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PubMed1998

Terror management and aggression: evidence that mortality salience motivates aggression against worldview-threatening others.

The hypothesis that mortality salience (MS) motivates aggression against worldview-threatening others was tested in 4 studies. In Study 1, the experimenters induced participants to write about either their own death or a control topic, presented them with a target who either disparaged their political views or did not, and gave them the opportunity to choose the amount of hot sauce the target would have to consume. As predicted, MS participants allocated a particularly large amount of hot sauce to the worldview-threatening target. In Studies 2 and 3, the authors found that following MS induction, the opportunity to express a negative attitude toward the critical target eliminated aggression and the opportunity to aggress against the target eliminated derogation. This suggests that derogation and aggression are two alternative modes of responding to MS that serve the same psychological function. Finally, Study 4 showed that MS did not encourage aggression against a person who allocated unpleasant juice to the participant, supporting the specificity of MS-induced aggression to worldview-threatening others.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

The aggression paradox: understanding links among aggression, sensation seeking, and the consideration of future consequences.

Four studies involving 573 female and 272 male college students demonstrated that multiple forms and measures of aggression were associated with high levels of sensation seeking, impulsivity, and a focus on the immediate consequences of behavior. Multiple regression analyses and structural equation models supported a theoretical model based on the general aggression model (C.A. Anderson & B.J. Bushman. 2002), positing that hostile cognition and negative affect mediate the relationships between the aforementioned individual differences and aggression. Sensation seeking also predicted a desire to engage in physical and verbal aggression. The final study demonstrated that relative to those scoring low, individuals scoring high on the consideration of future consequences are only less aggressive when aggression is likely to carry future costs.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1975

Naturalistic studies of aggressive behavior: aggressive stimuli, victim visibility, and horn honking.

Three studies extended laboratory research on aggression to a naturalistic setting which involved horn honking from drivers as a measure of aggression; the studies were adapted from Doob and Gross. The results from a survey (Study 1) of 59 drivers suggested that they were frequently irritated by and aggressive toward other drivers. A second study (using a 3x2 factorial design with 92 male drivers) indicated that manipulations of a rifle in an aggressive context and victim visibility (dehumanization) both significantly influenced horn honking rates subsequent to obstruction at a signal light. A third study with 137 male drivers and 63 female drivers examined the interactive effects of a rifle, an aggressively connotated bumper sticker, and individual subject characteristics (sex and an exploratory index of self-perceived status) on horn honking. The results for three studies in naturalistic settings offer possible extensions of laboratory based findings on aggression. The role of inhibitions in modifying the pattern of results was also discussed.

Aggression↗

PubMed1977

Aggressive behavior in female hamsters: the hormonal basis for fluctuations in female aggressiveness correlated with estrous state.

The frequency and sequencing of aggressive behaviors by naive female hamsters change during series of brief encounters, probably because of the lack of stable dominance relations. Such initial encounters seem most representative of interactions likely in free-ranging hamsters and have been emphasized in studies of the hormonal mediation of female aggression. Nonestrous females exhibit intense aggression toward conspecifics of either sex. Estrous females are not aggressive and spend much time in lordosis, indicative of sexual receptivity. The inhibition of fighting on estrous day depends on estrogen and progesterone. Whereas oil-injected adrenalectomized-ovariectomized females fight at high levels, comparable with intact nonestrous females, the combination of 17 beta-estradiol benzoate and progeterone suppresses fighting completely. In contrast, replacement of estradiol, progesterone, or testosterone propionate individually has on consistent effect. Hypophysectomized females also fight at high levels, indicating that pituitary hormones are not required for vigorous aggression. Further, individual anterior pituitary hormones did not produce marked changes in fighting. These results emphasize the roles of estrogen and progesterone in synchronizing aggression with current reproductive state.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Psychopharmacology and aggression. I: A meta-analysis of stimulant effects on overt/covert aggression-related behaviors in ADHD.

OBJECTIVE: To determine by meta-analysis the effect size for stimulants on overt and covert aggression-related behaviors in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), separately from stimulant effects on the core symptoms of ADHD. METHOD: A review of the literature from 1970 to 2001 revealed 28 studies meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria for meta-analysis. These studies yielded 28 independent effects of overt aggression and 7 independent effects of covert aggression. RESULTS: The overall weighted mean effect size was 0.84 for overt and 0.69 for covert aggression related behaviors in ADHD. Comorbid conduct disorder is associated with diminishing stimulant effect size for overt aggression. CONCLUSION: Stimulant effects for aggression-related behaviors in ADHD have effect sizes similar to those for the core symptoms of ADHD.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1980

Dimensions of aggression: the perception of aggressive episodes.

