Altruism and aggression in human behavior

Altruism & Aggression

Altruism and Aggression

Social psychology is a science that studies a series of specific relationships. Social psychology attempts to explain human behavior as a consequence or condition of the intersections among individual mental states and the social conditions of immediately experience reality. Social psychologists study many of the internal mechanisms within us all such as feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by other people in our immediate vicinity, and they are influenced by those whose presence is implied in some way. Social psychologists seek to study by means of an empirical method the measurable psychological variables present within a person. Two specific behaviors this paper will focus upon are altruism and aggression. The paper will define and discuss altruism and aggression from within the context of the social psychological perspective.

Altruism is the practice of selfless acts. Altruism is the practice of actions that benefit others first and only; altruist acts do not benefit the person performing the action, besides whatever feelings that person may have regarding performing an action that serves and assists another party. Altruist acts are ones of self sacrifice and demonstrate aspects such as empathy, caring, and proactivity. Professionals across several disciplines argue as to whether true altruism exists. Some people perform acts for attention from others or from the gratitude of other people. People who do good deeds with poor or selfish intentions are not practicing altruism. Though the act may benefit others, the act is still selfish. Altruism is a character trait that typically comes naturally for children and young people. As human beings age, the frequency and intensity with which people generally perform altruist actions diminishes significantly.

Aggression is a feeling that many of us can relate to instantaneously. Aggression is also an emotion and a behavior that demonstrates itself early on in childhood. Aggression is necessary to individual and species survival for humans, but aggression is also something that is easy to abuse, especially in cultures that support and promote numerous forms of violence. Aggression can arise because of a threatening or dangerous situation as a defense mechanism, or it can also arise without provocation for people who have anger and/or impulse control problems. Aggression is a behavior or action taken with the intention to cause some form of harm as well as to serve as a means of social dominance. Aggression can be performed with words, facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, but it is usually an effective combination of factors listed and more. Anyone who has encountered a bully during their childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, can clearly explain and identify what aggression is.