Verbalized anger and accusatory "you" messages as cues for anger and antagonism among adolescents.

This study investigated the impact of communications of negative feelings between adolescents in close relationships. High school boys and girls were asked to imagine discussing a relationship problem with a personally close partner and to rate likely reactions to four kinds of statements: assertively expressed distress, assertively expressed anger, aggressively expressed distress, and aggressively expressed anger. Accusatory "you" statements were rated as more aversive and evoked stronger antagonistic response inclinations than assertive "I" statements. Statements depicting anger were rated as more aversive and evoked stronger antagonistic response inclinations than statements depicting distress. Results were similar for boys and girls. Implications of the findings and directions for further research are discussed.     

Boredom proneness in anger and aggression: effects of impulsiveness and sensation seeking

The present study was a replication and extension of Rupp and Vodanovich’s (1997) work on the role of boredom proneness in anger expression and aggression. In addition to replicating their primary analyses, impulsiveness and sensation seeking were included to determine the potential impact of these variables on the relationships between boredom proneness and anger and aggression. Two hundred and twenty-four college student volunteers completed measures of boredom proneness, impulsiveness, sensation seeking, anger expression, and aggression. Findings were consistent with Rupp and Vodanovich (1997) but demonstrated more pervasive effects of external boredom proneness on aggression. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the relationships between external boredom proneness and trait anger, anger expression/control, and aggression persisted even after accounting for impulsiveness and sensation seeking. Boredom due to a lack of external stimulation predicted one’s propensity to experience anger, maladaptive anger expression, aggression, and deficits in anger control.     

Attribution and aggression: The misattribution of anger

An experiment was designed to test the effect of misattribution of anger on subsequent aggression. Subjects were induced to take a placebo with half of the subjects led to expect arousal symptoms and the other half led to expect relaxation. Crosscutting the pill manipulation, half of the subjects were provoked by a confederate and half were not. All subjects were then given an opportunity to aggress against the confederate. As predicted, relaxation pill-provoked subjects were significantly more aggressive than subjects in the other conditions (p < .025), with arousal pill-provoked subjects no more aggressive than no provocation controls.     

Individual differences in anger and displaced aggression: The role of metacognitive beliefs and anger rumination

Metacognitive model is a theoretical approach aimed to explain emotion dysregulation and others emotion-related issues, such anger, and aggressive behavior. From this model, people having higher maladaptive metacognitive beliefs (e.g., “I can't control my thoughts”) are more likely to activate and maintain anger rumination and, in turn, to experience higher levels of anger and to act aggressively. Preliminary evidence shows the role of metacognitive beliefs on anger rumination and anger levels, whereas no studies have examined its association with aggressive behavior. This study first examined the associations between metacognitive beliefs, anger rumination, anger levels, and the propensity to engage in displaced aggression, and second, the mediation role of anger rumination in the relations among metacognitive beliefs and anger and displaced aggression. Participants were 947 students and non-students from general population recruited in two different countries (Australia and Spain). Correlational analyses revealed a similar pattern of results in the Australian and Spanish sample, with participants having dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs also showing higher anger rumination, higher levels of anger and a higher tendency to act aggressively. Structural equation analyses revealed the associations of metacognitive beliefs with anger levels and displaced aggression was fully mediated by anger rumination in both samples. These results suggest that metacognitive beliefs should be considered in comprehensive models and in the therapy of anger problems and aggression.     

Concurrent and prospective effects of multi‐dimensional aggression and anger on adolescent alcohol use

This study examined the relationship between alcohol, anger, and aggression in high school students. Anger and three types of aggressive expression (verbal, physical toward people, and physical toward objects) were evaluated cross‐sectionally and prospectively, via structural equation modeling for relationships to alcohol use in Mexican American and white non‐Latino 9–10th (Time 1) and 11–12th grade (Time 2) students. At both times cross‐sectionally, anger and aggressive anger expression tended to correlate positively with alcohol use in each ethnicity/gender group. However, prospectively, aggressive forms of anger expression tended not to be related to alcohol use two years later. Only verbally aggressive anger expression was related to alcohol use two years later and then, only for Mexican American and white non‐Latino females. There was, therefore, little basis for causal links between aggressive anger expression and alcohol use in a general population of high school students. Aggress. Behav. 30:356–372, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Chewing on it can chew you up: effects of rumination on triggered displaced aggression