The perception of real-life aggressive episodes was studied, in order to (a) represent the cognitive dimensions used by judges to differentiate between such episodes, (b) to evaluate the perceived differences between different categories of episodes, and (c) to assess the effects of the judges' age, sex and attitudes on their cognitive representation of aggressive episodes. Judgements of 22 aggressive episodes selected from a free-response pilot study were analysed by Carroll & Chang's (1970) INDSCAL procedure, and differences between categories of episodes and groups of judges were evaluated by multiple discriminant analyses. Results indicated that (a) four cognitive dimensions, probability of occurrence, justifiability, emotional provocation, and control, defined the psychological map for aggressive episodes; (b) domestic against public, drunken and non-drunken, criminal against non-criminal episodes were significantly differentiated in this perceptual space; (c) the judges' age, sex and Machiavellism scores were related to their perception of such episodes. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of implicit perceptions of aggression and crime in the criminal justice system. Specifically, it is suggested that similar techniques could be used to (a) gauge popular perceptions of crime as an input to the legislative process, and (b) for the study of perceptions of aggressive episodes by such crucial groups in the criminal justice system as policemen, judges, jury members, victims and offenders.

Aggression↗

PubMed1997

Do beliefs about aggressive feelings and actions predict reported levels of aggression?

In Study 1, a 40-item questionnaire measuring instrumental and expressive beliefs about aggression, along a five-point scale, was developed. It was based on a 20-item questionnaire (Campbell, Muncer & Coyle, 1992) where the two alternatives were forced choices for each item. In the present study the two sets of beliefs were only moderately correlated (-.35), and their separation into 20-item scales showed a clearer factor structure than combining all 40 items. Men showed higher instrumental scores whereas women showed higher expressive scores: factor analysis revealed one major factor in each case on which items showing the highest sex differences were concentrated. In Study 2 the questionnaire was used on another sample to assess the association between these beliefs and self-reported physical and verbal aggression, and anger. Instrumental beliefs were found to be highly correlated with physical aggression, and to a lesser extent verbal aggression. In this study, sex differences were similar to Study 1, but were complicated by the finding of stronger instrumental beliefs at younger ages for both sexes. In both studies, when filling out the questionnaire, women were equally likely to think of an aggressive episode with a same-sex opponent as with an opposite-sex partner whereas men nearly always thought of an aggressive episode with a same-sex opponent. However, neither instrumental nor expressive scores were affected by whether female respondents were thinking of a partner or same-sex other.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

The overt aggression scale for rating aggression in outpatient youth with autistic disorder: preliminary findings.

Aggression is a common and costly problem in youth with developmental disabilities. Rating scales that accurately capture and measure subtypes of aggression phenomenology, frequency and severity are urgently needed, in both clinical practice and research. The authors studied the Overt Aggression Scale (OAS) in a preliminary sample of eight outpatients who participated in an ongoing placebo-controlled study of valproate for aggression in autism. Subjects' OAS aggression scores showed significant correlation with the already validated retrospectively rated Aberrant Behavior Checklist Community Scale irritability subscale. Further study of the OAS in outpatients with aggression and developmental disabilities is warranted.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Social skills differences in aggressive and non-aggressive male young offenders within an unfamiliar social situation.

Forty male young offenders categorized as 'aggressive' or 'non-aggressive' according to criminal records, were filmed in conversation with an unknown prison officer on two occasions. Independent observers, blind to the offender's category, rated the aggressive subjects as having significantly poorer social skills than non-aggressive subjects, but only during subject's first conversation with the officer, i.e. within a novel, unfamiliar social situation. This finding has implications for the treatment of 'aggressive' individuals as it may be interpreted as evidence of their responding inappropriately (e.g. becoming withdrawn or verbally abusive) because they perceive ambiguous situations as threatening. It also might explain the recent finding from prison violence literature that inexperienced prison officers are more likely to become involved in violent incidents, because they are perceived by aggressive prisoners as 'ambiguous'.

Aggression↗

PubMed2003

Exposure to "low-level" aggression in school: associations with aggressive behavior, future expectations, and perceived safety.

