affect aggression and solely focused on the biological factors. Cultural differences have been shown to play a very big part in determining the acceptability of the degree and kinds of aggression. Siann (1985) also criticized Lorenze’s theory as he believed that humans are naturally ‘hunter-gatherers’ who rarely come into contact with others rather than ‘warriors’ as suggested. Lea (1984) also disproved Lorenze’s claim that non-human aggression ends before an animal of the same species is killed, by pointing out cases such as when a lion takes over a new pride and kills any male cubs.

Another theory surrounding aggression is the Social Learning Theory, which proposed that ‘aggressive behavior is learned through the reinforcement and the imitation of aggressive models.’ (Bandura, 1965, P.501)

Social Learning Theorists do not view aggression as being innate rather they believe that it is all learnt behavior. Humans learn aggressive behavior by observing others behaving aggressively. They observe in which situations aggressive behavior is rewarded (vicarious reinforcement) and when it is punished and as such learn which aggressive behaviors they can imitate so they can be rewarded and which one not to repeat in order not to be