Lex talionis: Testosterone and the law of retaliation

Research examining both the organizing and activating effects of testosterone in one-shot bargaining contexts has been vexed by inconsistencies. Some research finds that high-testosterone men are more likely to reject unfair offers in an ultimatum game and exogenous administration of testosterone to men leads to less generous offers. In contrast, other research finds that higher prenatal exposure to testosterone predicts more generous dictator game offers and administering testosterone to women leads to more generous ultimatum game offers. The current research seeks to resolve these inconsistencies by examining how the organizing effects of testosterone affect bargaining behavior. Because testosterone is associated with status seeking and concerns with social reputation, we hypothesized that testosterone would predict aggressive bargaining but only after provocation. Two studies found that prenatal testosterone exposure, as measured by 2D:4D ratio, led to aggressive responses for both males and females, but only after they received unfair offers. Furthermore, perceptions of fairness violations moderated but did not mediate the effect of testosterone on retributional responding. These results suggest that the organizing effects of testosterone have consistent effects on bargaining behavior for both males and females but its predictive ability requires some form of provocation to emerge.     

Testosterone and Proactive-Reactive Aggression in Youth: the Moderating Role of Harsh Discipline

This study tests a biosocial model of the link between testosterone and proactive-reactive aggression in youth at varying levels of harsh discipline. Given that proactive aggression is used to gain power and status and the importance of social learning in its formation, we hypothesized that testosterone would be associated with proactive aggression at higher levels of harsh discipline, and that this relationship would be more pronounced in boys than girls. Participants (n?=?445; 50% male; M age?=?11.92 years; 80% African-American) and their caregivers completed questionnaires including demographics, conflict tactics, and proactive-reactive aggression. Youth also provided a saliva sample for testosterone. Analyses revealed an interaction between testosterone and harsh discipline on proactive aggression in both boys and girls, and an interaction between testosterone and harsh discipline on reactive aggression in boys only. For those experiencing high levels of harsh discipline, testosterone was positively associated with proactive aggression, with the magnitude of the association increasing as harsh discipline increased. For below average levels of harsh discipline, there were protective effects of high testosterone for boy’s reactive aggression and for girl’s proactive aggression. The findings support basic tenets of the biosocial model which suggest that links between testosterone and aggressive behavior are dependent on contextual forces, highlighting the complex relationship between hormones, social context, and aggression. Novel findings include protective effects of high testosterone for those exposed to low levels of harsh discipline. Findings are discussed in light of the context-contingency effect and also within the differential susceptibility framework.     

Hormones and competitive aggression in women

This study used diaries of competitive interactions to explore the relationship between hormones and competitive aggression in women. Thirty women completed approximately 10 diary entries each. In each entry, the women described a recent competitive interaction they had engaged in and noted whether it was expressed aggressively or through other tactics. Each woman received a score for the fraction of her competitive interactions that were expressed using physical aggression, verbal aggression, nothing overt, and so on. Hormones (total testosterone, free testosterone, androstenedione, estradiol, and cortisol) were measured in serum early in the follicular phase. Results indicate that women with low levels of androstenedione and total testosterone were less likely to express their competitive feelings overtly, while women with high levels of androstenedione were more likely than other women to express their competitive feelings through verbal aggression. Estradiol was unrelated to competitive tactics, but women with high estradiol levels reported fewer competitive interactions over athletics than did other women. Aggr. Behav. 29:107–115, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Overt and relational forms of reactive aggression in adolescents: Relations with temperamental reactivity and self-regulation

This study examined whether overt and relational forms of reactive aggression were differentially related to adolescents’ temperament. Measures of adolescents’ temperament and aggression were completed by 670 adolescents (369 females), ages 10–17, and their mothers. Effortful control and fearfulness were inversely associated only with reactive–overt aggression, whereas frustration proneness was more strongly linked with reactive–relational aggression. Furthermore, amongst younger adolescents, effortful control had a larger association with reactive–overt aggression when fearfulness was low, whereas frustration proneness had a stronger relation to reactive–relational aggression when effortful control was high. The differential relations between the two forms of reactive aggression (i.e., overt and relational) and effortful control or fearfulness are discussed with respect to variations in the riskiness and the social competence required to implement these aggressive actions.     

