Association and affect as determinants of displaced aggression

Subjects were angered by an instigator and then given a choice of two targets of aggression: one was a friend of the anger instigator and the other not. In addition, subjects were given a choice of more versus less intense aggression against these two targets. Angered subjects chose to give more intense aggression—regardless of whether the target was associated with the anger instigator. Thus, release of affect (opportunity to aggress intensely) predominated over association as a determinant of displacement.     

Abusive supervision and subordinates' organization deviance

The authors developed an integrated model of the relationships among abusive supervision, affective organizational commitment, norms toward organization deviance, and organization deviance and tested the framework in 2 studies: a 2-wave investigation of 243 supervised employees and a cross-sectional study of 247 employees organized into 68 work groups. Path analytic tests of mediated moderation provide support for the prediction that the mediated effect of abusive supervision on organization deviance (through affective commitment) is stronger when employees perceive that their coworkers are more approving of organization deviance (Study 1) and when coworkers perform more acts of organization deviance (Study 2).     

The displaced aggression questionnaire

Previous measures of aggressive personality have focused on direct aggression (i.e., retaliation toward the provoking agent). An original self-report measure of trait displaced aggression is presented. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided support for a 3-factor conceptualization of the construct. These analyses identified an affective dimension (angry rumination), a cognitive dimension (revenge planning), and a behavioral dimension (general tendency to engage in displaced aggression). The trait measure demonstrated good internal consistency and test-retest reliability as well as convergent and discriminant construct validity. Unlike other related personality measures, trait displaced aggression significantly predicted indirect indicators of real-world displaced aggression (i.e., self-reported domestic abuse and road rage) as well as laboratory displaced aggression in 2 experiments.     

Abusive supervision and subordinates' organizational citizenship behavior

The relationship between subordinates' perceptions of abusive supervision and supervisors' evaluations of subordinates' organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) was explored among a sample of 373 Air National Guard members and their military supervisors. As predicted, the relationship between abusive supervision and subordinates' OCB was stronger among subordinates who defined OCB as extra-role behavior (compared with those defining OCB as in-role behavior), and this effect was fully mediated by the interactive effect of procedural justice and OCB role definitions. The study's implications for theory and research are discussed, its limitations are identified, and directions for future research are suggested.     

Trait displaced aggression and psychopathy differentially moderate the effects of acute alcohol intoxication and rumination on triggered displaced aggression

When angered, alcohol and rumination increase aggression toward the source of a subsequent minor annoyance. Little is known about individual differences that moderate this phenomenon. One hundred university students (47 men, 53 women) were provoked and given either alcohol or placebo and subsequently induced to ruminate or engage in distraction. Participants were then given the opportunity to aggress against a somewhat annoying fictitious participant by determining the amount of hot sauce the other participant must consume. Alcohol and rumination independently augmented aggressive behavior, and these effects were moderated by trait displaced aggression and psychopathy, respectively. These findings suggest alcohol use and rumination as targets of intervention, specifically for those high in trait displaced aggression and psychopathy.     

Development and validation of the traffic displaced aggression questionnaire

Displaced aggression is defined as the aggression conducted against someone or something that is not considered to be the trigger of the emotional state of the aggressor. Whereas it has been deeply studied in a general context, to date, very few studies have analysed it in the specific context of driving. Considering the inexistence of instruments to assess it, the aim of the current research was to develop and validate a self-report in order to assess displaced aggression in the driving context. A sample of 467 participants (66.8% female, M_age = 34.74) filled in a set of questionnaires including the 29 items that were designed to assess traffic displaced aggression, as well as other instruments measuring different ways of expressing both general and driving aggression. The results of both Parallel Analysis (PA, sub-sample 1) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA, sub-sample 2) showed a good fit of the two-factor model, retaining 20 out of the initial 29 items. The first factor was labelled as Displaced aggression due to the anger generated outside the vehicle (6 items, α = 0.83), whereas the second factor was labelled as Displaced aggression due to the anger generated inside the vehicle (14 items, α = 0.91). Both factors, as well as the total score, showed good results regarding convergent and divergent validity. Practical implications of the results, future research lines and limitations of the current study are discussed.     

Personalization and differentiation as moderators of triggered displaced aggression towards out‐group targets

Two studies examined the reduction of triggered displaced aggression (TDA) via bottom‐up processing modes of de‐categorization. Participants were provoked by the experimenter and then interacted with an ostensible out‐group member who either did or did not provide a second (triggering) provocation. Study 1 compared TDA toward a triggering out‐group member who had previously been either differentiated from the out‐group, made the focus of self‐other comparison, or was in a no‐information control condition. As predicted, both differentiation and self‐other comparison reduced aggression relative to the control condition. Study 2 examined the effect of negative self‐disclosure from the out‐group target, and contrasted its effects with both self‐other comparison with a negative other, and a no‐information control condition. As predicted, triggered participants in the negative self‐disclosure condition aggressed less than those triggered in the negative self‐other comparison or no‐information control conditions. The liking induced by self‐disclosure mediated its aggression‐reducing effect. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Young children's understanding of displaced aggression

According to previous research, young children do not understand displaced aggression. The present study examines the early phases of the understanding of the causes of moderately and extremely displaced aggression. Preschool and kindergarten children (3 to 5 years of age) viewed eight videotaped episodes of displaced aggression. Their comprehension of this aggression was assessed by means of open ended questions and forced choice picture selections. By age 5 most children had some understanding of displaced aggression, but this understanding was not complete. The early understanding revealed in the present study may be due to the use of short, simple realistic videotaped episodes appropriate for the limited processing abilities of young children. Extreme displacement was not more difficult to understand than moderate displacement.     

