Aggression-inhibiting influence of sexual humor

Forty-eight undergraduate males participated in an experiment designed to investigate the hypothesis that prior exposure to sexual humor would reduce the level of aggression directed by angry individuals against the person who had previously provoked them. In order to examine this suggestion, subjects were first angered or not angered by a male confederate; next, exposed to either neutral, nonhumorous pictures or to one of two types of sexual humor (nonexploitative, exploitative); and finally, provided with an opportunity to aggress against this individual by means of electric shock. Results indicated that exposure to exploitative sexual humor, but not exposure to nonexploitative sexual humor, significantly reduced the strength of subjects' later attacks against the victim. These findings are discussed in terms of the results of a follow-up study suggesting that individuals are more likely to think or fantasize about exploitative than nonexploitative sexual humor following the removal of such stimuli.     

The effects of humor-induced arousal upon aggressive behavior

The present experiment attempted to reconcile previous results in the area of humor and aggression. It was hypothesized that humor serves two functions, arousal and attentional shift, with regard to its influence on the relation of prior anger arousal and aggression. As a test of this assumption, subjects in the present experiment were subjected to three forms of humor (high arousing, low arousing, nonhumor) after being angered or treated in a neutral manner by a confederate. In an analysis on subsequent aggression toward the confederate, it was found that female subjects reduced their aggression after exposure to low arousing humor while maintaining aggression at a high level for high arousing stimuli. Male subjects were not influenced by humor exposure. Possible reasons for this sex difference are examined in light of the arousal and attentional shift properties of humorous stimuli.     

Effects of observing competitive and violent versions of a sport

Males were randomly assigned to view either (1) a film clip featuring hockey fights or (2) a film of nonaggressive hockey action or (3) a no-film control condition after having first been angered or treated politely by an experimental confederate. The dependent variable was represented by a measure of aggressive mood and a behavioral measure of retaliatory aggression. Analyses revealed that both angered and nonangered subjects exhibited an increase in aggressive mood following exposure to the fight film. However, the analysis involving retaliatory aggression against the confederate yielded an anger x film interaction. While angered subjects were more aggressive than nonangered, only angered subjects retaliated against the confederate after viewing the fight film. The results were discussed in terms of Berkowitz’s (1974) aggressive cue theory. A version of this paper was presented at the meeting of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, Edmonton, Canada, November 1987.     

Effects of observing competitive and violent versions of a sport

Males were randomly assigned to view either (1) a film clip featuring hockey fights or (2) a film of nonaggressive hockey action or (3) a no-film control condition after having first been angered or treated politely by an experimental confederate. The dependent variable was represented by a measure of aggressive mood and a behavioral measure of retaliatory aggression. Analyses revealed that both angered and nonangered subjects exhibited an increase in aggressive mood following exposure to the fight film. However, the analysis involving retaliatory aggression against the confederate yielded an anger x film interaction. While angered subjects were more aggressive than nonangered, only angered subjects retaliated against the confederate after viewing the fight film. The results were discussed in terms of Berkowitz’s (1974) aggressive cue theory. A version of this paper was presented at the meeting of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, Edmonton, Canada, November 1987.     

Heightened sexual arousal and physical aggression: An extension to females

In order to examine the effects of heightened sexual arousal upon aggression by females, subjects were first angered or not angered by a female confederate, next exposed to one of four types of stimuli (nonerotic scenes; pictures of seminude young males; pictures of nude males; pictures of couples engaged in various acts of lovemaking), and finally provided with an opportunity to aggress against the confederate by means of electric shock. In accordance with previous research conduced with males, it was hypothesized that exposure to mild erotic stimuli would inhibit subsequent aggression, while exposure to more arousing stimuli of this type would facilitate such behavior. Results offered support for both predictions. In addition, it was found that females responded with increased aggression to types of erotic stimuli previously found to inhibit such behavior by males.     

A renewed look at Miller's conflict theory of aggression displacement.

The present study is the first to examine Miller's theoretical assumptions of displaced aggression using human subjects. Subjects in the present study either served as nonangered controls, were angered by the experimenter's confederate, or were both angered by and led to fear the confederate. All subjects were then able to three targets: the confederate, a person described as a friend of the confederate, and a person having no association with the confederate. Targets received the most intense aggression from angered subjects. The difference between the aggression gradients for high-anger-low-fear and control subject. Frightened subjects gave their most intense aggression to the displaced targets. Results also support the suggestion that direct aggression is most likely if the aggressor can first extinguish some of his fear by attacking more indirect targets.     