Low- and high-testosterone individuals exhibit decreased aversion to economic risk

Testosterone is positively associated with risk-taking behavior in social domains (e.g., crime, physical aggression). However, the scant research linking testosterone to economic risk preferences presents inconsistent findings. We examined the relationship between endogenous testosterone and individuals' economic preferences (i.e., risk preference, ambiguity preference, and loss aversion) in a large sample (N = 298) of men and women. We found that endogenous testosterone levels have a significant U-shaped association with individuals' risk and ambiguity preferences, but not loss aversion. Specifically, individuals with low or high levels of testosterone (more than 1.5 SD from the mean for their gender) were risk and ambiguity neutral, whereas individuals with intermediate levels of testosterone were risk and ambiguity averse. This relationship was highly similar in men and women. In contrast to received wisdom regarding testosterone and risk, the present data provide the first robust evidence for a nonlinear association between economic preferences and levels of endogenous testosterone.     

Types of Aggression,Responsiveness to Provocation,and Callous-unemotional Traits in Detained Adolescents

The present study investigated differences in the behavioral and psychophysiological responses to provocation and in the level of callous-unemotional traits in boys exhibiting different patterns of aggression. Eighty-five boys (ages 13-18) in a juvenile detention center played a competitive computer task against a hypothetical peer who provided low and high levels of provocation. Youth high on both self-reported reactive and proactive aggression showed different behavioral responses to provocation than youth high on only reactive aggression. Specifically, the combined group showed high levels of aggressive responses without any provocation, whereas the group high on reactive aggression showed an increase in aggressive responding to low provocation. Further, results revealed a trend for the combined group to show lower levels of skin conductance reactivity to low provocation if they were also high on callous-unemotional traits.     

The Protective Role of Teacher Preference for At‐Risk Children's Social Status

Aggressive behaviors have been associated with social costs (e.g., rejection) and benefits (e.g., popularity) in previous studies. The current study sought to examine the moderating effect of teacher preference on the association between distinct forms of aggressive behavior (i.e., physical aggression and relational aggression) and social status (i.e., rejection and popularity), and to explore whether these associations differed for boys and girls. Fourth and fifth grade students (N = 193) completed peer nomination procedures to assess rejection and aggressive behavior and teachers provided self‐reports of their preferences for their students. Findings indicated that relationally aggressive girls were more likely to be popular with their peers when their teachers also liked them. In addition, both relationally and physically aggressive girls were less likely to be rejected by their peers when their teachers liked them. Although physical aggression was most strongly associated with rejection among boys whose teachers liked them, relational aggression predicted popularity among boys whose teachers disliked them. Results suggest that teacher preferences may be a particularly important factor contributing to both physically and relationally aggressive children's social status (e.g., rejection and popularity), especially for girls. Aggr. Behav. 38:481‐493, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Are Proactive and Reactive Aggression Meaningful Distinctions in Adolescents? A Variable- and Person-Based Approach

This study was designed to examine whether proactive and reactive aggression are meaningful distinctions at the variable- and person-based level, and to determine their associated behavioral profiles. Data from 587 adolescents (mean age 15.6; 71.6 % male) from clinical samples of four different sites with differing levels of aggression problems were analyzed. A multi-level Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was conducted to identify classes of individuals (person-based) with similar aggression profiles based on factor scores (variable-based) of the Reactive Proactive Questionnaire (RPQ) scored by self-report. Associations were examined between aggression factors and classes, and externalizing and internalizing problem behavior scales by parent report (CBCL) and self-report (YSR). Factor-analyses yielded a three factor solution: 1) proactive aggression, 2) reactive aggression due to internal frustration, and 3) reactive aggression due to external provocation. All three factors showed moderate to high correlations. Four classes were detected that mainly differed quantitatively (no ‘proactive-only’ class present), yet also qualitatively when age was taken into account, with reactive aggression becoming more severe with age in the highest affected class yet diminishing with age in the other classes. Findings were robust across the four samples. Multiple regression analyses showed that ‘reactive aggression due to internal frustration’ was the strongest predictor of YSR and CBCL internalizing problems. However, results showed moderate to high overlap between all three factors. Aggressive behavior can be distinguished psychometrically into three factors in a clinical sample, with some differential associations. However, the clinical relevance of these findings is challenged by the person-based analysis showing proactive and reactive aggression are mainly driven by aggression severity.     

