Aggressive primes can increase reliance on positive and negative thoughts affecting self-attitudes

Past research has shown that exposure to aggression is associated with more negative responses toward others and also toward the self. In the present research, we argue that aggressive priming not only influences the content of thoughts (primary cognition) but also can influence how people think about their thoughts (secondary or meta-cognition) under some circumstances. Two experiments showed that the effect of the direction of thoughts (positive vs. negative) on self-evaluation was greater after receiving an aggressive (vs. control) priming induction. Among participants listing negative self-attributes, those in the aggressive (vs. control) prime condition reported more negative self-attitudes. However, among participants listing positive traits, the aggressive (vs. neutral) primes led to more favorable self-attitudes, reversing traditional effects of aggression on self-evaluation.