Expression of interpersonal aggression by angered and nonangered persons with the type A and type B behavior patterns

Thirty-seven subjects with the Type A or the Type B behavior pattern were first either angered or not angered in a problem-solving task by a confederate who posed as another subject. In a subsequent bogus learning experiment, the Type A and Type B subjects had the opportunity to punish or reward the confederate. The effectiveness of the anger manipulation was attested to by the fact that angered subjects had reliably higher pulse rates, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure. In the learning experiment, Type A subjects who had not been angered gave the confederate reliably higher levels of punishment than did Type B subjects, but there was not a difference in the levels of punishment given by Type A and Type B subjects who had been angered. There was not a difference between Type A and Type B subjects in the levels of reward they gave the confederate. The results provided behavioral evidence for aggression in persons with the Type A behavior pattern. The fact that the difference in aggression was limited to nonangered subjects was interpreted in terms of differences in attributions of responsibility.     

Olfaction and Human Social Behavior: Effects of Pleasant Scents on Physical Aggression

Forty-eight male undergraduates participated in an experiment designed to investigate the effects of pleasant scents on physical aggression. Subjects were first angered or not angered by a male or female confederate, and then provided with an opportunity to aggress against this person. One third aggressed in the presence of a very pleasant scent (perfume), a second third aggressed in the presence of a mildly pleasant scent (pine-scented aerosol). The remaining subjects aggressed in the absence of any pleasant aroma. Results indicated that when the victim was male, aggression was enhanced by the presence of perfume if subjects had been angered, but reduced by this scent d they had not been provoked, in contrast, when the victim was female, aggression was enhanced by the presence of perfume regardless of whether subjects had previously been angered. The pine-scented aerosol failed to exert any significant effects upon subjects' behavior. These findings were interpreted as consistent with the suggestion that the impact of pleasant scents on social behavior may stem from several different mediating mechanisms, including heightened arousal and shifts in social perception.     

Identification with film characters, covert aggressive verbalization, and reactions to film violence

To determine some conditions governing the aggressive aftereffects of identification with aggressive film characters, men were first angered by a confederate and then exposed to a film clip of a violent boxing match. Subjects instructed to identify with the winner of the prize-fight were subsequently more aggressive toward the confederate than subjects instructed to identify with the loser or subjects not asked to identify with a film aggressor. Apparently, viewers must perceive their identificand incur reinforcement for his aggression before they become more aggressive themselves. However, requiring subjects to make implicit aggressive verbalizations during the film completely eliminated any aggressive aftereffects of identification. This finding was opposite to prediction and suggested that covert verbalization interfered with subjects' ability to make the vicarious aggressive responses which mediate increased subsequent aggression.     

Dynamics of hostile aggression: Influence of anger,hurt instructions,and victim pain feedback

The research basically examined some of the dynamics of hostile aggression by looking at the effects of different Buss procedure instructions and levels of victim pain feedback on the aggressive behavior of angered and nonangered men. In a 2 × 2 × 2 completely crossed factorial experiment, male undergraduates were initially either angered or not by an experimental accomplice. When later given the ostensible opportunity to administer shocks to the same accomplice in a typical Buss procedure, the subjects were either told that longer and more intense shocks would probably interfere with the person's learning as well as causing him more pain (hurt instructions) or given no information about the effects of shocks on learning (standard instructions). Finally, after each shock they administered, the subjects were provided with either high or low victim pain feedback. The angered men were significantly more aggressive than their nonangered counterparts, and a significant interaction between anger and instructions indicated this was especially true for the men given hurt instructions. Significant interactions between the other independent variables and trial blocks revealed that the angered men, particularly those receiving hurt instructions and high victim pain feedback, displayed the greates increases in aggression. The results provide qualified support for the derived proposition about hostile aggression that signs and/or knowledge of victim injury and pain can stimulate more intense aggression from angry individuals.     

