Construct validity of a competitive reaction-time aggression paradigm

This study tested the construct validity (convergent and discriminant) of a competitive reaction-time aggression paradigm. Seventy-nine males completed three trait aggression questionnaires and then competed on a reaction-time task whereby they received and delivered shocks to a fictitious opponent. Results demonstrated strong positive relationships between shock intensity administered and the trait measures of overt aggression but not with the measures unrelated to overt aggression. Results are discussed with regard to their contribution to the construct validity of the aggression paradigm used in this study. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

The Brief Aggression Questionnaire: Structure,Validity, Reliability,and Generalizability

In contexts that increasingly demand brief self-report measures (e.g., experience sampling, longitudinal and field studies), researchers seek succinct surveys that maintain reliability and validity. One such measure is the 12-item Brief Aggression Questionnaire (BAQ; Webster et al., 2014), which uses 4 3-item subscales: Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Anger, and Hostility. Although prior work suggests the BAQ's scores are reliable and valid, we addressed some lingering concerns. Across 3 studies (N = 1,279), we found that the BAQ had a 4-factor structure, possessed long-term test–retest reliability across 12 weeks, predicted differences in behavioral aggression over time in a laboratory experiment, generalized to a diverse nonstudent sample, and showed convergent validity with a displaced aggression measure. In addition, the BAQ's 3-item Anger subscale showed convergent validity with a trait anger measure. We discuss the BAQ's potential reliability, validity, limitations, and uses as an efficient measure of aggressive traits.     

Interpersonal aggression as a function of subject's sex, subject's sex role identification, opponent's sex, and degree of provocation.

Ninety-five undergraduates served as subjects in an experiment where they could administer electric shock to an opponent and receive the same from an opponent. The independent variables were subject's sex, subject's sex role identification (as measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory), opponent's sex, as well as degree of provocation from the opponent. Aggression was defined as level of shock chosen by the subject for the opponent. The results indicated that masculine subjects facing a male opponent were more aggressive than individuals of other sex role identifications whether or not they were provoked. It was also found that masculine males were more aggressive than other males or anyof the females. Furthermore, opponent's sex influenced the males' aggressiveness but had no effect on the degree of aggression in females. Finally, aggression increased in all subjects following increases in provocation. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for pyschological androgyny.     

Perceptions,emotions, and behavioral decisions in conflicts that escalate to violence

The present study tests the notion that cost-benefit considerations guide individuals’ emotional and behavioral responses when confronting an aggressive male stranger. Data was derived from hypothetical situations, with varying levels of opponent dangerousness and aggression severity, presented to 212 male and female students. Results indicate that the less dangerous the opponent and/or the more severe his aggression, the more intense are the respondents’ expected emotions of anger and fear and the higher the intended severity of respondents’ counter-aggression. While the expected emotional experience for female participants is more intense than for males, the intended behavioral counter-aggression is more severe for male participants than for females. Finally, an association between emotional experience and behavioral response was found only among males and it was mediated by opponent levels of dangerousness and aggression severity. Findings support the cost-benefit notion and emphasize the importance of studying aggression from an event perspective. Zeev Winstok, Ph.D., is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Studies, University of Haifa, and a Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Society, University of Haifa, Israel.     

Aggression in the Laboratory: Problems with the Validity of the Modified Taylor Competitive Reaction Time Test as a Measure of Aggression in Media Violence Studies

Many laboratory studies of aggression use a measure known as the modified Taylor Competitive Reaction Time Test (TCRTT), for which validation studies are lacking. Using sound blasts administered by the participant against a fictional human opponent, the TCRTT also allows for multiple methods of measuring aggression. The validity of the TCRTT was tested in 53 college student participants. Participants took a self-report measure of aggressiveness as well as neuropsychological measures of frontal lobe functioning predictive of aggression. Results were not supportive of the TCRTT's validity and indicated concerns regarding the use of the TCRTT as a measure of aggression. Results suggest that labaratory studies of media violence using the TCRTT are of questionable validity.     

A multitrait-multimethod analysis of variance of teachers' ratings of aggression,hyperactivity, and inattention

The convergent and discriminant validities of three teacher rating scale measures of the traits of hyperactivity, aggression, and inattention were explored, using the multitrait-multimethod matrix approach of Campbell and Fiske (1959), as well as an analysis of variance procedure (Stanley, 1961). In the present study teachers rated children from their elementary school classrooms on the above traits. The results provided strong evidence for convergent validity. Data also indicated that these traits can be reliably differentiated by teachers, suggesting that research aimed at better understanding the unique contributions of hyperactivity, aggression, and inattention is warranted. The respective benefits of analyzing multitrait-multimethod matrices by employing the ANOVAprocedure or by using the Campbell and Fiske (1959) criteria were discussed.     

