Instigation to aggress and escalation of aggression examined from a personological perspective: The role of irritability and of emotional susceptibility

Two studies were conducted using Buss hostility machine paradigm to investigate the role of individual differences in irritability and emotional susceptibility on the instigation to aggress by a self-esteem lowering manipulation and on the hypothesized escalation of aggression over trials. The role of sex was also examined. In the first study, 60 highly irritable and 60 low irritable subjects were given the opportunity to deliver electric shocks to an experimental confederate, half after being provoked by a negative judgement on their performance in a learning task, half without such an experience. Each group of subjects was divided equally between males and females. It was found that highly irritable subjects, both males and females, delivered higher shocks after provocation than low irritable subjects under similar circumstances. An upward drift of shock level over trials was found only in provoked males and only in highly irritable females. In the second study, 60 highly emotionally susceptible and 60 low emotionally susceptible males and females were given the opportunity to deliver electric shocks to an experimental confederate, half after experiencing provocation, half without such an experience. It was found that provoked subjects delivered higher shocks than unprovoked subjects and that highly emotionally susceptible subjects delivered higher shocks than low emotionally susceptible subjects. Whereas an upward drift of shock levels over trials was found only in provoked males, the same effect was found in females, whether provoked or not. These findings are discussed in terms of the importance of stable personality characteristics that may mediate aggressive response.     

Gender differences in intimate‐conflict initiation and escalation tendencies

According to gender motivation theory, men are driven by a desire to enhance their status; whereas, women are motivated by a desire to reduce risk, and the behavioral expressions of those motivations are context‐dependent. In order to test this theory in the context of intimate relationships, this study compared men's and women's escalatory tendencies in the initial development of intimate conflict. These tendencies were conceptualized in terms of four attributes: two attributes that represent response intention (decision and style) and two others that represent motivations for that intention (putting one's partner in his or her place and avoiding conflict). These attributes were measured in the context of five hypothetical situations. Each of those scenarios involved potential escalation of intimate conflict, following an intimate partner's aggressive verbal demand. The study involved a convenience sample of 403 male and female participants. The findings show that, in the initial steps of intimate‐conflict development, women tend toward escalation more than men. The findings also show that the escalatory tendency, as conceptualized and measured using the examined scenarios, corresponds to actual behavior exhibited in the resolution of common issues in the couples' lives. These findings reinforce gender motivation theory.

     

The Relation Between Childhood Proactive and Reactive Aggression and Substance Use Initiation

The current study examined whether proactive and reactive aggression were associated with the risk for initiation of substance use from fourth to ninth grade in a sample of 126 aggressive children (66% male). In addition, the study examined whether these functions of aggression increased risk for initiation via peer delinquency and peer rejection. Proactive aggression was marginally significantly directly associated with risk for initiation of alcohol use and indirectly associated with risk for initiation of marijuana and tobacco use through peer delinquency. Reactive aggression was associated with increased risk for initiation of tobacco and marijuana use through a complex chain that included both peer rejection and peer delinquency. However, high levels of reactive aggression that did not lead to peer rejection were negatively associated with risk for initiation of tobacco and marijuana use. Implications for intervention are discussed.

Physical discipline,escalation, and child abuse potential: psychometric evidence for the Analog Parenting Task

Data from three studies provide new evidence to support the validity of the Analog Parenting Task (APT) as an instrument to assess risk for harsh, physically aggressive parenting. In this series of studies, there was a strong association between APT scores of expected use and escalation of discipline strategies and self‐reported disciplinary attitudes. APT scores were also associated with physical abuse potential as assessed by both a well‐established measure of child abuse potential (Child Abuse Potential Inventory) and another instrument designed specifically for use in pre‐parent populations (e.g., Adult–Adolescent Parenting Inventory‐2). This study provides new psychometric evidence to support the use of the APT to assess harsh parenting. Additionally, these data highlight the connection between acceptance and use of physical disciplinary strategies, propensity for disciplinary escalation, and risk for abuse perpetration. The findings are discussed in the context of Milner's Social Information Processing model [Milner, 2003] of abuse, which suggests that parental selection of disciplinary responding and the monitoring of disciplinary responding are key events in the disciplinary process. The APT may prove a useful adjunct to more commonly used self‐report measures to allow for multimethod assessment of risk for punitive parenting. Aggr. Behav. 36:251–260, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Escalation of irritable aggression: Control by consequences and antecedents

Two experiments demonstrated that rats could be trained in a negative reinforcement paradigm to display a shock-induced aggressive response on the first shock presented. Later, rats that had been submitted to the negative reinforcement training procedure displayed more shock-induced aggression than did control groups during a test session that was situationally different from the one used during training. A third experiment demonstrated that noxious antecedent events, if presented with sufficient rapidity, can combine to increase the probability of aggressive behavior. The three experiments together suggest that aversive antecedents and reinforcement contingencies could be involved in the escalation of irritable aggression.     