Facilitation of social interaction through deindividuation of the target

It was hypothesized that actors want their perception of a target to be consistent with the type of interaction they expect. It was predicted that subjects expecting to aggress would deindividuate their target through the selective recall of deindividuating information. Conversely, subjects expecting a prosocial interaction should individuate the target. Further, angry subjects should deindividuate the individual who angered them. Male subjects were either angered or not angered by an experimental confederate and then given the opportunity to either shock, reward, or have no interaction with him. Subjects recalled information about the confederate either prior to or after the learning task. Subjects expecting to aggress deindividuated the target, whereas subjects expecting a prosocial interaction individuated him. Angry subjects deindividuated the target, nonangry subjects did not. Since the selective recall of information occurred prior to the interaction, the deindividuation (individuation) was aimed at facilitating future behavior rather than justifying it.     

Effects of viewing real versus fantasy violence upon interpersonal aggression

Of 96 male undergraduates, one-third saw a violent film which they were told represented a real event, one-third saw the same film presented as a fictional event, and the remaining subjects saw no film. One-half of the subjects in each group had been attacked previously by a confederate while the others had not. Each subject was then given an opportunity to aggress against the confederate by administering shocks to him as punishment in a learning task. Results indicate that subjects who observed real violence delivered stronger shocks to the confederate than subjects who viewed fantasy violence or saw no film. Subjects who were angered and saw the real film were the most punitive toward the confederate.     

Immediate and delayed effects of victim suffering on the attacker's aggression

On the first day of a two-day experiment, male undergraduates were either angered or not, and they were given either high, low, or no metered pain feedback after each shock they supposedly delivered to their previous evaluator for his errors on a learning task. After the learning task the subjects made a number of ratings, including how much they had enjoyed this first session. On the second day, all subjects were simply required to administer shocks to a different person for his mistakes on the same learning task. The angered subjects were more punitive on both days toward both learners than the nonangered men. On the first day the angered men also increased the intensity of the shocks they delivered over trial blocks. Most interestingly, the angered men showed more enjoyment of the first session of the experiment as their victim's pain increased, and this enjoyment rating was related to the angered subjects' level of aggression on the second day of the experiment when they punished an “innocent” victim. The results were interpreted as consistent with the hypothesized reinforcement process which essentially states that signs and/or knowledge of the victim's suffering can reinforce impulsive or angry aggressive behavior.     

Anger arousal,deindividuation, and aggression

We tested the notion that angered persons' aggression would be increased through a process of excitation transfer when they are deindividuated, but that individuated subjects would be most aggressive in circumstances under which they could use the information that they had ingested an arousing drug as a pretext for their aggression. Sixty-two male undergraduates participated under either deindividuated or individuated conditions, ingested either 350 mg of caffeine or a placebo, were informed that they had either taken a stimulant or a nonarousing drug, and were all angered by a confederate. According to prediction, when deindividuated and aroused by caffeine the amount of noxious stimulation subjects delivered to the provocateur was greater if they believed that the drug they had taken was nonarousing than if they thought it was a stimulant; in contrast, individuated subjects' aggression was greater when aroused subjects believed the drug was a stimulant. The results are discussed in terms of excitation transfer and the effect of aggression inhibition on the use of information about one's arousal.     

Sexual arousal,situational restrictiveness,and aggressive behavior

Eighty male college freshmen participated in an experiment designed to investigate the hypotheses that enhanced arousal will facilitate subsequent aggressive behavior and that an increase in aggressive behavior will be more likely to occur in a setting of situational permissiveness rather than situational restrictiveness. Subjects were either angered or not angered by a same-sex confederate, then told to imagine either a sexually arousing or a nonarousing situation during relaxation, and finally provided with an opportunity to aggress against this person by means of electric shocks. For half of the subjects, a setting of permissiveness was created, while for the other half the setting was one of situational restrictiveness. The results indicated that, even in a permissive setting, sexual arousal may inhibit aggressive behavior mediated by self-consciousness or anxiety. For nonaroused men, however, situational permissiveness tended to facilitate subsequent aggression. The investigation was considered a replication and an extension of the Baron (1974) study on the aggression-inhibiting influence of heightened sexual arousal.     