Ruminating about a provocation increases the likelihood of displaced aggression following a minor annoyance (trigger). In Study 1, provoked participants who ruminated for 25 min were more aggressive toward a fumbling confederate than were distracted participants. Provocation-induced negative affect was positively related to aggression but only among those who ruminated. Study 2 conceptually replicated Study 1 and also found that the more negatively people reacted to the trigger, the more likely the trigger was to increase displaced aggression. Study 3 replicated the findings of Studies 1 and 2 by using an 8-hr rumination period. All 3 studies suggest that ruminating about a provocation increases the likelihood that a minor triggering annoyance will increase displaced aggression.     

Contingent on contingencies: Connections between anger rumination,self-esteem,and aggression

Mixed findings have engendered debate regarding the relationship between self-esteem and aggression. The present study tested the hypothesis that the contingency of perceived self-worth on external factors (i.e., contingent self-esteem) predicts aggression, particularly reactive, over and above global self-esteem, and that anger rumination exacerbates this relationship. The potential moderating role of gender was also considered. Regression analyses on a sample of 729 undergraduates revealed that contingent self-esteem interacts with both anger rumination and gender to predict reactive aggression. In combination with observations for proactive aggression, results of the present study suggest that the variation in previous findings may be at least partly explained by failure to account for the influences of self-esteem contingency, gender, and functional subtypes of aggression.     

Nonlinear judgment analysis: Comparing policy use by those who draft and those who coach

ObjectivesIn the NBA draft, talent potential is assessed by a group of evaluators (e.g., coaches, personnel directors, general managers) who determine the order in which players are drafted, and talent actualization is assessed by a second group of evaluators (coaches) who determine how much time players spend on the court. This study examines the cue use by these two groups and considers the utility of a nonlinear assessment technique.MethodThe implicit policies used by talent evaluators were examined using both linear regression and nonlinear backpropagation.ResultsAlthough both groups heavily value scoring, discrepancies were observed among the other characteristics. The use of a nonlinear technique produced better cross-validated fits than linear regression, but the rank ordering of cue importance produced by both models was generally similar.ConclusionsPlayers favored by draft personnel primarily become scorers whereas coaches value a wider range of skills. The nonlinear approach better captured the policies of groups of evaluators and should be used to assess potential incongruities among judges of talent.     

The word "bioethics": its birth and the legacies of those who shaped it

Extensive historical sleuthing reveals that the word "bioethics" and the field of study it names experienced, in 1970/1971, a "bilocated birth" in Madison, Wisconsin, and in Washington, D.C. Van Rensselaer Potter, at the University of Wisconsin first coined the term; and André Hellegers, at Georgetown University, at the very least, latched onto the already-existing word "bioethics" and first used it in an institutional way to designate the focused area of inquiry that became an academic field of learning and a movement regarding public policy and the life sciences. A further comparison of the Potter and the Hellegers/Georgetown understandings of bioethics and the relative acceptance of the two views will appear in the March 1995 issue of this journal.     

攻击动机对特质愤怒与反应性攻击关系的中介作用：一项纵向研究

特质愤怒是影响反应性攻击的重要人格因素, 反应性攻击的提出是基于攻击动机, 但是特质愤怒影响反应性攻击的动机机制尚不清楚。本研究假设特质愤怒可以通过增强反应性攻击的特异性动机(即敌意性动机)以及反应性攻击与主动性攻击的共同性动机(即道德准许动机)来纵向预测反应性攻击。为了检验该假设, 对5个省市共1007名大学生的特质愤怒、敌意归因偏向(代表敌意性动机)和道德推脱(代表道德准许动机)、反应性攻击与主动性攻击进行了3次追踪调查。结果显示：(1)在控制性别后, 第一个时间点的特质愤怒可以通过第二个时间点的敌意归因偏向和道德推脱预测第三个时间点的反应性攻击; (2)敌意归因偏向只能纵向预测反应性攻击, 而不能跨时间预测主动性攻击; (3)道德推脱可以纵向预测反应性攻击和主动性攻击。这一结果支持了特质愤怒影响反应性攻击的动机模型, 发展了人格与攻击关系的理论与研究, 对于揭示反应性攻击形成的动机机制具有积极作用。     