Hostility in fantasy: A further test of the hypoglycemia-aggression hypothesis

In a recent investigation carried out among the Qolla Indians of Peru, Bolton (1973a) tested the hypothesis that hypoglycemia tends to produce high levels of individual aggressiveness. Glycemic condition was determined by the readings on a 4-hour glucose tolerance test performed on a sample of 54 adult males. Key informants then ranked these subjects on overt aggressiveness. A correlational analysis of the data supported the hypothesis that moderately hypoglycemic subjects would be more aggressive than the normoglycemic subjects. The present paper responds to questions raised about this study and describes the results of an additional test of the hypoglycemia-aggression hypothesis. The dependent variable in this follow-up study is fantasy aggression. Aggression scores were derived from Sentence Completion Test protocols for the same sample of subjects used in the first study. The results indicate a significant correlation between glycemic condition and aggression scores (Biserial, 0.57), thus providing further confirmation of the hypoglycemia-aggression hypothesis.     

Criterion-related validity of the three-factor model of psychopathy: personality, behavior, and adaptive functioning

The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) has been conceptualized as indexing two distinct but correlated factors. Previous research has established that these factors demonstrate distinct patterns of relations with external criteria. However, more recent findings suggest that the PCL-R psychopathy construct may encompass three distinguishable factors, reflecting affective, interpersonal, and behavioral symptoms. Here, we evaluated the validity of this newer three-factor model of the PCL-R factors with reference to external criteria from the domains of personality, antisocial behavior; and adaptive functioning in a sample of 310 incarcerated offenders. The interpersonal factor was related to social dominance, low stress reactivity, and higher adaptive functioning; the affective factor was correlated with low social closeness and violent offending; and the behavioral factor was associated with negative emotionality, disinhibition, reactive aggression, and poor adaptive functioning. These findings provide support for the convergent and discriminant validity of these psychopathy facets.     

Links between relational aggression,parenting and personality among adolescents

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the mediating role of behavioral inhibition system, referring to the inhibition of behavior, and behavioral activation system (BAS), related to impulsivity, in the association between perceived parenting behaviors and relational aggression. It simultaneously investigated the moderating effects of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in this association in a sample of 261 (127 girls) Greek junior high school students who completed a self-report questionnaire. Results of the mediation analyses revealed that BAS was a partial mediator in the relationship between low parental psychological autonomy and relational aggression, as well as between low parental behavioral control and relational aggression. The effect of low parental psychological autonomy on relationally aggressive behavior was also significantly stronger when CU traits were present (moderator). The results emphasize that both individual and interpersonal factors should be taken into consideration when studying relational aggression.     

The effects of a model's success or failure on subsequent aggressive behavior

It was of interest in the present study to examine the influence of both aggressive and nonaggressive models who are successful or nonsuccessful in reducing aggression from an aggressive opponent. Male and female subjects viewed a same-sexed model interact with an aggressive opponent in a reaction time task. Half the subjects observed an aggressive model while the remaining subjects observed a nonaggressive model. For half the subjects the model was successful in reducing the aggressiveness of the opponent. Results indicated that both the model's behavior and the consequences to the model (success/nonsuccess) were important determinants of subsequent aggression by the subject. Results are discussed in terms of current research and theory in aggression control.     

Aggressive disposition,alcohol, and aggression

This study investigated the effect of aggressive disposition on intoxicated and non-intoxicated aggressive behavior. Prior aggressiveness was measured with a structured questionnaire. Based on a bipartite split of scores, 28 subjects were assigned to the high aggressor group, and 29 to the low aggressor group. Subjects in both disposition groups were then randomly assigned to either a drunk or sober condition, and participated in a competitive reaction time task involving the administering and receiving of electric shocks to/from a fictitious opponent under conditions of high and low provocation. Aggression was defined as shock level intensity delivered to the sham opponent. When highly provoked, sober high aggressors were significantly more aggressive than low aggressors, thus validating the measure of aggressive disposition. When intoxicated, highly provoked individuals in both the high and low aggressive disposition groups attained equal levels of aggression. It was low aggressors who responded to escalated provocation with a significant increase in aggression responding when intoxicated. These results lend support to the notion that a pharmacological effect of alcohol can increase aggressive behaviour. Aggr. Behav. 23:11–18, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Impulsivity, aggression, and serotonin: a molecular psychobiological perspective