Effects of displacing aggression by annoyed and nonannoyed subjects

Low hostility-guilt subjects were either annoyed or not annoyed by an experimental confederate and given the opportunity to (a) displace aggression against a second confederate in a memory task, (b) go through a similar task but not aggress, or (c) sit quietly for a comparable period of time. All subjects were subsequently allowed to aggress against their annoyer in a “creativity” task. While displacement following annoyance did not reduce physiological arousal, it did reduce the amount of subsequent aggression against the annoyer. Conversely, the expression of aggression in subjects who were not annoyed resulted in an increase in physiological arousal, but not in subsequent aggression. No significant relationships were found between physiological arousal and subsequent aggression.     

Facilitating sexual arousal via anger,aggression, or dominance

The hypothesis that either an angry emotional state or the expression of aggressive behavior facilitates sexual arousal has been the subject of considerable speculation but relatively little research. In a series of studies, Barclay found that anger increased sexual arousal as measured by the amount of sexual imagery produced in response to TAT-like stimuli that depicted males and females in dominant and submissive roles. In the present research, a series of experiments was conducted to determine whether such facilitation can be generalized beyond the specific procedures used by Barclay. Subjects (151 males and 136 females) in three experiments were angered by being negatively evaluated by a confederate identified as a fellow subject. Some subjects were subsequently given an opportunity to aggress; additionally, some subjects were exposed to male- and female-dominant pictorial stimuli. Results indicated that neither anger instigation nor the opportunity to engage in aggressive acts influenced self-reported sexual arousal. There was consistent evidence, however, that portrayals of dominance influenced perceptions of the stimulus person's sexuality. Though anger and aggression do not seem to facilitate sexual arousal, dominance cues (which can be confounded with anger manipulation) clearly elicit perceptions of sexuality.     

The Reduction of Human Aggression: A Field Study of the Influence of Incompatible Reactions1

One hundred and twenty passing motorists were delayed for 15 sec at an intersection by a confederate who failed to move his vehicle after the light turned green. Prior to such annoyance, subjects in three groups were exposed to experimental treatments designed to cause them to experience reactions incompatible with anger or overt aggression (i.e., empathy, humor, mild sexual arousal). Results indicated that individuals in these groups were more reluctant to honk their horns at the confederate and showed fewer overt sjgns of irritation than subjects in two control groups not exposed to such treatments. In addition, it appeared that subjects' willingness to honk at the confederate was enhanced by uncomfortably warm ambient temperatures. The implications of these findings for the control of overt aggression, as well as the usefulness of horn-honking as a dependent measure for such behavior in field settings, were discussed.     

Humor as aggression: effects of motivation on hostility expressed in humor appreciation

In 4 studies, the authors examined the hypothesis that relative to primed autonomy motivation, primed control would increase enjoyment of hostile (compared with nonhostile) humor as assessed by self-reported enjoyment and aversiveness and by nonverbal behavior. Results confirmed the hypothesis. Furthermore, initial state hostility moderated the effect such that high-hostility participants who were primed with control motivation especially enjoyed hostile humor. The 2 final studies showed that the effect was mediated by implicit aggression such that the combination of high initial state hostility and control priming led to implicit aggression, which in turn resulted in hostile humor enjoyment. Results are interpreted in terms of the effects of autonomy versus control motivation on intrapersonal self-regulatory processes, which influence interpersonal functioning.     

Brutality of assault in political cartoons affecting humor appreciation

Political cartoons depicting a presidential candidate undergoing an aggressive assault were manipulated to assess the effect on humor appreciation of variations in the degree of brutality of the aggressive tactics (minimal, intermediate, extreme). The identity of the depicted candidate (Richard Nixon vs George McGovern) was also manipulated. Humor-appreciation ratings were given to these cartoons by student subjects during the week preceding the 1972 presidential elections. Attitudes toward the depicted candidates were assessed in a postexperimental questionnaire. Neither degree of brutality nor affect toward the victim exerted a significant main effect, but a significant transverse interaction between the two variables was observed. When the assault involved minimal levels of brutality, the victimization of a rejected candidate was appreciated significantly more than that of a favored one; when intermediate levels of brutality were depicted, assaults against rejected candidates did not differ appreciably from attacks upon favored candidates in the level of mirth they elicited; when the brutality was extreme, aggression against rejected candidates was appreciated less than assaults against favored candidates, although nonsignificantly so. Of the various theoretical notions which were advanced to predict the results, a rationale involving the decoder's motivation to favor or object to the manner in which the aggressive agent is characterized as well as his motivation to enjoy or dislike the communication's projected outcome was considered to account best for the findings.