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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Are aggressive people aggressive drivers? A study of the relationship between self-reported general aggressiveness, driver anger and aggressive driving.

In this study the relationships among self-reported general aggressiveness, impulsiveness, driver anger, and aggressive responses to anger-provoking situations on the road were studied. The British version of a driver anger scale (UK DAS), aggression questionnaire (AQ), and an impulsiveness questionnaire (I7) together with background questions (gender, age, annual mileage) were administered to a sample of 270 British drivers. Variation in strength of correlations between anger and aggressive reactions in the 21 UK DAS items showed that the relationship between driver anger and aggression depends in part on the characteristics of the situation. In addition, three path models for describing the relationships among the measures were constructed separately for women and men. The models suggested that the effects of verbal aggressiveness on self-reported driver aggression were mediated by driver anger whereas physical aggressiveness was directly related to aggressive behaviour. Age was negatively related to both driver anger and aggression among men whereas annual mileage was negatively related to aggression among women. The models constructed indicate that aggressive driver behaviour is a complex phenomenon with a range of psychological causes.

Adult↗

Predictors of aggression across three generations among sons of alcoholics: relationships involving grandparental and parental alcoholism, child aggression, marital aggression and parenting practices.

OBJECTIVE: This longitudinal study uses a three-generation database involving measures of grandparental and parental alcohol use disorder (AUD), marital aggression and aggression to offspring to predict early and later childhood aggression of third generation offspring. Given the importance of aggressive, undercontrolled behavior in the etiology of alcoholism, the purpose of this study was to construct a statistical model of intergenerational aggression and alcoholism among family members. METHOD: Participants were a population-based sample of 186 young sons of alcoholics and both biological parents and 120 nonsubstance abusing families and their age-matched sons drawn from the same neighborhoods. Extensive family data were collected at baseline and at 6 years postbaseline. Structural equation modeling evaluated retrospective and prospective relationships between grandparental and parental predictors of the sons' childhood aggression when they were 3-5 and 9-11 years of age. RESULTS: The final model showed that grandparental marital aggression predicted development of parental antisocial behavior, which predicted parental alcoholism and marital aggression and partially mediated level of child aggression among their sons as preschoolers. Significant autostabilities in level of child aggression, parental AUD and marital aggression were present in families over the 6-year interval. Marital aggression was a more important predictor of son's preschool aggression; direct parental aggression to the child was more important at 9-11. Child aggression at 3-5 also was a partial mediator of level of parent-to-child aggression at 9-11. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate continuity of aggression across three generations and also indicate that the child's pathway into risk for later AUD is not simply mediated by parental alcoholism, but is carried by other comorbid aspects of family functioning, in particular aggression.

Aggression↗

[The effect of media violence on aggression: is aggressive behavior mediated by aggressive cognitions and emotions?].

This study investigated whether cognitions and emotions elicited by media violence mediate aggressive behavior. Eighty undergraduates, 40 men and 40 women, participated in the experiment. First, subjects were exposed to one of four violent videos which varied in levels of violence and entertainment. Subjects' heart rate and eyeblink rate were continuously recorded while they watched the video. After watching it, subjects described their thoughts which occurred while watching it and rated their affective reactions to it. Finally, their aggressive behavior was measured. Results showed that (1) videos high in violence elicited more aggressive thoughts, more thoughts of negative affect, stronger negative affects, and stronger empty-powerless affects, whereas videos high in entertainment elicited stronger positive affects; (2) no significant differences were found among the videos in terms of physiological reactions and aggressive behavior; and (3) cognitions and emotions elicited by media violence did not mediate aggressive behavior.

Adult↗

Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: a meta-analytic review of the scientific literature.

Research on exposure to television and movie violence suggests that playing violent video games will increase aggressive behavior. A metaanalytic review of the video-game research literature reveals that violent video games increase aggressive behavior in children and young adults. Experimental and nonexperimental studies with males and females in laboratory and field settings support this conclusion. Analyses also reveal that exposure to violent video games increases physiological arousal and aggression-related thoughts and feelings. Playing violent video games also decreases prosocial behavior.