Examined associations with witnessing and being victimized by "low-level" aggressive acts (e.g., pushing, gossip) and three indicators of psychosocial functioning in a sample of 771 elementary school students from one urban and one suburban school district. Results indicated that exposure to low-level aggression appears to relate to psychosocial functioning in ways similar to more severe forms of aggression. Students who were exposed to higher levels of both witnessing and victimization by low-level aggression reported the highest levels of engagement in aggression, the lowest levels of positive expectations for the future, and the lowest levels of perceived safety. Findings are discussed in the context of research on exposure to aggression in general, with suggestions offered for future studies. Implications of the findings for school-based intervention programs are raised.

Aggression↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Brain monoamine oxidase in highly aggressive C57BL and low aggressive CBA mice].

Highly aggressive C57BL mice were characterized by a higher MAO A activity in brain stem and hemispheres than low aggressive CBA mice at the age of 2 and 6 months. Emotional stress provoked by restraint resulted in a decrease of MAO A in the brain stem and hemispheres in 2-month-old C57BL mice which was prevented by actinomycin D. MAO A and MAO B in CBA mice did not react to stress. Aging of C57BL mice was accompanied by a decrease of MAO A activity in the hemispheres and of MAO B in the brain stem, while in CBA mice it was accompanied by a decrease of MAO B activity in the hemispheres. Actinomycin D increased MAO A activity in the brain stem of 6-month-old C57BL mice, but did not influence brain MAO in CBA mice. These date have demonstrated that the genotype of highly aggressive C57BL mice, as compared to low aggressive CBA mice, was expressed in a higher brain MAO A activity, which may have contributed to manifestation of aggressiveness in adult animals and of more reactive MAO A, which may be associated with peculiarities of regulation of its activity at the level of transcription but does not lead to disappearance of aggressiveness.

Aggression↗

PubMed1977

Self-reinforcement in high- and low-aggressive boys following acts of aggression.

Preadolescent boys either high or low in characteristic level of peer-directed aggression were initially annoyed by a peer confederate and then delivered aversive auditory stimulation to him via headphones. Half the boys of each aggression status were led to believe that they had injured their victim, through high pain-cue feedback, whereas the other half were given low pain-cue feedback. Subsequently, boys self-dispensed rewards with instructions to take what they deserved for what they had done to the other boy. Low aggressive boys severely curtailed their self-reinforcement following high pain cues, whereas high-aggressive boys did not. Results supported the view that high-aggressive boys fail to experience the negative self-reactions following injurious behavior that are experienced by boys lower in aggressive tendencies.

Aggression↗

PubMed2006

The dynamic appraisal of situational aggression: an instrument to assess risk for imminent aggression in psychiatric inpatients.

Considerable research has attempted to delineate the demographic and clinical characteristics of high-risk psychiatric patients and identify salient modifiable aspects of aggression prone environments. Recently, there has also been increased interest in the development and testing of structured schemes for the assessment of risk for aggression within inpatient psychiatric settings. Although some of these methods show acceptable predictive validity, their ability to inform day-to-day treatment and management decisions is limited. The current research was designed to identify existing and novel risk factors that would assist staff to identify and manage the risk for aggression in psychiatric inpatient populations. Results showed that assessments supported by structured risk measures were more accurate than unaided clinical judgements based only on nurses' clinical experience and knowledge of the patient alone. Seven test items emerged that were maximally effective at identifying acute psychiatric patients at risk for engaging in inpatient violence within 24 hours; these items have been combined in the development of the Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression. Empirical analyses and clinical experience support the efficacy of the instrument in assisting clinical staff in the identification and management of inpatient aggression.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1979

A method of quantitating aggressive behaviour revealing possible dissociation of motor activity and aggression.

A method is described for quantitating isolation-induced aggression in wild male mice by measuring coarse motor activity. It is based on the operational definition that aggression is the form of motor activity in which two (or more) animals are involved in behaviour patterns, such as physical attack and/or defence including pursuit and flight. Both coarse and fine motor activity were measured by means of an electromagnetic activity meter. Four hundred ninety-two fights occurring among mice treated with various hormones, neurotransmitter antagonists, hashish, and cyproterone acetate were recorded; a positive significant correlation (P less than 0.001) between indices of fighting behaviour as well as fighting time and coarse motor activity were found. The simultaneous measurement of motor activity and aggression revealed dissociated effects of some drugs on non-aggressive fine motor activity and aggression.