Fighting,nonagonistic social behavior,and exploration in isolation‐reared rats

Sixty hooded Long‐Evans rats were assigned to one of three conditions: isolation‐rearing (from 14–30 days of age), brief isolation (from 28–30 days of age), and normal (no isolation). From day 14 to day 21, the isolation‐reared animals were maintained in an incubator set at 35°C to prevent hypothermia and were separated from each other by Plexiglas. They learned to nourish themselves by lapping milk that continuously flowed down one side of the enclosure. Thereafter, they were housed in standard hanging wire cages. Unlike previous studies of isolation at this age, there were no significant weight differences between the isolation‐reared group and the two control groups. At 30 days of age, the three groups were compared on fighting (serious and play), nonagonistic social behaviors (following and crawling under), and exploratory behavior (open‐field ambulation). The isolation‐reared group was significantly different from the normal group on all measures (isolates were higher on all measures except exploration). The isolation‐reared animals showed significantly more serious fighting (aggression) than the brief isolation animals, whereas these two groups did not differ on other behaviors. This methodology allows for the study of isolation‐rearing without the nutritional confounds found in previous research and shows an effect on aggression that is not accounted for by recent isolation. Aggr. Behav. 25:211–223, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The internet and its role in the escalation of sexually compulsive behaviour

As increasing numbers of patients present with problems of compulsive use of internet sex and internet pornography, psychotherapists are challenged to develop models that address the powerful, and potentially disturbing effect of this stimulus. Internet sex does not just facilitate access to sexual materials but can act as a catalyst, affecting established defences and ego and superego functioning. Escalation in sexually compulsive behaviour, which affects a small proportion of those accessing online sex, may be thought of as a series of transitions: from casual to compulsive use, from compulsive use to illegal use, and from use of illegal pornography to contact offending. Drawing on clinical experience and the available research evidence, psychodynamic processes associated with movement through these transitions are considered. Internet sex has the potential to fuel manic defences, invites narcissistic and part-object relating, provides a vehicle for the expression and disowning of sadistic impulses and can potentially undermine superego functioning. The combined effect of these processes may lead to a breakdown of ego controls in vulnerable individuals.     

Sequence and priming in 15 month-olds' reactions to brief arm restraint: evidence for a hierarchy of anger responses

Brief, gentle arm restraint is widely used in experimental studies of children's anger, but the pattern of responses generated by such restraint has been incompletely described. We now describe a hierarchy of responses within trials as well as an escalation across trials that have both methodological and theoretical significance. Mothers of 87 15-month olds prevented them from playing with a toy by restraining their arms on two consecutive 30 sec trials. Physical struggling was the first and most frequent response; children who struggled were significantly more likely to vocalize, and those who vocalized were significantly more likely to show facial expressions of anger. The children's responses became more probable, rapid, and intense during Trial 2 restraint. Overall, the hierarchy was orderly enough to meet criteria for Guttman scalability. The particular sequence observed suggests situational, as opposed to bio-energetic, ordering of responses. Methodologically, the two trial paradigm is a simple, ecologically valid model for studying anger escalation that parallels the "attack priming" of aggression in other species. The magnitude and persistence of anger priming may provide novel measures of anger regulation. Theoretically, the existence of an orderly response hierarchy is consistent with previous observations suggesting that, within a situational context, the sequential appearance of specific behaviors may indicate progressive increases in anger intensity.     