Abusive supervision and workplace deviance and the moderating effects of negative reciprocity beliefs

In this study, the authors examine the relationship between abusive supervision and employee workplace deviance. The authors conceptualize abusive supervision as a type of aggression. They use work on retaliation and direct and displaced aggression as a foundation for examining employees' reactions to abusive supervision. The authors predict abusive supervision will be related to supervisor-directed deviance, organizational deviance, and interpersonal deviance. Additionally, the authors examine the moderating effects of negative reciprocity beliefs. They hypothesized that the relationship between abusive supervision and supervisor-directed deviance would be stronger when individuals hold higher negative reciprocity beliefs. The results support this hypothesis. The implications of the results for understanding destructive behaviors in the workplace are examined.     

Abusive supervision and subordinate emotional labor: The moderating role of openness personality

We investigated the differential relationships between abusive supervision and two emotional labor strategies used by subordinates (surface acting and deep acting). Furthermore, we examined whether subordinates' openness personality moderated the above relationships. Using the questionnaire survey method, we collected data from 210 employees in China. The results of hierarchical regression showed that abusive supervision related positively to surface acting (regulating facial expression) but negatively to deep acting (regulating inner feeling). Openness personality moderated the relationships between abusive supervision and the two emotional labor strategies, such that the relationships were stronger for employees with lower openness. Findings of our study contribute to the literature on workplace emotions and negative leadership.     

The moderating effect of trivial triggering provocation on displaced aggression

Two studies examined the interaction between the presence or absence of (a) an initial provocation and (b) a subsequent minor triggering action on the part of the target of displaced aggression. Consistent with the triggering event being seen by participants as indeed trivial when administered by itself without prior provocation, exposure to it literally had no impact on aggression toward its source. When previously provoked, however, this subsequent triggering event strongly increased displaced aggression, causing it to reliably exceed both that displayed when there was no antecedent provocation and that elicited by provocation alone. Mediation analyses showed that for participants who had been provoked, subjective feelings of displeasure concerning the triggering event mediated the effect of the trigger on aggression.     

The moderating effect of trigger intensity on triggered displaced aggression

Many instances of aggression result in excessive retaliation in response to a seemingly trivial triggering event. The triggered displaced aggression paradigm (TDA; Miller, Pedersen, Earleywine, & Pollock, 2003) provides an experimental vehicle for exploring such occurrences. Participants were either provoked or not and were subsequently exposed to a neutral, mild, or moderately strong triggering event from a second bogus participant. Consistent with TDA theory (Miller et al., 2003), disjunctively escalated aggressive behavior occurred only among previously provoked participants when responding to the mild triggering event, but not the moderately strong or neutral trigger. Independent of provocation, the neutral triggering event elicited very low levels of aggression, whereas the moderately strong trigger elicited moderate levels of aggression. Implications for instances of real world aggression are discussed.     

The relationship between family aggression history and expressed aggression among college males

The relationship between family of origin aggression and aggression across numerous relationship types was examined among a sample of 197 college‐aged males. Participants completed a self‐report questionnaire assessing the frequency and severity of family aggression (aggression between parents, parental aggression directed toward participants), as well as the frequency and severity of participants' aggression across a number of relationship types (dating, friends, strangers, people in bars, co‐workers, bosses, police officers). The results of the present study indicate that a substantial proportion of college‐aged males report a history of aggressive behavior, both in dating/spousal relationship and other‐relationship types. Analyses revealed that observing parental aggression and receiving aggression from parents was related to aggression in dating relationships. However, only received aggression from parents was related to more general aggressiveness in other non–dating/spousal relationship types. The pattern of findings also suggest that it is important to assess the aggressive behavior of both parents to get a better understanding of the link between family aggression and later expressed aggression. Aggr. Behav. 25:255–267, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Gender in family therapy supervision

While gender has taken its place as a fundamental construct in family therapy theory, little has been written about gender in family therapy supervision. This paper attempts to redefine gender as it pertains to families, family therapy, and family therapy supervision; call attention to aspects of gender as they apply to training in family therapy and family therapy supervision; and suggest ways that family therapy supervisors can sensitize themselves to issues of gender so that they can be more effective in supervision.The author gratefully acknowledges her husband, Victor Nelson, STM, and Eric McCollum, PhD, for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper and for helping with the idea that men are raised to fix things, women to make them better.     

Cognitive load,trigger salience,and the facilitation of triggered displaced aggression

Researchers hypothesize that a state of limited cognitive processing capacity increases aggression. In the context of the triggered displaced aggression (TDA) paradigm, a 2 (Salience of triggering event: high/low) × 2 (Cognitive load at trigger: yes/no) × 2 (Cognitive load at aggression: yes/no) between participants experiment tested this hypothesis. Results showed that inducing cognitive load in previously provoked participants while they received a triggering provocation augmented aggression toward the target when the latter was highly salient. Affective reactions to the trigger partially mediated this effect. In contrast to expectation, however, inducing cognitive load while participants aggressed against their target did not affect aggression levels. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.