5,7-Dihydroxytryptamine↗

PubMed1979

Evidence of central cholinergic mechanisms in the appearance of affective aggressive behaviour: dissociation of aggression from autonomic and motor phenomena.

Carbachol, muscarine, eserine and neostigmine injected into the cerebral ventricles of conscious cats evoked emotional behaviour with aggression, autonomic and motor phenomena as well as clonic-tonic convulsions. The main and the most impressive feature of the gross behavioural effects of intraventricular carbachol, muscarine, eserine and neostigmine in conscious cats was the affective type of aggression. However, neostigmine produced aggressive behaviour only in about one-quarter of the experiments. After intraventricular hemicholinium-3 and triethylcholine carbachol, muscarine, eserine and neostigmine elicited autonomic and motor phenomena. In these cats cholinomimetics and anticholinesterases evoked only slight hissing and snarling. Choline administered into the cerebral ventricles of hemicholinium-3 and triethylcholine-treated cats restored the emotional behaviour with aggression, autonomic and motor phenomena as well as clonic-tonic convulsions to intraventricular carbachol, muscarine, eserine and neostigmine. The restored gross behavioural changes to eserine were almost of the same intensity, while those to carbachol and muscarine were of lesser intensity than in control cats. From these experiments it is concluded that cholinergic neurones are involved in the appearance of the affective type of aggression resulting from intraventricular carbachol, muscarine, eserine and neostigmine.

Aggression↗

PubMed1991

Hormone-dependent aggression in the female rat: testosterone plus estradiol implants prevent the decline in aggression following ovariectomy.

Female rats were individually housed with a sterile male for the duration of the experiment. Beginning 7 to 10 weeks after the start of cohabitation, each female was tested for aggression toward an unfamiliar female at weekly intervals for 3 weeks. Females that displayed consistent and substantial aggression were given one of the following treatments: ovariectomy followed by both testosterone and estradiol implants, ovariectomy followed by 2 empty implants, or sham ovariectomy followed by 2 empty implants. The implants were subcutaneously placed hormone-filled Silastic capsules. They were expected to produce a serum testosterone concentration of 0.5 ng/ml and an estradiol concentration of 15 pg/ml. Postoperatively, the aggression of each female continued to be assessed on a weekly basis for 3 weeks. Ovariectomized females with hormone implants displayed a level of aggression postoperatively similar to that of sham-ovariectomized females and significantly greater than that of ovariectomized females with empty implants. These results, together with others, suggest that estradiol and testosterone act together to form the hormonal foundation of hormone-dependent aggression by females cohabiting with a sterile male.

Aggression↗

PubMed1982

gamma-Aminobutyric acid in brain areas of isolated aggressive or non-aggressive inbred strains of mice.

In order to investigate the effects of social isolation on aggressive behavior and GABA levels in different brain areas, inbred mice of the C57 Bl/6 and the DBA/2 strains were housed individually over a period of 8 weeks. Social isolation induced a clear increase of aggressive responses only in the DBA/2 strain and a decrease of GABA levels in septum, striatum, olfactory bulb and posterior colliculus in both the C57Bl/6 and in the DBA/2 strains. An increase of neurotransmitter concentration was observed in amygdala of DBA mice. DBA mice when compared to C57 mice showed significantly lower levels of GABA in olfactory bulb and striatum. These results are discussed in light of several previous studies which have pointed out a correlation between a deficiency of GABA mediated inhibition in some brain areas and different kinds of aggressive behavior as well as the possibility of a blockade of aggressive behavior by potentiation of GABAergic mediated inhibition. A possible suggestion emerging from our results is that the aggressive responses exhibited by isolated DBA mice but not by isolated C57 mice may be related to lower levels of the inhibitory neurotransmitter in the olfactory bulb and striatum.

Aggression↗

PubMed2006

Assessing aggressiveness quickly and efficiently: the Spanish adaptation of Aggression Questionnaire-refined version.

The assessment of aggressiveness and the prediction of aggression has become a relevant research and applied topic in Psychiatry and Psychology. There have been many attempts in order to get a fast and reliable tool to measure aggression. Buss and Durkee started the pathway, and recently Bryant and Smith developed a tool with an enormous potential, a fast-applicable, reliable and valid test. We herein report a Spanish adaptation of this test and we show that aggressiveness can be measured rapidly, and in a simple, valid and reliable way across different populations. We focus on the discriminant capacity of this test to detect aggressive individuals.

Adolescent↗