Emotional intelligence and aggression among South African adolescents: Preliminary evidence

We investigated gender differences in emotional intelligence and aggression among South African adolescents. Four hundred and forty-four adolescents (female =51.4 %; mean age =15.5 years, SD= 1.42 years; rural residence = 35.5%, urban residence = 65.5%) completed an emotional intelligence scale and an aggression expression survey. Exploratory independent sample t-test analysis revealed female adolescents to score higher on perception of and management of emotions than male adolescents. Female adolescents also scored higher on verbal aggression than their male peers, whereas male adolescents scored higher on physical aggression than the female adolescents.     

Peer Victimization and Aggression: Moderation by Individual Differences in Salivary Cortiol and Alpha-Amylase

This research examined whether variations in salivary measures of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (cortisol) and autonomic nervous system (alpha amylase [sAA]) contribute to individual differences in the association between peer victimization and aggression. Children (N = 132; M age = 9.46 years, SD = 0.33) completed a measure of peer victimization, teachers rated children’s aggression, and children’s saliva was collected prior to, and following, participation in a laboratory-based peer-oriented social challenge task. Children rated their level of frustration at the end of the task. Results revealed that victimization interacted with cortisol and sAA measured in anticipation of the task to predict aggression; the victimization × cortisol contribution to aggression was partly mediated by children’s self-reported frustration level. Victimization also was associated with heightened frustration in girls with high task-related sAA reactivity. Task-related sAA reactivity was associated with heightened aggression, but only for girls. These findings suggest that associations between peer victimization and aggression are moderated by variation in the activity of the major components of the psychobiology of stress; results are discussed in relation to theoretical models of individual differences in biological sensitivity to context.     

An empirical examination of sex differences in scoring preschool children's aggression

Sex differences in adults’ observations and ratings of children’s aggression was studied in a sample of preschool children (N = 89, mean age = 44.00 months, SD = 8.48). When examining the direct observations made by trained observers, male observers, relative to female observers, more frequently recorded aggressive bouts, especially of boys. On rating scales assessing aggression, trained male raters also gave higher aggressive ratings than female raters. Lastly, we compared the ratings of trained female raters and female teachers on the same scale and found no differences. Results are discussed in terms male raters’ and observers’ prior experiences in activating their experiential schemata where males’ greater experience in aggression, relative to that of females, leads them to perceive greater levels of aggression.     

Personality and individual differences in responses to aggression triggering events among prisoners and non-prisoners

This paper examines the relationships between individual differences in situational triggers of aggressive behaviors (STAR) and the FFM personality traits. The investigation, conducted among Polish male and female offenders and students, revealed different relationships across samples. Among students, higher sensitivity to frustration and provocation was related to higher Neuroticism and lower Agreeableness and sensitivity to provoking situations to lower Openness to Experience. Among prisoners, however, lower Agreeableness was negatively linked to being more sensitive to provocation. Furthermore, the study found sex differences in STAR scales in the student sample but not the prisoners’ sample.     

How sensitivity to provocation shapes encoding and interpretation of ambivalent scenes in an eye tracking study

ABSTRACT

Hostility bias is based on the attribution of intentionality, personality traits such as trait anger and sensitivity to provocation (SP), as well as gender. Eye-tracking studies have shown that, prior to the interpretation of everyday social encounters, people might pay attention to hostile and non-hostile cues differently depending on trait anger; however, little is known about the encoding patterns of individuals sensitive to provocation. We conducted two studies, one of which was on interpretation and the other on encoding. Study 1 (N = 75) found that people low in SP gazed significantly longer at non-hostile cues than at hostile cues. Study 2 (N = 197, 84 men) revealed a significant interaction for judgment of intentionality in ambiguous scenes between gender and both SP and trait-anger; SP, trait anger and intentionality were negatively related in females, whereas in males they were positively related, although the relationships themselves (simple effects) were non-significant.     

Boys’ and Girls’ Relational and Physical Aggression in Nine Countries

Distinguishing between relational and physical aggression has become a key feature of many developmental studies in North America and Western Europe, but very little information is available on relational and physical aggression in more diverse cultural contexts. This study examined the factor structure of, associations between, and gender differences in relational and physical aggression in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Children ages 7–10 years (N = 1,410) reported on their relationally and physically aggressive behavior. Relational and physical aggression shared a common factor structure across countries. In all nine countries, relational and physical aggression were significantly correlated (average r = .49). Countries differed in the mean levels of both relational and physical aggression that children reported using and with respect to whether children reported using more physical than relational aggression or more relational than physical aggression. Boys reported being more physically aggressive than girls across all nine countries; no consistent gender differences emerged in relational aggression. Despite mean‐level differences in relational and physical aggression across countries, the findings provided support for cross‐country similarities in associations between relational and physical aggression as well as links between gender and aggression. Aggr. Behav. 38:298‐308, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Birth Order Position and Prosocial Tendencies

