The reduction of attack instigated aggression

Thirty subjects competed with an opponent in a reaction time task to avoid receiving shock. The opponent initially set only the highest possible intensity shock for the subjects. The opponent then adopted one of three strategies to reduce the intensity of shocks set by the subjects. In one condition the opponent set shock intensities which matched those set by the subject. In a second condition the opponent set shocks which were not contingent upon those set by the subject but which were identical to those set by the opponent who matched the subject's settings. The opponent in the third condition suddenly reduced the intensity of his settings and chose only the least intense possible shock for the subject. All three conditions resulted in reduced aggression. This decrement was greatest and most rapid among those subjects who were exposed to a precipitous decrease in the intensity of attack.     

The consequences of noncooperation for the target of third party instigated aggression

Consequences for a new target as a function of noncooperation was investigated in the instigative aggression paradigm. Subjects instigated partners to aggress against an opponent by suggesting what shock intensity to deliver. The partner was either cooperative (i.e., complied with the suggestion) or noncooperative (i.e., refused to set high shocks). Subsequently, subjects were given the opportunity to be directly aggressive by actually setting the shocks themselves. During this phase a new target who was nonprovocative was introduced. Subjects aggressed alone, in the presence of their partner, or in the presence of a new person. Results revealed that noncooperation reduced the level of instigative aggression and carried over to the second phase of the experiment. Subjects who had had cooperative partners were more aggressive toward the new target than were subjects who had had noncooperative partners. The presence or absence of the partner was not significant.     

Attacker's intent and awareness of outcome,impression management,and retaliation

Female Japanese students who were engaged in a calculation task were given electric shocks by a female opponent. The subjects were informed that the opponent had an intent to shock them either severely or mildly. In addition, the opponent's awareness of the outcome of attack was independently manipulated: (1) the subjects received shocks whose intensity corresponded to the opponent's intent, (2) the subjects received shocks whose intensity was inversely proportional to the intensity intended by the opponent and were informed that the opponent did not know about it, or (3) the subjects received reversed shocks as in condition (2), but were further informed that the opponent was well aware of it. An ANOVA of the measure of retaliation in terms of the intensity of shocks delivered to the opponent indicated that (1) the subjects showed more aggression of greater intensity against an opponent who apparently had an aggressive intent than the one who did not, regardless of the actual level of shock intensity; (2) when the severe attack failed, the subjects lowered aggression when the opponent was apparently aware of it as opposed to when she was not; and (3) when the subjects received severe shocks accidentally, they increased aggression when the opponent was apparently aware of it compared to when she was not. These results led us to interpret retaliation as being mediated both by the attribution of intent to the attacker and by self-presentation to the attacker and the experimenter.     

Some personality factors in reaction to aggressive stimuli

A word association test which included aggressive stimuli (weapon names) was given to college students. Those whose responses were relatively high or low in emotionality were asked to participate in a “study of stress reactions to electric shock” When the subject arrived at the laboratory, he and a partner were given tasks to perform The partner, a confederate of the experimenter, gave the subject an unfairly high number of shocks in judging the subject's performance The subject then judged the partner's work, using shock Half the subjects were in the apparently accidental presence of guns when given the chance to retaliate Among low-emotionality subjects, the presence of guns increased the number of shocks given the partner, as Berkowitz and LePage found High-emotionality subjects tended to give the partner longer shocks than low subjects, whether guns were present or not. In contrast to the low subjects, when guns were present, highs tended to give shocks of shorter duration and to report lowered anger, as if the aggressive stimuli had dampened the intensity of their reaction. The results as a whole indicate that the perceptual set for aggressive stimuli and the presence of such stimuli have an interactive effect on aggressive tendencies     

Third party instigation of aggression as a function of attack and vulnerability

Subjects serving as advisors instructed a confederate which shock intensity to deliver to an opponent in a reaction-time competition; subjects could also directly aggress by setting shock for the opponent's partner. Vulnerable subjects (shock electrode on) both instigated less aggression, i.e., suggested that less intense shocks be set, and directly aggressed less frequently than nonvulnerable subjects (no shock electrode). Attacked subjects, those for whom the opponents set shock, both instigated more aggression and more frequently set shock than did nonattacked subjects. The relationship between vulnerability and attack was additive for instigative aggression and multiplicative for direct aggression. Both modes of aggression were significantly influenced by the intensity of provocation from the opponents.     

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.     