Exploring the Association between Aggression and Anxiety in Youth: A Look at Aggressive Subtypes,Gender, and Social Cognition

We examined the associations among dimensions of aggression and anxiety disorder symptoms in an ethnically diverse community sample of youth (N = 83; 46% female). Research supports the existence of four aggressive subtypes (i.e., reactive overt, reactive relational, proactive overt, and proactive relational), and past research has found associations between relational aggression and anxiety, as well as between reactive aggression and anxiety. However, past studies have not examined the associations among anxiety symptoms and the combined subtypes of aggression mentioned above. Results of our study provided support for an association between anxiety and reactive relational aggression. In addition, gender was found to moderate the association, in that males with high anxiety showed higher levels of reactive relational aggression than males with low anxiety and girls. Further, we found that socially based negative cognitive errors mediated the association between reactive relational aggression and anxiety. Results are discussed in terms of clarifying gender differences in aggression, treatment implications, and the need for longitudinal studies to delineate the temporal associations between aggression and anxiety.     

青少年抑制控制与同伴拒绝:身体攻击、关系攻击的中介作用

选取1589名青少年(平均年龄15.22±0.36岁)为被试,考察身体攻击、关系攻击在抑制控制与同伴拒绝间的中介作用。结果发现,(1)抑制控制与身体攻击、关系攻击、同伴拒绝之间均存在显著负相关,身体攻击、关系攻击与同伴拒绝之间存在显著正相关;(2)身体、关系攻击在抑制控制与同伴拒绝之间发挥中介作用;相比关系攻击,身体攻击的中介效应更强。该结果表明抑制控制对于同伴拒绝的作用既存在直接效应,又可通过身体攻击、关系攻击的中介效应实现,身体攻击、关系攻击的中介效应存在差异。     

Exploring the Cognitive and Emotional Correlates to Proactive and Reactive Aggression in a Sample of Detained Girls

The current study examined the distinction between reactive and proactive aggression in a sample of detained girls (N = 58) aged 12 to 18. This study employed a self-report measure of aggression that was designed explicitly to assess both the forms that aggression takes (i.e., relational and overt), as well as the functions that aggression serves (i.e., reactive and proactive). Reactive aggression was uniquely associated with poorly regulated emotion and anger to perceived provocation, whereas proactive aggression was uniquely associated with callous-unemotional (CU) traits and biased outcome expectations for aggression. While overt aggression appeared to largely account for these associations, relational aggression showed strong and unique associations with CU traits. The current findings highlight the importance of assessing reactive and proactive aggression, as well as both overt and relational aggression, in detained girls.     

Men who target women: specificity of target, generality of aggressive behavior

Two studies examined the effects of individual differences identified by the Confluence Model of aggression against women [Malamuth Linz, Hevey et al., 1995] and the General Aggression Model [GAM: Anderson and Carnagey, 2004] as predictors of male-on-female aggression. Study 1, a correlational study, found that hostile masculinity predicts self-reported sexual aggression independently of nonsexual aggression against women, and is itself predicted by proneness to general hostility, masculine gender role stress, and violent attitudes toward women. Furthermore, hostility toward women independently predicted sexual and nonsexual aggression against women, above the effects of general attitudes toward violence and general levels of hostility and aggression. Study 2, an experimental study, found that under high provocation, high hostility toward women predicted increases in male nonsexual aggression against women and slight decreases in male aggression against men. This effect remained significant even after controlling for general attitudes toward violence and for general levels of hostility and aggression, indicating that males who are highly hostile toward women specifically target women and that their aggression toward women generalizes beyond sexual aggression. The findings are discussed in terms of a model that integrates the Confluence Model with GAM.     