This study investigated the relationship between psychological birth order position and different types and levels of prosocial tendencies. An ex postfacto, between-family research design was used. Data on prosocial tendencies were obtained from 888 college students (females = 80.4%, mean age = 20.94 yrs, SD = 2.83; males = 19.6%, mean age = 21.62 yrs, SD = 2.44). Participants completed a biographical questionnaire as well as the Prosocial Tendencies Measure (Carlo & Randall, 2002). Data were analysed to compare and contrast prosocial tendencies between demographics using parametric ANOVAs, t tests and the Mann-Whitney Test. Significant differences in prosocial tendency scores were only found between middle-borns and last-borns on altruism, with middle-borns scoring significantly higher in prosocial tendencies than last-borns. There is no evidence to suggest that a definitive link between prosocial tendencies and birth order exists in this study.     

Patients’ and Parents’ Perceptions of Appearance in Scoliosis Treated with a Brace: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

The perspective of trunk deformity is a matter of special concern for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients. No research group has ever reported interviewing patients and their parents regarding differences in perception of body appearance in the course of Cheneau brace treatment. We aimed to investigate the level of agreement in the field of concerns and perceptions of spinal appearance in relation to brace- and scoliosis-related data between parents and female patients with AIS, treated with a Cheneau brace, by means of the Spinal Appearance Questionnaire-pl (SAQ-pl). In this cross-sectional study forty-one pairs of parents and female patients with AIS were asked to separately complete the Polish versions of the Spinal Appearance Questionnaire-pl patient form (SAQ-pl patient form) and the SAQ-pl parent form. Age of patients was 13.60 years SD 1.60 (range 10–17). Patients scored 2.70 (SD 0.60) and parents scored 2.70 SD 0.60 in the total score of the SAQ-pl. The study groups do not differ significantly in regards to the SAQ-pl results. The percentage of consistent answers on SAQ-pl items ranges from 34.10 % (item 20) to 78 % (item 8). Height, age and brace-wearing time per day, were significantly related to the differences in the patient-parent General perception of body shape (r _s  = ?0.51, r _s  = ?0.34, r _s  = 0.36, respectively). Parents and female patients with AIS have similar concerns and perceptions of spinal appearance. The discrepancies in General perception of spinal appearance between parents and AIS females decrease with age of patient. Parental emotional support may contribute to minimizing the risk factors of psychological impairment, especially in late adolescents with AIS.     

Physical and Relational Aggression in Early Adolescence: Associations with Narcissism,Temperament, and Social Goals

This study examined adolescent narcissism, temperament (frustration and affiliation), and social goals in association with peer‐reported physical and relational aggression (N = 384; 12–14 years). Narcissism was positively associated with dominance goals and negatively with closeness goals for peer interaction. Moreover, narcissism was positively associated with physical aggression via dominance goals for boys, and with relational aggression via dominance goals for both genders. Temperamental frustration and affiliation were both positively associated with relational aggression, but also interacted in their associations with this variable; affiliation was positively associated with relational aggression only at high levels of frustration. Supporting and extending existing research, the present findings suggest that adolescent personality and social goals are meaningfully associated with physical and relational aggression in the peer context.     

Self‐esteem Is Mostly Stable Across Young Adulthood: Evidence from Latent STARTS Models

How stable is self‐esteem? This long‐standing debate has led to different conclusions across different areas of psychology. Longitudinal data and up‐to‐date statistical models have recently indicated that self‐esteem has stable and autoregressive trait‐like components and state‐like components. We applied latent STARTS models with the goal of replicating previous findings in a longitudinal sample of young adults (N = 4,532; M_age = 19.60, SD = 0.85; 55% female). In addition, we applied multigroup models to extend previous findings on different patterns of stability for men versus women and for people with high versus low levels of depressive symptoms. We found evidence for the general pattern of a major proportion of stable and autoregressive trait variance and a smaller yet substantial amount of state variance in self‐esteem across 10 years. Furthermore, multigroup models suggested substantial differences in the variance components: Females showed more state variability than males. Individuals with higher levels of depressive symptoms showed more state and less autoregressive trait variance in self‐esteem. Results are discussed with respect to the ongoing trait–state debate and possible implications of the group differences that we found in the stability of self‐esteem.     