The expression of aggressiveness, which constitutes many facets of behavior, is influenced by a complex interaction of biologic, psychologic, and social variables. Even though individual differences in impulsivity and the behavioral consequences, such as aggression, addiction, and suicidality, are substantially heritable, they ultimately result from an interplay between genetic variations and environmental factors. While formation and integration of multiple neural networks is dependent on the actions of neurotransmitters, such as serotonin (5HT), converging lines of evidence indicate that genetically determined variability in serotonergic gene expression influences complex traits including that of inappropriately aggressive behavior. This contribution reviews studies of major gene effects in inbred and knockout strains of mice with increased aggression-related behavior and discusses the relevance of several serotonergic gene variations in humans which include high aggressiveness as part of the phenotype. Although special emphasis is given to the molecular psychobiology of 5HT in aggression-related behavior in rodents, nonhuman primates, and humans, relevant conceptual and methodological issues in the search for candidate genes for impulsivity and aggressiveness and for the development of mouse models of aggressive and antisocial behavior in humans are also considered.     

Convergent,discriminant, and predictive validity of aggressive driving inventories: they drive as they live

The authors hypothesized that aggressive driving is indicative of a more general trait that leads individuals to behave aggressively in different situations. This hypothesis was tested by having 85 male and 237 female undergraduates complete the Aggression Questionnaire, three measures of aggressive driving (the Driver Anger Scale, Driver Vengeance Questionnaire, and Driving Behavior Inventory), and questions about violating traffic laws. High correlations among the aggressive driving inventories provided evidence for the convergent validity, but a confirmatory factor analyses raised questions about the discriminant validity of aggressive driving inventories. The inventories did not attain significance in hierarchical analyses of traffic violations that controlled for gender, driving experience, and measures of trait aggression. It is concluded that there is little unique about aggressive driving and that individuals drive as they live. Aggr. Behav. 32:89–98, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Pathology,pseudopathology, and the Dark Triad of personality

The Dark Triad traits (i.e., psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism) have traditionally been viewed as undesirable and pathological. In contrast, an evolutionary perspective suggests that traits like these might be pseudopathologies; traits that society actively dislikes in that they pose a threat to the collective good. We examined (N = 290) how the Dark Triad traits related to intrapersonal (i.e., behavioral dysfunction), quasibehavioral (i.e., reactive and proactive aggression), and interpersonal (i.e., communal and exchange orientation) factors. Psychopathy predicted high rates of behavioral dysregulation and both forms of aggression. Psychopathy and Machiavellianism showed an aversion towards communalism but an exchange orientation to social relationships. Lastly, individual differences in the Dark Triad traits accounted for part (5–22%) of the sex differences in social strategies and aggression. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed in, and in support of, an evolutionary paradigm.     

Force versus fury: Sex differences in the relationships among physical and psychological threat potential,the facial width‐to‐height ratio,and judgements of aggressiveness

Individuals with larger facial width‐to‐height ratios (FWHRs) are judged as more threatening, and engage in more threat‐related behavior, than do individuals with smaller FWHRs. Here we identified components of threat potential that are related to the FWHR. In Study 1, the FWHR was correlated positively with physical threat potential (bicep size) in women and with both physical and psychological (anger proneness) threat potential in men. Behavioral aggression was measured in a subset of these participants using the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (costly aggression) and a Money Allocation Task (non‐costly aggression). Psychological (but not physical) threat potential predicted non‐costly aggression and physical (but not psychological) threat potential predicted costly aggression. In Study 2, a separate set of participants judged the anger proneness, strength, or aggressiveness of male participants photographed in Study 1. Participants’ judgements of all three characteristics were associated with the FWHR, and there were sex differences in how aggressiveness was conceptualized (for women, aggressiveness was associated with anger proneness, for men, aggressiveness was associated with strength). These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the FWHR may be an adaptation to cue the threat potential of men.

