Further evidence for the validity of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP) as a measure of direct physical aggression. Hypotheses were generated from recent theory pertinent to the categorization and measurement of aggressive behavior as well as widely supported effects of alcohol intoxication and gender on aggression. Participants were 328 (163 men and 165 women) healthy social drinkers between 21 and 35 years of age who completed self-report personality inventories designed to assess one's propensity toward direct physical aggression, verbal aggression, trait anger, and hostility. Following the consumption of either an alcohol or a placebo beverage, participants were tested on the TAP, in which mild electric shocks were received from, and administered to, a fictitious opponent during a competitive task. Direct physical aggression was operationalized as the shock intensities (i.e., first trial shock intensity, mean shock intensity, proportion of highest shock) administered to the fictitious opponent. Although all self-report measures were significantly associated with the three TAP indices, the associations involving physical aggression were strongest. In addition, self-report measures of physical aggression consistently predicted higher levels of aggression on the TAP indices in men, compared with women, and in intoxicated, relative to sober, participants. Taken as a whole, this pattern of findings provides further evidence for the validity of the TAP as a measure of direct physical aggression for men and women.     

On the meaning of meaning when being mean: commentary on Berkowitz's "on the consideration of automatic as well as controlled psychological processes in aggression"

Berkowitz (this issue) makes a cogent case for his cognitive neo-associationist (CNA) model that some aggressive behaviors occur automatically, emotionally, and through conditioned association with other stimuli. He also proposes that they can occur without "processing," that is, without meaning. He contrasts his position with that of social information processing (SIP) models, which he casts as positing only controlled processing mechanisms for aggressive behavior. However, both CNA and SIP models posit automatic as well as controlled processes in aggressive behavior. Most aggressive behaviors occur through automatic processes, which are nonetheless rule governed. SIP models differ from the CNA model in asserting the essential role of meaning (often through nonconscious, automatic, and emotional processes) in mediating the link between a stimulus and an angry aggressive behavioral response.     

攻击行为社会信息加工模型与道德领域理论的整合

儿童攻击行为研究中Dodge等人提出的社会信息加工模型,强调社会交互作用情境下个体的信息加工过程与后来的社会行为之间的联系,对于信息加工所依据的数据库则缺乏系统的阐述。领域理论源于对道德认知的思考,将个体的社会知识分为道德、常规和个人三个领域,强调个体在领域认同标准和领域混合事件推理上的差异。Arsenio和Lemerise在情绪与社会信息加工模型整合的基础上,提出借鉴领域理论来说明数据库的内部结构以及其中的社会知识对于信息加工的影响。这些整合体现了认知和情绪在社会行为加工和决策过程中的交互作用,有利于说明存储在长时记忆中的社会知识之间的联系及作用,引发了对各种形式的内部心理成分的理论思考和多个实证研究方向,也为心理研究其他方面的整合工作提供了值得借鉴的研究思路     

道德推脱对大学生攻击行为的影响:道德认同的调节作用

采用问卷法以440名大学生为研究对象,探讨了道德认同在道德推脱影响攻击行为中的作用机制。采用潜变量调节效应模型的无约束估计方法研究发现:(1)道德推脱会对大学生的攻击行为产生显著的正向影响,道德认同会对大学生的攻击行为产生显著的负向影响,并且道德认同会对道德推脱与攻击行为之间的关系产生显著的调节作用;(2)与低道德认同者相比,高道德认同者的攻击行为会随着道德推脱水平的降低而明显减少。     

小学生创伤后应激障碍对攻击行为的影响：应对方式的调节作用

采用儿童创伤后应激障碍症状量表、儿童行为问题核查表和应对方式问卷,考察汶川地震极重灾区980名小学生的创伤后应激障碍、应对方式与攻击行为的关系。结果表明：地震后1年半,灾区小学生攻击行为水平较低,但男生的攻击行为明显高于女生;积极认知在回避性症状对攻击行为的预测中起显著的负向调节作用;负向发泄分别在回避性症状和警觉增高症状对攻击行为的预测中起显著的正向调节作用。     

The Development and Validation of a Personological Measure of Work Drive

Using six studies based on 23,823 individuals in diverse settings, we developed and validated a personality measure of Work Drive—a disposition to work long hours and extend oneself for one's job. The factor structure was confirmed in four settings. Work Drive was related to job performance showing incremental validity beyond cognitive aptitude and Big Five personality traits in five validation studies. It predicted academic performance at six different grade levels, even beyond Big Five traits. Construct validity was examined via work values, job involvement, normal personality scales, satisfaction measures, and cognitive ability. Little adverse impact was found. Occupational groups differed on Work Drive. Overall validity and areas of application were discussed.     

儿童攻击行为的多方法测评研究

儿童攻击测评方法的有效性和准确性直接决定着该领域研究的水平和质量,因而测评方法的研究是该领域研究的基础性任务。本研究以济南城区三所幼儿园的177名3～4岁儿童为被试,同时运用自然观察法、母亲评定法、教师评定法和同伴提名法评定儿童攻击,采用常规统计方法和结构方程模型评估四种测评的适用特点。得出如下主要结论:1、自然观察法、同伴提名法、教师评定法和母亲评定法具有中高程度的信效度,但各有优缺点,适用研究对象不同;2、测评模型与实测数据拟合良好,同时采用多种方法可以更为准确有效地测评儿童的攻击行为。     

儿童社会适应的社会信息加工模型及其特殊应用

亲社会儿童具有独特的社会信息加工特点:友善的归因倾向,关系性目标定向,对亲社会行为反应做积极评价等。应用SIP范式对儿童亲社会行为进行研究,不仅有助于研究者更清楚地揭示社会认知与亲社会行为之间的关系,理解儿童社会性发展的机制,而且还对儿童的行为矫正和训练具有积极意义。但是,SIP模型应用于亲社会行为研究时在理论模型及方法工具上还存在一定的局限。     

Effect of the light intensity upon the agonistic behaviour of juvenile of white‐seabream (Diplodus sargus cadenati de la Paz,Bauchot and Daget, 1974)

Ambient light levels were manipulated to vary potential predation risk, and aggressive behaviour was examined. Juveniles of white‐seabream (Diplodus sargus cadenati) interacted aggressively more frequently at intermediate light intensity (500 lux), being agonistic interactions at higher (3000 lux) or lower (5 lux) illumination less frequent. Aggr. Behav. 30:313–318, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

REVISITING DESTRUCTION IN “THE USE OF AN OBJECT”

“The Use of an Object” (1969a) has been widely recognized as among Winnicott's great papers and has deservedly received a good deal of attention. Much of that attention has focused on the importance that the paper gives to the role of destruction in bringing about the experience of externality. Yet the nature of that destruction has too often been assumed based on Winnicott's earlier writings. In the view that follows from that, destruction is equated with the aggression that fails to destroy the object, and the experience of externality is regarded just as the result of that failure. In offering a rereading of “The Use of an Object,” the author suggests that, while this aspect of aggression/destruction indeed plays an important role in the establishment of externality, it is only part of the story, and that the central contribution of “The Use of an Object” is Winnicott's attempt to offer a new theory of primitive destruction, one that provides an impulsive basis for separation/externality itself. This theory and Winnicott's ongoing attempts to develop it after “The Use of an Object” led him to rethink the very nature of the drives.