Driving aggression in forensic and non‐forensic populations: Relationships to self‐reported levels of aggression,anger and impulsivity

A series of four questionnaires — the Buss‐Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS‐11), the Driving Anger Scale (DAS) and a Driving Violence Inventory (DVI) — were administered to a sample of 473 British drivers consisting of undergraduates (N=185), members of the public (N=106) and offenders (N=182) serving sentences in closed prisons in England (violent=82, non‐violent=100). Offenders consistently rated acts of driving aggression as less severe compared with other drivers. Offender attributions of driving violence differed to other drivers in that they were equally likely to perceive obscene gesturing as high or low intensity responses; they also viewed assault as a high intensity response whereas members of the public rated it more severely. Trait levels of anger and aggression were the predictors of driving violence in all groups but previous aggressive behaviour was only a predictor for the offenders. Gender and age were found to be predictors of aggressive driving in non‐offenders. Even with the effects of age controlled, offenders (and violent offenders in particular) scored higher on measures of driving anger and aggression. These data suggest that offenders differ in their perceptions of aggressive behaviours experienced in everyday driving and as a consequence are more likely to commit acts that other drivers perceive as violent. As offenders are known to display similar perceptual biases in other domains, identified as precursors to their aggressive behaviour, it seems likely that experience effects (as reflected in the trait measures) underpin differences in driving aggression between offenders and non‐offenders.     

Consistencies in sex differences on the Cognitive Abilities Test across countries,grades, test forms,and cohorts

Background Strand, Deary, and Smith (2006) reported an analysis of sex differences on the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) for over 320,000 UK students 11–12 years old. Although mean differences were small, males were overrepresented at the upper and lower extremes of the score distributions on the quantitative and non‐verbal batteries and at the lower extreme of the verbal battery. Aims We investigate whether these results were unique to the UK or whether they would be seen in other countries, at other grades, cohorts, or forms of the test. Sample The sample consisted of three nationally representative cohorts of US students in grades 3 through 11 (total N = 318,599) for the 1984, 1992, and 2000 standardizations of the US version of the CAT. Methods We replicated and extended the Strand et al. (2006) results by comparing the proportions of males and females at each score level across countries (UK vs. US), grades (3–11), and cohorts/test forms (Forms 4, 5, and 6 standardized in 1984, 1992, and 2000, respectively). Results The results showed an astonishing consistency in sex differences across countries, grades, cohorts, and test forms. Conclusions Implications for the current debate about sex differences in quantitative reasoning abilities are discussed.     

Latent Profile Analysis of Psychopathy in Chinese Female Offenders

The present study aimed to identify meaningful subtypes of psychopathy among Chinese female offenders. A Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) based on the scores of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathic Scale was performed in a sample of Chinese female prisoners (N?=?279, M age?=?45.43, SD?=?8.62). The LPA yielded three profiles: “low psychopathy group” (27.6%), “moderate psychopathy group” (66.7%), and “high egocentricity and antisocial group” (5.7%). These profiles differed on all outcome variables including anxiety, depression, reactive aggression, and proactive aggression. The high egocentricity and antisocial group had a greater risk for anxiety, recidivism, impulsiveness, and aggression. Overall, the findings support the existence of psychopathy subtypes in non-Western cultural contexts, suggest gender similarities in the manifestation of psychopathy traits, and further the understanding of psychopathy typologies.

     

The Influence of Avoidance Temperament and Avoidance‐Based Achievement Goals on Flow

In the present research, we conducted two studies designed to examine the joint influence of avoidance temperament and avoidance‐based achievement goals on the experience of flow on a creativity task. In both a laboratory study (N = 101; M_age = 22.61, SD_age = 4.03; 74.3% female) and a naturalistic study (N = 102; M_age = 16.23, SD_age = 1.13; 48% female), participants high in avoidance temperament were shown to experience greater flow when performance‐avoidance goals were induced; no differences were found in any of the other three achievement goal conditions from the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework. These findings reveal a short‐term benefit for a disposition‐goal match grounded in avoidance motivation, and point to the need for more research on both avoidance‐based matches and the short‐term versus long‐term implications of such matches.     

Gender effects among undergraduates relating to suicide risk, impulsivity, aggression and self-efficacy

The present study investigated the association of impulsivity, aggression and self-efficacy with protective factors against suicide. The study population consisted of 300 Italian university students (141 males, 159 females); mean age 24.2 (SD = 3.01). Participants were assessed by means of the Reasons for Living Inventory, the Aggression Questionnaire, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Correlations between reasons for living and aggression and impulsivity scores were weak. However, for those individuals with high self-efficacy, aggression and impulsivity were associated with stronger reasons for living. These results support the possibility that increasing general self-efficacy could be a useful target for interventions directed toward suicide prevention in individuals with problems in emotional control.     