     

Effects of the heterosomes and maternal environments on aggressive behavior in Mus musculus

This is a study of the offense type of aggression in males of the DBA/1Bg and C57BL/10Bg inbred strains of mice and their two reciprocal F1 hybrids. It uses three test paradigms for dyadic encounters: the homogeneous set test, an identity panel of testers, and the standard opponent test. There were no reciprocal F1 hybrid differences for any of the 12 behavioral measures of aggression in the homogeneous set test or the standard opponent test. For the panel of testers paradigm, reciprocal F1 hybrid differences occurred when the tester (opponent) was an F1 hybrid male, but not when the tester (opponent) was an RB/1 or C57BL10 male. When B10RB1F1 males were the testers (opponents), B10RB1F1 hybrid males were more aggressive than RB1B10F1 hybrid males across 10 of the 12 behavioral measures. Conversely, when RB1B10F1 males were the testers (opponents), RB1B10F1 males were more aggressive than B10RB1F1 males across 9 of the 12 behavioral measures. These results conform to the following empirical rule: A significant difference between reciprocal F1 hybrids is observed for these behavioral measures when one of the hybrids has both of its heterosomes (X and Y chromosomes) and its maternal environment identical to those of its opponent and the other hybrid has none of these identical to those of its opponent. These results are consistent with a model in which on some genetic backgrounds, but not on others, similarity of the heterosomes and maternal environments can influence the display of or response to social or other stimuli for the offense type of aggression in mice. These stimuli may be individual recognition chemosignals in urine.     

同伴特点如何影响人们的合作与冲突行为?

人类的生存繁衍依赖于人们之间的相互合作,合作与冲突行为的研究近年来成为心理学的研究热点。本研究通过实验程序操纵Chicken Game中博弈同伴的特点,考察个体在社会困境中面对不同特点同伴时的合作行为。结果发现：(1)同伴道义论组和功利论组总和解率没有显著差异,同伴竞争组和合作组的总和解率也没有显著差异。(2)在与道义论以及合作型的同伴互动时,个体的行为没有明显受到上次博弈反馈的影响。(3)当同伴为功利论时,相比于上次博弈个体选择和解而同伴选择进攻,双方都选择和解时个体在当前博弈中更倾向于和解;(4)在同伴竞争组中,相比于上次博弈个体选择进攻而同伴选择和解,双方都选择和解时被试在当前博弈中会更倾向于和解。实验结果表明个体在博弈任务中会受到同伴特点的影响,并且同伴在博弈中的行为特点的影响更为显著。本研究从同伴特点来考察个体的合作行为,揭示了影响个体博弈行为的一种因素。     

Cognitive performance,monetary incentive,and aggression

Individuals with impaired cognitive abilities associated with frontal lobe function have recently been shown to manifest increased aggression. This study investigated the effect of contingent money to inhibit aggression in these individuals. One hundred and forty males, aged 18–40, were ranked according to their performance on the Spatial Conditional Associative-Learning task. Forty-eight males (24 with scores in each of the upper and lower performance quartiles) participated in the full study. Half of the subjects competed in a Taylor aggression task where they received a monetary incentive for choosing lower shocks; the remainder competed without any monetary contingency. Aggression was defined as shock intensity delivered to a sham opponent. Shock intensity significantly increased as a main effect of lower cognitive performance, absence of monetary incentive, and provocation. In addition, provocation interacted significantly with test performance. Finally, individuals in the upper cognitive performance quartile showed significantly greater reductions of unprovoked aggression in response to monetary incentive. The results are discussed in terms of impairments in the ability to associate inhibitory influences in the formulation of behavioral strategies under aggressive conditions. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Effect of body size on aggression in the ant,Cataglyphis niger (Hymenoptera; Formicidae)

In polymorphic ants, such as Cataglyphis niger, sterile individual workers from the same nest show some degree of variation in size and/or morphology. We studied whether worker size and size difference between opponents had an effect on aggression during conspecific encounters. Although the capacity to recognize nestmates was shared by all individuals, some patterns of agonistic behaviors were size related. Escape was mostly displayed by the small workers, and threat, associated with ritualized fights, by the large workers. As game theory predicted, ants of C. niger adjusted their level of aggression as a function of the size of the opponent. However, only large individuals used such assessment strategies, responding with escalation of aggression towards small workers and reduction of aggression towards large ones. On the contrary, small individuals behaved in the same manner whatever the opponent's size. Differences between both morphological castes were discussed with reference to the resource holding assessment models. Aggr. Behav. 25:369–379, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.