Account-giving for a corporate transgression influences moral judgment: when those who "spin" condone harm-doing

Generating some types of accounts-justifications, excuses, or apologies--for an organization's harm-doing increases condoning of a transgression compared with generating denials or not having to explain a transgression. In Experiment 1. students (N = 324) were required either to explain a corporation's use of child labor to manufacture its products or merely to read about it. Explaining decreased condemnation of the offense compared with when no explanation was required. In Experiment 2, students (N = 101) either justified the corporation's harm-doing or denied that the corporation had harmed employees, with justifications increasing condoning more than denials. In Experiment 3, students (N = 113) either wrote an apology or wrote a denial, with apologizers condoning harm-doing more than deniers. Differences appear to be due to some accounts eliciting cognitive elaboration on the misdeed.     

Violent video games and anger as predictors of aggression

Considerable research has demonstrated that playing violent video games can increase aggression. The theoretical framework upon which a good deal of this research has rested is known as the General Aggression Model (GAM; [Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2002). Human aggression. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 27–51]). The current study tested an assumption of the GAM by examining if the dispositional trait of anger moderated the relation between violent video games and aggression. A total of 167 undergraduate students (79 females, 88 males) first completed a measure of anger and were then randomly assigned to play either a non-violent or violent video game. After the video game play period, participants completed ambiguous story stems in order to assess aggression. Consistent with predictions of the GAM, anger significantly moderated the effect of video game violence on aggression. Specifically, participants who were angry were more affected by violent video games than participants who were not angry.     

Understanding driver anger and aggression: attributional theory in the driving environment

Two studies tested the applicability of Weiner's (1995, 1996, 2001, 2006) attributional model of social conduct to roadway environments. This model highlights the role of inferences of responsibility after making causal judgments for social transgressions. Study 1 employed written scenarios where participants were asked to imagine themselves driving on a major highway. The degree of controllability and intentionality of the driving act was manipulated experimentally by altering the specific event-related details provided to the participants. Study 2 extended this research to life events by having participants complete online driving diaries every 2 days, identifying their most negative/upsetting encounter with another motorist. The most anger-provoking event was selected from among 4 diary entries and participants were asked to respond to a questionnaire similar to that used in Study 1. Path analyses in both studies generally supported predictions derived from Weiner's model; the association between perceived controllability, intentionality, and dispositional locus of causality of the negative driving event and subsequent anger was mediated by perceptions of responsibility. Additional results in Study 2 suggested that low perceived controllability, intentionality, and dispositional locus of causality were associated with reduced perceived responsibility, which, in turn, facilitated feelings of sympathy. Anger was associated with aggressive responses to the offending driver, whereas sympathy was associated with prosocial responses. Recommendations were offered for improved driver safety, including the development of attributional retraining programs to combat self-serving attributional biases, teaching novice drivers about both formal and informal roadway communication, and the promotion of forgiveness among drivers     

State anger and prefrontal brain activity: evidence that insult-related relative left-prefrontal activation is associated with experienced anger and aggression

Research has demonstrated that left-prefrontal cortical activity is associated with positive affect, or approach motivation, and that right-prefrontal cortical activity is associated with negative affect, or withdrawal motivation. In past research, emotional valence (positive-negative) has been confounded with motivational direction (approach-withdrawal), such that, for instance, the only emotions examined were both positive and approach related. Recent research has demonstrated that trait anger, a negative but approach-related emotion, is associated with increased left-prefrontal and decreased right-prefrontal activity, suggesting that prefrontal asymmetrical activity is associated with motivational direction and not emotional valence. The present experiment tested whether state-induced anger is associated with relative left-prefrontal activity and whether this prefrontal activity is also associated with aggression. Results supported these hypotheses.