Adolescent↗

The effect of the level of aggression in the first grade classroom on the course and malleability of aggressive behavior into middle school.

This paper is on the influences of the classroom context on the course and malleability of aggressive behavior from entrance into first grade through the transition into middle school. Nineteen public elementary schools participated in developmental epidemiologically based preventive trials in first and second grades, one of which was directed at reducing aggressive, disruptive behavior. At the start of first grade, schools and teachers were randomly assigned to intervention or control conditions. Children within each school were assigned sequentially to classrooms from alphabetized lists, followed by checking to insure balanced assignment based on kindergarten behavior. Despite these procedures, by the end of first quarter, classrooms within schools differed markedly in levels of aggressive behavior. Children were followed through sixth grade, where their aggressive behavior was rated by middle school teachers. Strong interactive effects were found on the risk of being highly aggressive in middle school between the level of aggressive behavior in the first grade classrooms and each boy's own level of aggressive, disruptive behavior in first grade. The more aggressive first grade boys who were in higher aggressive first grade classrooms were at markedly increased risk, compared both to the median first grade boys, and compared to aggressive males in lower aggressive first grade classrooms. Boys were already behaving more aggressively than girls in first grade; and no similar classroom aggression effect was found among girls, although girls' own aggressive behavior did place them at increased risk. The preventive intervention effect, already reported elsewhere to reduce aggressive behavior among the more aggressive males, appeared to do so by reducing high levels of classroom aggression. First grade males' own poverty level was associated with higher risk of being more aggressive, disruptive in first grade, and thereby increased their vulnerability to classroom level of aggression. Both boys and girls in schools in poor communities were at increased risk of being highly aggressive in middle school regardless of their levels of aggressive behavior in first grade. These results are discussed in terms of life course/social field theory as applied to the role of contextual influences on the development and etiology of severe aggressive behavior.

Adolescent↗

Alcohol-related aggression in men and women: the influence of dispositional aggressivity.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of dispositional aggressivity on the alcohol-aggression relation in men and women. METHOD: Subjects were 204 healthy social drinkers (111 men) between 21 and 35 years of age. Dispositional aggressivity was measured using the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire. Following the consumption of either an alcohol or placebo beverage, subjects were tested on a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm, in which electric shocks are received from and administered to a fictitious opponent during a competitive task. Aggression was operationalized as the shock intensities administered to the fictitious opponent under conditions of low and high provocation. RESULTS: Of all the variables, provocation was the strongest elicitor of aggression. Overall, persons with high dispositional aggressivity exhibited more aggression than did those with low dispositional aggressivity. Alcohol increased aggression for persons with high, but not for those with low, dispositional aggressivity. This effect was stronger under conditions of low provocation. Furthermore, men and women with low dispositional aggressivity did not differ in aggression. Men with high dispositional aggressivity, however, were more aggressive than their female counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first investigation to examine the influence of dispositional aggressivity on the alcohol-aggression relation in men and women. The results highlight the fact that alcohol consumption does not increase aggression in all persons and in all situations. An important goal for future research is to identify which individual difference and contextual factors are most important in determining who will, and will not, behave in an aggressive manner when intoxicated.

Adult↗

Lesbians in currently aggressive relationships: how frequently do they report aggressive past relationships?