Jealousy mediates the relationship between attractiveness comparison and females' indirect aggression

Indirect aggression is considered an evolutionarily adaptive mechanism that can improve female mating success. It has been hypothesized that indirect aggression toward romantic partners and peers is used more frequently by females who make appearance‐based comparisons and that these relationships are mediated by jealousy. Females (N = 528) currently in romantic relationships were surveyed. Results confirmed females who made more frequent appearance comparisons aggressed more often toward partners and peers. Low‐comparing females reported being more frequent targets of peer indirect aggression. Jealousy partially mediated the relationships between making frequent attractiveness comparisons and indirect aggression. Results are discussed as effort allocated toward deterring partner defection and fending off rivals, and the role of emotion as a motivational influence for aggression.     

Exploration into the sources of individual differences in Aggression-, Hostility- and Anger-related (AHA) personality traits

In this study a behavior-genetic approach was used to identify sources of individual differences in Aggression-, Hostility- and Anger-related (AHA) personality traits (as measured with Spielberger's anger scales and scales from the Karolinska Scales of Personality), based on a sample (N = 140 individuals) that comprised of monozygotic twin pairs reared together (N_pairs = 26) or reared apart (N_pairs = 15), and dizygotic twin pairs reared together (N_pairs = 29). In general, the results suggest that environmental factors account for sibling similarity in hostility, whereas genetic factors account for sibling similarity in angry aggression and irritability (trait anger).     

Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal Axis Functioning in Reactive and Proactive Aggression in Children

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis) reactivity and proactive and reactive aggression in pre-pubertal children. After a 30-min controlled base line period, 73 7-year-old children (40 males and 33 females) were randomly assigned to one of two experimental tasks designed to elicit fear (N = 33) or frustration (N = 32), or a validity check condition (N = 8). This was followed by a 60-min controlled regulation phase. A total of 17 saliva samples for cortisol analysis were collected including 12 post-stress samples at 5-min intervals. Reactive and proactive aggression levels were assessed via the teacher-completed Aggression Behavior Teacher Checklist (Dodge and Coie, J Pers Soc Psychol, 53(6), 1146–1158, 1987). Reactive aggression significantly predicted total and peak post-stress cortisol regardless of stress modality. Proactive aggression was not a predictor of any cortisol index. Examination of pure reactive, proactive, combined, or non-aggressive children indicated that reactive aggressive children had higher cortisol reactivity than proactive and non-aggressive children. Our data suggest that while an overactive HPA-axis response to stress is associated with reactive aggression, stress induced HPA-axis variability does not seem to be related to proactive aggression.     

On becoming a leader: Effects of gender and cultural differences on power distance reduction

The present research focused on power processes in a simulated organizational structure consisting of three hierarchical levels occupied by different numbers of mules and females. Subjects were presented with a chart showing the organizational hierarchy of which they were a member placed at the lowest level, and asked to nominate any person for the leader position vacated by the current incumbent. The results of Experiment I (n = 88 Dutch male and female university students) showed that male subjects strongly overnominated themselves, whereas a majority of the female subjects nominated either self or another female. Of the others that were nominated by both males and females, almost all were occupants of positions immediately below the leader position, indicating the normative influence of a bureaucratic rule of leader succession. Experiment 2 was a replicational study carried out in a different culture (n = lOl Polish male and female university students). Polish subjects adhered to the bureaucratic rule more strongly than their Dutch counterparts, and both females and males nominated mostly males. Results are discussed with reference to gender self-stereotypes and cultural differences.     

Sound the Alarm: The Effect of Narcissism on Retaliatory Aggression Is Moderated by dACC Reactivity to Rejection

Narcissists behave aggressively when their egos are threatened by interpersonal insults. This effect has been explained in terms of narcissists' motivation to reduce the discrepancy between their grandiose self and its threatened version, though no research has directly tested this hypothesis. If this notion is true, the link between narcissism and retaliatory aggression should be moderated by neural structures that subserve discrepancy detection, such as the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). This study tested the hypothesis that narcissism would only predict greater retaliatory aggression in response to social rejection when the dACC was recruited by the threat. Thirty participants (15 females; M_age = 18.86, SD = 1.25; 77% White) completed a trait narcissism inventory, were socially accepted and then rejected while undergoing fMRI, and then could behave aggressively toward one of the rejecters by blasting him or her with unpleasant noise. When narcissists displayed greater dACC activation during rejection, they behaved aggressively. But there was only a weak or nonsignificant relation between narcissism and aggression among participants with a blunted dACC response. Narcissism's role in aggressive retaliation to interpersonal threats is likely determined by the extent to which the brain's discrepancy detector registers the newly created gap between the grandiose and threatened selves.