Taxonomies of aggressive behavior: A preliminary report

It has been widely and regularly suggested that aggression is not a unitary concept but rather an omnibus term concealing important and distinct subclasses of behavior. Psychologists have offered various categorical schemes highlighting motivation and form as distinguishing criteria. Many writers have also noted the social relativity of dermitions of classes of aggression and called for a consideration of lay conceptions of aggressive behavior. The present paper explores the correspondence between psychologists' and laypersons' categorizations of aggressive acts. Ten short scenarios of aggression were generated to embody systematic permutations of form and motive as suggested by the published work of social psychologists. Subjects rated every pairwise combination in terms of perceived similarity. The data were subjected to three-factor, multidimensional scaling. The resulting structure indicated that subjects' ratings were not random and reflected consideration of motive (hostile, normative, instrumental, status) and of direct versus indirect form. The data were thus in close correspondence with the classifications generated by psychologists. The desirability of refining this technique and extending it to other cultural and subcultural groups is discussed.     

Sex differences in the perceived causal structure of date rape: A preliminary report

The present study examines the perceived causes of date rape by the use of network analysis. The 142 subjects in the study were presented with grids containing 9 causes listed by row and column. They were asked to indicate if they belived there was a causal link between each of the 72 causal pairings. The resulting network placed emphasis on male and female drunkenness, norms of dating, and society's attitude to date rape as distal causes of date rape. Misunderstanding of behavior by men, male attitude that date rape is unimportant, and need by males for dominance were seen as proximal causes. Further networks for each sex were constructed: these showed clear division of opinion on the causes of date rape. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Impulsivity,sensation seeking and reproductive behaviour: A life history perspective

Impulsivity has often been invoked as a proximate driver of different life-history strategies. However, conceptualisations of “impulsivity” are inconsistent and ambiguities exist regarding which facets of impulsivity are actually involved in the canalisation of reproductive strategies. Two variables commonly used to represent impulsivity were examined in relation to reproductive behaviour. Results demonstrated that sensation seeking was significantly related to strategy-based behaviour, but impulsivity (defined as a failure to deliberate) was only weakly correlated. The effect of impulsivity disappeared when sensation seeking was controlled. Sex differences emerged for sensation seeking but not impulsivity. We conclude that “impulsivity” is not a unitary trait and that clearer distinctions should be made between facets of this construct.     

Intent to harm or injure? Gender and the expression of anger

Gender differences in aggressive behaviour but not in anger suggest that women may express anger through behaviours that lack intent to harm or injure. Angry behaviours (injurious and noninjurious) were rated in terms of their likelihood of use when angry (N=888). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a direct aggression factor and two further scales: explosive acts (e.g. throwing objects when alone) and defusing acts (e.g. talking to a third party). Men exceeded women on direct aggression and explosive acts, whereas women exceeded men on defusing acts. Expressive beliefs about aggression (as a loss of self-control) were higher among women and strongly associated with use of defusing acts and the avoidance of direct aggression. Instrumental beliefs about aggression (as a means of control over others) were higher among men and showed the opposite pattern of associations. We highlight the need for further work on actors' intention in relation to angry behaviours and the impact of context on these intentions.     

Social representation of aggression as an explanation of gender differences: A preliminary study

Academic theories of aggression can be dichotomized as expressive (in which aggression results from a failure of self control) or instrumental (in which aggression represents the exercise of control over others). We propose that the two sexes hold a parallel distinction in their social representations of aggression; women subscribe to an expressive model, men to an instrumental model. A 20-item questionnaire was generated by systematic comparison of the two theories with respect to their differential predictions concerning perceived social value, proximate causes, relevant emotions and congnitions, form, aim, social facilitators, and reputational aspects of aggression. Factor analysis indicated a first factor of expressive-instrumental aggression on which all items had significant loadings. A significant correlation (.46) was found between gender and questionnaire score confirming the hypothesis. The notion of gender-specific social representations is discussed in terms of its ability to coherently interpret patterns of differences in aggression found in experimental and observational studies.     

Psychometric analysis of the Empathy Quotient (EQ)

This study assessed the dimensionality of the Empathy Quotient (EQ) using two statistical approaches: Rasch and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Participants included N = 658 with an autism spectrum condition diagnosis (ASC), N = 1375 family members of this group, and N = 3344 typical controls. Data were applied to the Rasch model (Rating Scale) using WINSTEPS. The Rasch model explained 83% of the variance. Reliability estimates were greater than .90. Analysis of differential item functioning (DIF) demonstrated item invariance between the sexes. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of the residual factor showed separation into Agree and Disagree response subgroups. CFA suggested that 26-item model with response factors had the best fit statistics (RMSEA.05, CFI .93). A shorter 15-item three-factor model had an omega (ω) of .779, suggesting a hierarchical factor of empathy underlies these sub-factors. The EQ is an appropriate measure of the construct of empathy and can be measured along a single dimension.     

Gender Differences in the Use of the Internet by English Secondary School Children

Access to the Internet is an important issue in terms of equity and the UK government has stated ‘Our goal is to ensure that everyone who wants it has access to the Internet by 2005.’ (UK Online Annual Report, 2002). This survey of Internet use by 1340 secondary school students from four schools in the Teesside area of England was carried out in order to assess whether the government is realising its ambition of Internet access amongst 11–16 year-olds, and also to determine whether or not gender differences exist in Internet use. Furthermore, the data supplied are intended to inform later studies of more specific aspects of children's Internet use. Generally, it was found that most children used the Internet, were quite comfortable with it, and used it for a variety of applications. However, a considerable minority of respondents also considered themselves non-users of the Internet. There were also some gender differences found in the data which in general suggested something of a male bias towards Internet use. It was concluded that these are issues that need to be addressed for the purposes of equity and if the government is to achieve its goal of Internet access for all by 2005. A number of suggestions for further research into Internet use by children are also suggested in this paper.     

Psychometric analysis of the systemizing quotient (SQ) scale

The psychometric properties of the systemizing quotient (SQ) developed by Baron‐Cohen (2003) are investigated in three studies. Furthermore, we examine the notion that the ability to systemize should be independent of intelligence. In Studies 1 and 2, confirmatory factor analyses are used to examine the factor structure of the SQ. Study 3 examines the relationship between systemizing, mental rotation and intelligence. Studies 1 and 2 indicate that the SQ does not possess a unifactorial structure but is best considered as four related factors; Study 3 found that SQ was not related to intelligence, although mental rotation was. A four factor structure using fewer items was a better fit for the data than either the original version of the SQ or Wakabayashi et al.'s (2006) revised version. Overall these results support Baron‐Cohen's view that SQ is not related to intelligence. Although mental rotation is correlated to SQ, it is not the main determinant of SQ. The problems of self‐report measures are discussed along with the difficulties related to measuring systemizing.