Institutional aggression explanation: the power of the
situation and dehumanising labels
Power of the situation:
Zimbardo (2007) states that the situation that people find
themselves in exerts much influence on whether people
are aggressive to others. For instance, people who are
usually mild mannered may find themselves acting
aggressively when put in certain situations. It is therefore
the situation, not people’s disposition, that is the root
cause of the aggression. Institutional factors, such as the
lack of external constraints and peer pressure, increase
people’s willingness to cause harm.
Institutional aggression explanation: the power of the
situation and dehumanising labels
Dehumanising labels:
Zimbardo argues that individuals are more likely to
be aggressive to others when they label or
dehumanise them in some way. For instance if
someone is labelled as XXXX(think of an
example) Zimbardo would argue that this
derogatory label makes them more likely to be a
target of aggression. Likewise if they are known
by a number rather than a name they are
dehumanised, so are also more likely to be the
target of aggression. In some institutions people
are labelled or dehumanised making aggression
more likely.