Evaluation of a Spanish version of the Buss and Perry aggression questionnaire: Some personal and situational factors related to the aggression scores of young subjects

The psychometric properties of a Spanish translation of the Buss and Perry aggression questionnaire adapted for pre-adolescents and adolescents have been studied. A maximum-likelihood confirmatory factor analysis corroborates Buss and Perry’s four-factor structure. The internal consistency of each factor and of the total score has proved to be satisfactory. The four factors are more closely interrelated in pre-adolescents than in adolescents.A second aim of this work has been to further our understanding of the possible relationship between aggression scores and certain outside-school activities of the subjects studied. Two thousand two hundred and eight students filled in the questionnaire together with a self-report concerning their habits. The results show that the aggression scores rise concomitantly with time spent watching television and playing video games and decrease the greater the time devoted to extra-curricular reading or moderate amounts of homework. Statistically significant differences relating to age and gender were also found.     

Distinct Expressions of Vital Spirituality

As the interest in non-institutional spirituality increases, it is unclear which aspects of the multidimensional construct are vital. We thus developed an open 40-item questionnaire to measure distinct expressions of spirituality and tested it in 488 healthy individuals. Reliability and factor analysis resulted in an instrument with seven factors (Cronbach’s α = 0.942): “Prayer, trust in God and shelter”, “Insight, awareness and wisdom”, “Transcendence conviction”, “Compassion, generosity and patience”, “Conscious interactions”, “Gratitude, reverence and respect” and “Equanimity”. This explorative research tool may give relevant information for health cares and chaplains, and provides insights in distinct aspects of vital spirituality.     

When aggression seems justified: Judging intergroup conflict from a distance

This research delineates several factors that may affect how likely observers are to view intergroup aggression as justified. Subjects who favored one side or the other, as well as nominally neutral subjects, rated fictional scenarios depicting an aggressive action by either Israeli or Palestinian armed forces. As hypothesized, rated justification varied with the interaction of an observer's perspective and the relative power of the aggressor and the target, and with the interaction of perspective and the outcome of an action. Also as predicted, power and outcome were found to have no effects on judgments for observers having a neutral perspective. Based on these findings, the extent to which intergroup aggression is perceived as justified is explained in terms of motivational biases theorized to maintain positive social identity.     

Acceptability of aggression in four Spanish regions and a comparison with other European Countries

The degree of acceptance of various forms of aggression in different situations was investigated by applying questionnaires to students from four Spanish regions: Castile, Catalonia, Andalusia, and the Basque Country. These data are also compared with similar studies in Finland and Poland. Although some minor differences were found between the different groups as well as some gender preferences, very similar acceptances were observed in all the populations studied, suggesting a certain universality of norms and beliefs about aggression in society. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc. ©1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Equity and derogation of those against whom we have aggressed

Casting the classic provocation-retaliation paradigm in an equity framework, we hypothesized that persons realizing their retribution was excessive would derogate their victim, but only when they did not anticipate an opportunity to compensate her. After retaliating against a peer who had harshly evaluated their essays, 40 female undergraduates were informed that either a serious or mild misfortune had recently been suffered by their partner, and were led to believe that at the outset of the experiment they had carelessly overlooked this “mitigating” information. Half the participants anticipated a later opportunity to do a favor for the other woman. Regardless of the severity of the mitigating information the women were more negative in their evaluation of the partner when they did not anticipate a subsequent opportunity to do the partner a favor. The results are discussed in terms of equity restoration in reactions to having aggressed. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Serum testosterone,cortisol, glucose,and ethanol in males arrested for spouse abuse

Concentrations of ethanol, testosterone, cortisol, and glucose were determined in serum obtained from 16 males taken into police custody after incidents of spouse abuse. The mean blood ethanol level at the time of arrest was 33.3 ± 2.6 mM. Serum testosterone levels were significantly lower and cortisol levels higher at the time of police intervention (within 1 hour of the incident) compared to control data collected later from the subjects when sober. Offenders did not differ from a group of nonviolent pub patrons at similar blood ethanol levels (35.9 ± 4.5 mM) with respect to serum testosterone, cortisol, or glucose, but their sober state cortisol and glucose concentrations were significantly higher compared to a control group of nonalcoholic men. Intoxication or acute hormonal changes were thus not specifically associated with violent behaviour. Provocative cues, however, may have been more frequent in the offender families, as Straus Conflict Tactics data showed that offenders and victims resorted to verbal aggression significantly more often than control families. The significantly elevated cortisol and glucose concentrations in offenders when sober compared to nonviolent controls could be viewed as direct effects of life stress, or as indirect effects of stress mediated by learned escape drinking. Excessive drinking as well as spouse abuse could be maladaptive coping strategies that principally serve to maintain the status quo, physiologically as well as psychologically. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Payoff expectancies between contingent serial moves of victim and aggressor in three hypothetical conflict situations

The expectancies of payoffs in the contingent serial interactive moves between victim and instigator, from the point of view of the victim, were measured for three hypothetical confrontations: someone pushes ahead of you in a movie line; a driver of a car takes a parking space you felt was yours; or you are the object of a rape attempt. These situations differ in urgency, and in the likelihood of success if there is resistance to the instigator. Expectations of persons were elicited as to their response to the particular aggressive act, the counter-response then expected of the instigator of the attack, and the subsequent contingent responses of each of the two persons, victim and instigator, until one or the other withdrew. The results show, in general, different payoffs at each interactive point over the ongoing serial stages in a situation, rather than an overall generalized contingency expectation, with these being different for self and the symbolized other, and also different for the three situations. Personality and sex-role measures showed minimal relation to the expectancies, and then not at the opening of the conflict, and for the instigator's rather than for the victim's expected responses.