Fighting and playfighting in captive adolescent chimpanzees

Most young non-human primates spend a great deal of time playing alone or with conspecifics. Despite numerous studies on social play, its adaptive functions remain unclear. A longitudinal study comparing social interactions preceding and following rank reversals among four captive adolescent chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurtii) suggests that social play during their adolescent period functioned in establishing and maintaining the dominance rank within dyads, without interventions from allies. Interventions were less frequent in rough-and-tumble play than in real fighting. Within dyads of competing chimpanzees, rough play was more frequent than gentle play. Both types of play were correlated with reciprocal aggression between competitors, and most play bouts terminated in truly aggressive conflict. Dominant individuals seemed to be responsible for maintaining play activity, by responding playfully to threats and aggression of contestants. In addition, dominant individuals more often initiated play encounters with their subordinates when the dominance relationships were clear, but subordinate individuals also initiated play sequences when they challenged the dominant's rank. The adaptive value and mechanisms of rough-and-tumble play are discussed in the context of adolescence. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Antecedents of sexual and non-sexual aggression in young Singaporean men

This study investigated factors that have previously been implicated in male sexual aggression towards women, using a structural equation modelling approach to assess their relative influence on sexually coercive behaviours in young Singaporean men. Variables were classified under three major headings: childhood experience, personality, and attitudes facilitating violence. Non-sexual aggression against women was included in order to investigate its relationship to sexual aggression as well as its own causal antecedents. Results suggest that sexual and non-sexual aggression have different antecedents, and confirm the primacy of sexual variables (sexual experience, child sexual abuse) as antecedents to sexual aggression. Contrary to the hypothesis that sexual aggression is primarily aggressive in motivation, belligerence exerted only indirect effects on sexual aggression. Attitudinal variables (e.g. attitudes supportive of sexual aggression) contributed modestly to sexual but not to non-sexual aggression. Antisociality exerted indirect effects on both sexual aggression (via sexual experience and acceptance of interpersonal violence) and on non-sexual aggression (via belligerence). Parental violence contributed exclusively to non-sexual aggression. Finally, some cross-cultural differences in sexually coercive behaviour are highlighted.     

Psychometric Properties of Bully,Fighting, and Victimization Scales Among Clinically Referred Youth

Bullying involvement is a multidimensional issue and a significant concern for school-aged youth. However, research on bullying involvement within clinical samples is limited. The present study examines the psychometric properties of the University of Illinois Bully, Fighting, and Victimization Scales among children and adolescents presenting for mood symptoms at a behavioral health outpatient clinic. Patients (n = 165) with an age range of 8–18 years were included in this investigation. Item frequencies, internal consistency, and construct validity were examined while confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were conducted. Results showed that the scales were low to moderately correlated with each other. Internal consistencies were acceptable for the Bully (α = .70), Fighting (α = .84), and Victimization (α = .88) Scales. Exploratory factor analysis revealed clean three-factor solutions with items loading on their intended factors and with few cross-loadings. Fit of the confirmatory factor analysis was good when items were treated as ordinal and two items were allowed to cross-load on more than one factor. The University of Illinois Bully, Fighting, and Victimization Scales show utility for use with clinically referred youth.     

Functional assessment, collaboration, and evidence-based treatment: Analysis of a team approach for addressing challenging behaviors in young children

This study examined the effects of functional assessment and positive behavior support on classroom behaviors of young children. An experimental program, entitled FACET, was implemented by school-based teams in pre-kindergarten through first-grade classrooms. Observations of child behaviors and classroom variables were compared between experimental and control classrooms. Results indicate that children in FACET classrooms made significant gains from baseline to post-intervention and exhibited a higher occurrence of positive behaviors and fewer negative behaviors compared to control children. Behavior gains were positively correlated with the level of treatment fidelity. These findings support the effectiveness of an intervention that incorporates functional assessment, collaboration, and evidence-based treatment with young children who exhibit challenging behaviors.     

Showing-off and aggression in young children

Showing off or display behavior of children has gained little attention in child psychology research, while in the ethological literature the same behavior is a well known phenomenon. To see what role display behavior plays in peer-peer interaction compared to threat and physical aggression, the behavior of 18 children between 3 and 6 years of age was recorded over an entire school year. The frequencies of display behavior, threat and physical aggression were examined and related to the amount of attention a child received from his peers. The attention-rank had proved to be highly related to leadership abilities as well as dominance in children. The results show interesting similarities between the frequency and temporal patterns of display and threat behavior and the attention children pay to each other. Furthermore, older children with more kindergarten experience as well as high status children show a different temporal pattern (high frequencies after holidays and low frequencies before) as well as a higher frequency of display and threat behavior than younger and low status children. Physical aggression is related to attention-rank but shows quite a different temporal pattern. It seems that display or showing off behavior serves as a strategy for children to get high regard in the group.     