Physical aggression as a function of perceived fighting ability and provocation: an experimental investigation

In three studies, Resource Holding Power (RHP) and provocation were manipulated in scenarios involving a young person in a bar with friends. In Study 1, teenage men reported lower likelihood of responding with physical aggression when insulted as levels of three RHP cues (size, allies and reputation) increased, effects that were accentuated by combinations of high-RHP cues; in the second part of this study, they consistently rated an insult to their girlfriend as the most provoking from a range of possible provocations, chosen on theoretical and empirical grounds. Study 2 replicated the results of the first part of Study 1 in samples of men and women in their twenties, although the effects were weaker at low levels of RHP. Study 3 combined a high- or low-provoking event, with low, medium or high RHP, and a wider range of response choices. As expected, direct aggression increased as provocation increased and RHP decreased. Delayed aggressive responses, including revenge fantasies, were highest in response to high provocation and high RHP. Findings are discussed in relation to theoretical models of aggressive motivation.     

Violence restrained: Effects of self-regulation and its depletion on aggression

Aggressive impulses arise from many factors, but they are usually held in check by social norms for self-control. Thus, the proximal cause of aggression is often failure of self-restraint. In five studies, depleted capacity for self-regulation (caused by prior, even irrelevant acts of self-regulation) increased aggressive responding, especially after an insulting provocation. When participants were insulted and their self-regulatory strength was depleted (i.e., after completing previous tasks that required self-regulation), participants were more likely to aggress. When the urge to aggress was relatively weaker (i.e., when participants were not insulted), self-regulatory depletion did not increase aggressive behavior. This effect was moderated by trait self-control: Participants low in trait self-control were particularly likely to express intentions of behaving aggressively in response to provocation, whereas participants high in trait self-control did not express intentions of responding aggressively. Laboratory, autobiographical memory, and hypothetical responses confirmed the pattern.     

PATTERNS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST ENGAGED ARAB WOMEN FROM ISRAEL AND SOME PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

The present study focused on 1,111 engaged Arab women in Israel, examining the different patterns of abuse and battering they experienced by their fiancés. The results revealed that between 8% and 48% of the respondents had experienced psychological aggression by their partners and between 1% to 10% had experienced physical aggression. Moreover, between 5% and 11% of the respondents had experienced acts of sexual abuse at least once during the engagement period. In addition, some mental health consequences of these experiences were examined. Analysis of variance revealed that, when negotiation tactics were not used to resolve conflicts and when respondents had experienced different patterns of abuse and battering by their fiancés, they also expressed relatively low levels of self-esteem and relatively high levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Regression and multiple regression analyses revealed that the main predictors of the study explained larger amounts of the variance in mental health than did some of the background variables. Finally, the article discusses the limitations of the study and implications for future research, as well as recommendations for prevention and intervention activities.     

The dark side of forgiveness: the tendency to forgive predicts continued psychological and physical aggression in marriage

Despite a burgeoning literature that documents numerous positive implications of forgiveness, scholars know very little about the potential negative implications of forgiveness. In particular, the tendency to express forgiveness may lead offenders to feel free to offend again by removing unwanted consequences for their behavior (e.g., anger, criticism, rejection, loneliness) that would otherwise discourage reoffending. Consistent with this possibility, the current longitudinal study of newlywed couples revealed a positive association between spouses' reports of their tendencies to express forgiveness to their partners and those partners' reports of psychological and physical aggression. Specifically, although spouses who reported being relatively more forgiving experienced psychological and physical aggression that remained stable over the first 4 years of marriage, spouses who reported being relatively less forgiving experienced declines in both forms of aggression over time. These findings join just a few others in demonstrating that forgiveness is not a panacea.     