Coping patterns in shock anticipation and in everyday stress

Abstract.— GSR patterns were studied in 30 subjects anticipating and receiving electric shocks with high but not definitive probability. Although the majority of subjects showed anticipatory responses, six subjects displayed low or no response during anticipation but very high responses to shocks. As these subjects also reported that during anticipation they tended to deny the possibility of receiving a shock, their response pattern was interpreted as indicating denial of threat, and consequently, little preparation for stress. Self reports about behavior in everyday stress revealed a similar kind of behavior.     

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.     

Third party instigated aggression as a function of attack pattern and a nonaggressive response option

In the present study, subjects suggested what shock intensity a confederate should set for her opponent in a reaction time competition. Opponents displayed one of three attack patterns: increasing, decreasing, or minimal provocation. Also, for half the subjects a “no shock” option was available. A control group who had the nonaggressive option and for whom the opponent was nonaggressive (always chose “no shock”) was included. Results revealed that subjects' responses were governed by the norm of reciprocity; also the option reduced instigative aggression for subjects encountering increasing and decreasing provocation, while elevating aggressive response when the opponent was minimally provocative. Results are discussed in terms of attribution and locus of control.     

The use of strategies and messages to alter aggressive interactions

Male and female college students were instigated to aggression by a confederate's shocks during a preliminary task. The confederate informed half of the treatment subjects of the response strategy which he intended to adopt. The other half received an irrelevant message. All subjects then competed against the confederate, who employed one of the following five response consequence strategies: a) set a maximum shock on all trials; b) set a minimum shock on all trials; c) set shocks identical to the subject's response on the preceding trial; d) set shocks two settings below the subject's response; or e) set shocks two settings above the subject's. The subject's latency to setting a shock, the intensities of the shocks set, the durations of the shock settings, and the subject's reaction times were recorded. When an irrelevant message was delivered, passive responses, well below those of the opponent, resulted in the lowest level of retaliation. In the presence of a relevant message, the match-same strategy emerged as an effective deterrent to aggressive behavior. The results were found to be consistent with predictions derived from an application of the norm of reciprocity and research demonstrating the enhancing effects achieved through the communication of existing contingencies.     

The short-term influence of high and low intensity physical exercise on mood

Abstract

This study was designed to replicate and extend previous observations that the acute response to high intensity exercise is an increase in anxiety and other negative feelings. Forty female volunteers were allocated to two conditions—20 exercised at high level (100W) for 1.5 min, while 20 exercised at a low level (ZW). The purpose of the experiment was disguised. Mood was assessed before. during and immediately after exercise, and over a 1.5-min recovery period. Subjects were subsequently divided into highly and moderately fit groups on the basis of cardiac responses to a standard workload. It was found that tensiodanxiety increased immediately after high intensity exercise, declining over the recovery period. A similar pattern was found for mental fatigue. During exercise itself, anxiety diminished in the low but not the high intensity condition, No differences between fitness groups were observed in these patterns, although highly fit subjects reported greater mental vigour and exhilaration than moderately fit subjects following high intensity exercise. The mechanisms that may mediate these responses are discussed.     

Effect of CS-US pairings on shock-elicited aggression as a function of US intensity

In two experiments with paired rats, the effect of superimposing CS-US pairings on a baseline of shock-elicited aggression was studied. Baseline shocks (3.0 mA, 0.125-sec duration) occurred at a rate of 20 shocks per min throughout each session. In Experiment I, each independent group of two pairs of subjects received (in addition to baseline shocks) US shocks of 1.0, 3.0, or 5.0 mA and 5-sec duration, each shock signalled by a 1-min CS. At all three US intensities, aggression increased during the CS. In Experiment II, pairs of subjects received each unconditioned stimulus intensity in a within-subjects design. This procedure revealed a direct relationship between rate of responding and unconditioned shock intensity.     

Gender differences in emotional and overt/covert aggressive responses to stress

We examined the role of stress exposure on gender differences in hostile (emotional and behavioral) reactions within the context of a laboratory paradigm. Aggressive behavior was indexed via the intensity (overt) and the duration (covert) of putative shocks delivered to a confederate. Half of the participants were exposed to a chronic stressor (high stress) and half were not (low stress). Participants' emotional responses were measured via self-report mood ratings before and after the experiment. Men displayed higher aggression in both stress conditions, which corresponded to their ratings of state hostility. On the other hand, women in high stress delivered lower intensity shocks, and this decreased overt aggression was positively correlated with sadness ratings. However, women did not decrease their levels of shock duration (covert aggression) under high stress and showed equivalent shock duration compared with men in high stress. These findings are discussed in terms of differential overt manifestations of distress between men and women.     

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.     