Behavioural characteristics of adolescence in young captive european rabbits,oryctolagus cuniculus

The territoriality of young, wild-type European rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus was studied in the laboratory. The experimental procedure was to introduce a strange animal into the pen (“home”) of another rabbit and to record the occurrence of the following forms of behaviour: approach, sniffing, following and chasing, aggression. Altogether 290 rabbits of the following age classes were used - 16 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90, and 91 to 120 days old, and adult females and males The young rabbits were members of 62 separate litters Thirty tests were carried out for each of 21 age-class combinations giving a total of 630 separate tests each lasting 10 minutes. The data collected were subjected to statistical analysis using a multivariate parametric approach to paired comparisons The multiple discriminant analysis was used. The results indicated the preparedness of even the youngest rabbits to defend their own territory and the inhibiting effect of strange territory on all rabbits, except the 61–90-day-old subjects referred to as adolescents. The adolescents displayed aggression to younger as well as older rabbits. Within their own age group even a few days seniority of the introduced individual levelled the intensity of aggression of contestants. This behavioural characteristic was not present in the oldest age class (91–120 days old). The results are discussed in relation to information on the behaviour of free-living rabbits. The innate nature of territoriality of the species is emphasised.     

Media depictions of physical and relational aggression: connections with aggression in young adults' romantic relationships

Various studies have found that viewing physical or relational aggression in the media can impact subsequent engagement in aggressive behavior. However, this has rarely been examined in the context of relationships. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine the connection between viewing various types of aggression in the media and perpetration of aggression against a romantic partner. A total of 369 young adults completed a variety of questionnaires asking for their perpetration of various forms of relationship aggression. Participants' exposure to both physical and relational aggression in the media was also assessed. As a whole, we found a relationship between viewing aggression in the media and perpetration of aggression; however, this depended on the sex of the participant and the type of aggression measured. Specifically, exposure to physical violence in the media was related to engagement in physical aggression against their partner only for men. However, exposure to relational aggression in the media was related to romantic relational aggression for both men and women.     

Teacher report and direct assessment of preferences for identifying reinforcers for young children

Teachers were asked to identify and rank 10 preferred stimuli for 9 toddlers, and a hierarchy of preference for these items was determined via a direct preference assessment. The reinforcing efficacy of the most highly preferred items identified by each method was evaluated concurrently in a reinforcer assessment. The reinforcer assessment showed that all stimuli identified as highly preferred via the direct preference assessment and teacher rankings functioned as reinforcers. The highest ranked stimuli in the direct assessment were more reinforcing than the teachers' top-ranked stimuli for 5 of 9 participants, whereas the teachers' top-ranked stimulus was more reinforcing than the highest ranked stimulus of the direct assessment for only 1 child. A strong positive correlation between rankings generated through the two assessments was identified for only 1 of the 9 participants. Despite poor correspondence between rankings generated through the teacher interview and direct preference assessment, results of the reinforcer assessment suggest that both methods are effective in identifying reinforcers for toddlers.     

Keep calm and carry on: Maintaining self-control when intoxicated,upset, or depleted

This study tested within-person associations between intoxication, negative affect, and self-control demands and two forms of self-control failure, interpersonal conflict, and neglecting responsibilities. Effortful control was hypothesised to act as a buffer, reducing individual susceptibility to these within-person effects. In contrast, reactivity was hypothesised to potentiate the within-person associations. 274 young adults aged 18–27 (56% women, 93% white) completed experience sampling assessments for up to 49 days over the course of 1.3 years. Results indicated independent within-person effects of intoxication, negative affect, and self-control demands on the outcomes. Hypothesised moderating effects of reactivity were not supported. Effortful control did not moderate the effects of self-control demands as expected. However, effortful control exhibited a protective effect when individuals were intoxicated or upset to reduce the likelihood of maladaptive behavioural outcomes.     

Group membership,group norms,empathy, and young children's intentions to aggress

This study assessed the effect of ingroup norms and empathy on 6 and 9‐year‐old children's (N=161) attitudes and aggressive intentions toward outgroup members. Prior to an intergroup drawing competition against an outgroup, participants' empathy was measured, and they were randomly assigned to a simulated group with a norm of direct or indirect aggression, or no aggression norm. Results indicated participants' attitudes were less positive toward the outgroup vs. the ingroup, and that both direct and indirect aggressive intentions were displayed toward the outgroup. Most importantly, the ingroup was liked less when it had an aggression norm, and the participants' aggressive intentions were not enhanced by the group aggression norm. Empathy was a significant negative predictor of direct but not indirect aggression intentions. Implications for understanding the instigation and inhibition of children's aggression intentions are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 35:244–258, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.