群体身份调节最后通牒博弈的公平关注

群际互动是社会互动的一种重要形式, 在人类社会发展中起着重要作用。已有的行为研究表明个体参与群际互动时, 互动对象的群体身份会影响其心理加工和行为决策。但目前关于群体身份如何影响公平加工的动态时间过程尚不清楚。为了研究群体身份对最后通牒任务(Ultimatum Game, UG)中反应者公平关注的影响, 15名健康成人作为反应者与组内和组外提议者进行UG博弈, 提议包括极端不公平、中等不公平或公平提议三种。事件相关电位结果发现, 组外互动时公平提议和中等不公平提议比极端不公平提议诱发更负的AN1, 组内互动时不同提议诱发的AN1无显著差异。来自组内成员的中等和极端不公平提议比公平提议引起更负的内侧额叶负波(MFN), 但来自组外成员的不同提议则没有导致MFN波幅的变化。这些结果表明在群体互动情境下, 互动成员的群体身份能够影响个体的早期注意资源分配和公平关注加工。     

Social identity,peer group rejection,and young children's reactive,displaced, and proactive aggression

The effects of peer group rejection on 7‐ and 9‐year‐old children's (N= 192) reactive, displaced, and proactive aggression were examined in a group simulation study. Children were assigned membership in a pretend social group for a drawing competition and were then rejected or accepted by their group. Their direct and indirect aggressive intentions towards either the ingroup or outgroup were assessed. Analysis of their aggressive intentions revealed enhanced indirect aggression but less direct aggression. Peer group rejection, in comparison with acceptance, instigated reactive aggression towards the ingroup, and displaced reactive aggression towards the outgroup. Accepted children displayed proactive aggression towards the outgroup but not the ingroup. The implications of the findings for peer group rejection and aggression research are discussed.     

An exploratory study on self‐evaluated aggression and androgens in women

Healthy, premenopausal women completed the Buss‐Perry Aggression Questionnaire. Venous blood samples were taken at the mid‐cycle phase of the menstrual cycle to determine plasma androgen levels. Total and free testosterone, 5α‐dihydrotestosterone, androstenedione, and dehydroepiandrosterone were assessed. Path analyses were aimed at finding out which of the five circulating hormones might best predict a latent aggression construct derived from the four subscales of the Aggression Questionnaire. A significant correlation was found between free testosterone and physical and verbal aggression subscales. In addition, the results demonstrate for the first time in women a significant link between 5α‐dihydrotestosterone and anger. Thus, both testosterone and 5α‐dihydrotestosterone may affect, by separate pathways, the basal regulation of aggression‐proneness in women. Aggr. Behav. 28:273–280, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Perinatal Factors, Parenting Behavior, and Reactive Aggression: Does Cortisol Reactivity Mediate this Developmental Risk Process?

Little is known about the mechanisms of action that link perinatal risk and the development of aggressive behavior. The aim of this study was to examine whether perinatal risk and parenting interacted to specifically predict reactive aggression, as opposed to general aggressive behavior, and to examine cortisol reactivity as a mediator of this developmental risk process. In a community sample of 99 elementary school-aged children, prenatal risk was measured by a count of minor physical anomalies (MPAs), reactive aggression was measured by laboratory observations of aggression in response to provocation, and general aggression was measured by parent report. Cortisol reactivity was not found to mediate the association between MPAs and reactive aggression or general aggression. However, MPAs were found to interact with parenting behaviors to predict reactive aggression and general aggression, as well as cortisol reactivity. Specifically, as the deficits in parenting increased, MPAs became more strongly and positively associated with reactive aggressive and general aggressive outcomes. Similarly, in cases of poor parenting behaviors, MPAs were positively associated with higher cortisol reactivity. Implications for theory and prevention are discussed.