THE MEDIATION OF RESISTANCE TO PERSUASION STRATEGIES BY LANGUAGE VARIABLES AND ACTIVE-PASSIVE PARTICIPATION

This investigation attempted to confer resistance to persuasion by inoculating people with either supportive, refutational, or combination pretreatment messages. Following inoculation, subjects either passively received a high or low intense attack message or actively encoded a message of high or low intensity. As predicted, there was a significant interaction between type of attack and level of language intensity. Discussion centered on the effects of language intensity as a mediator of attitude change in yet another persuasive paradigm.     

Persistent shock-elicited responding engendered by a negative-reinforcement procedure

A procedure in which responses reduced intermittently presented electric shocks to one quarter of their originally scheduled intensity, effectively engendered and maintained lever pressing in hooded rats. This contingency also markedly increased the response rates of rats initially trained under an unsignaled avoidance procedure. The responding of all animals extinguished rapidly when shock was withdrawn. Subsequently, it was discovered that high response rates could be maintained solely through presentation of shocks that were not affected by responses. Variations in the interval between shocks and changes in shock intensity over a wide range did not attenuate responding. Terminal performance was characterized by a consistent pattern of shock-elicited responses. Responses were also elicited by a tone following repeated tone-shock pairings. Finally, responding that was maintained by response-independent shocks was quickly suppressed by response-contingent shocks of the same intensity.     

Individual differences in speed of retrieval from semantic memory

In the first of two experiments, the stimulus items consisted of category names followed by a single letter (e.g., fruit-P). The subjects (half introverted, half extraverted) were required to respond as quickly as possible with a member of the specified category starting with the letter. Extraverts responded significantly faster than introverts, and more so when the most likely response was of low frequency than when it was of high frequency. In the second experiment, subjects were assigned to one of four groups representing the four combinations of high and low Extraversion and high and low General Activation. The speed-of-recall task from the first experiment was used on some trials; on the remaining trials, a speed-of-recognition task was used. Extraverts had greater response speed than introverts for recall, but not for recognition. That finding, plus interactions between Extraversion and General Activation, suggested an interpretation of the results in terms of the Yerkes-Dodson Law.     

Instigating and measuring interpersonal aggression and hostility: A methodological contribution

Two experiments were conducted, employing a 2 × 2 factorial design, to assess both 1)a relatively controlled procedure for instigating aggressive inclinations and 2) a way of measuring interpersonal aggression that is much more subtle than most of the laboratory procedures now being used. In both of these experiments half of the subjects were provoked by exposing them to a self-esteem-threatening evaluation ostensibly from a peer. After this “treatment,” in experiment 1 all of the subjects had an opportunity to deliver electric shocks to the supposed other student, much as in many of the laboratory experiments in this area, and then rate that student. Shock intensity was not significantly correlated with the unfavorableness of these latter ratings, as if the subjects had reacted in different ways to the shocks they had delivered. In experiment 2, after the instigating treatment the subjects were allowed to withhold rewards from the other person whenever he made correct guesses on a supposed “ESP task.” In this procedure the behavioral hostility (withholding rewards) was positively correlated with the unfavorableness of the subsequent questionnaire ratings, apparently because the subjects were not fully aware of having expressed hostility.     

Third party instigation of aggression as a function of noncooperation and veto power

The purpose of the present study was to test the validity of three hypotheses previously offered to explain the attenuating effects of pacifistic noncooperation on instigative aggression. During part one of the experiment all subjects served as instigators; in the second part they actually set shocks for the target. Subjects instigated either a cooperative or noncooperative confederate, and either did or did not have veto power over the confederate's shock selections. Results of the study indicated that all hypotheses, norm-conformity, compliance, and maintenance of power, were viable for subgroups of subjects. Results were discussed in terms of individual differences and the temporarily inhibiting effects of passive resistance.     

High blushing propensity: fearful preoccupation or facial coloration?

Twenty-seven women with high scores on the Blushing Propensity Scale (BPS) and 26 women with low BPS scores were exposed to two different video segments. One video showed the subject's own singing, recorded in a previous session and the other video showed a segment of Hitchcock's movie Psycho. During the experiment, facial coloration, facial temperature, and skin conductance level were measured. In addition, subjects' blushing intensity was judged by raters. Finally, subjects were asked to rate their blushing intensity and fear of blushing during the video presentations. Subjects generally blushed more during the presentation of their singing than during comparison stimulation, as measured physiologically. There were no between group differences in this respect. No differences were found between the two groups on raters' judgements about blushing intensity. However, high BPS subjects dramatically overestimated their blushing intensity and were more afraid of blushing than low BPS subjects. During the mere presence of the raters, high BPS subjects tended to show a relatively strong coloration. Thus, the BPS seems to reflect both a fearful preoccupation and a stronger facial coloration.