Findings are reported from a survey examining the frequency with which women in currently aggressive same-sex relationships also report aggressive past relationships involving female partners, male partners, or members of their family of origin. Particular attention is paid to victims who also used aggression and their perceptions of whether their aggressive behavior was self-defensive or mutually aggressive. Results indicate that about one-fourth of participants had been victims of aggression in current relationships, roughly two-thirds had been victimized by a previous male partner, and almost three-fourths had experienced aggression by a previous female partner. Among those reporting having been both victims and users of aggression, about one-fifth had used aggression in their current relationship, almost one-third used aggression with a previous male partner, and nearly two-thirds had used aggression with a previous female partner. A majority of victims who had also used aggression with a previous male partner characterized this use as self-defense, as compared to only 30% of those who had used aggression with a female partner. Instead, aggression in relationships involving a female partner was most frequently described as mutually aggressive in nature.

Adult↗

Effects of serotonergic drugs on lateralized aggression and aggressive displays in Anolis carolinensis.

Previous work demonstrated that the brains of many reptiles, including the American chameleon Anolis carolinensis (A. carolinensis), are functionally 'split'. Because the left eye in this species projects predominantly to the right hemisphere, and vice versa, inferences about lateralized brain functioning can be made in A. carolinensis by observation of eye use during behavioral encounters. Using this model, past work suggested that territorial aggression in Anolis is under the preferential control of the right hemisphere, and that acute stress or chronic alcohol exposure selectively reduces right hemisphere mediated territorial aggression. In addition, drugs which increase serotonin (5-HT) in the synaptic cleft inhibit aggressive responding in anoles in both hemispheres. The current experiment examined whether or not the administration of the serotonin agonists 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamine) tetralin (8-OHDPAT), quipazine, or meta-chlorophenylbiguanide (mCPBG) alter territorial aggression in Anolis. Nine adult socially isolated male A. carolinensis underwent a series of behavioral trials during which an antagonistic male was introduced into the cage. Once stable responding was initiated, all subjects were injected in a semi-randomized crossover manner with the following agents, (1) lactated Ringer's, (2) the 5-HT2 agonist quipazine (1.5 mg/kg and 3.0 mg/kg), (3) the 5-HT1 agonist 8-OHDPAT (83 mg/kg), and (4) the 5-HT3 agonist mCPBG (3.0 mg/kg and 9 mg/kg). Twenty minutes post injections, the male intruder was reintroduced into the subject's cage. Several behaviors were recorded, including: (1) the time to the first aggressive response, (2) the number of aggressive episodes mediated by the left eye or right eye, and (3) changes in skin color and posture. Aggressive responding was virtually eliminated in all subjects injected with 8-OHDPAT. On the other hand, one-way ANOVA found that both the 9 mg/kg dose of mCPBG (P=0.007), and the 3.0 mg/kg dose of quipazine (P=0.035), selectively decreased territorial aggression mediated by the left eye/right hemisphere compared to lactated Ringer's controls, but had no effect on aggression mediated by the right eye/left hemisphere. Although 8-OHDPAT inhibited aggression, injected subjects developed phenotypic displays of aggressive coloring/posturing, such as blackening of the eye spot and a raising of the neck crest. These results suggest that aggressive action can be differentiated from phenotypic displays that accompany aggression by a 5-HT1 agonist. They also indicate that there is an asymmetrical effect of 5-HT2/5-HT3 serotonin agonists on hemispheric mediation of aggression in this species.

8-Hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin↗

The role of aggression in peer relations: an analysis of aggression episodes in boys' play groups.

Although aggression is frequently cited as a major cause of peer social rejection, no more than half of all aggressive children are rejected. Aggressive episode data from experimental play groups of 7- and 9-year-old black males were coded to examine whether qualitative aspects of aggressive behavior, as well as frequency of aggression, determine the relation between aggressiveness and peer rejection. Reactive aggression and bullying were related to peer status among 9-year-olds, but not 7-year-olds, whereas instrumental aggression was characteristic of highly aggressive, rejected boys at both ages. Qualitative features of aggressive interaction suggested a greater level of hostility toward peers and a tendency to violate norms for aggressive exchange among rejected, aggressive boys at both ages in contrast to other groups of boys. The descriptive data provide a distinctive picture of reactive, instrumental, and bullying aggression as well as differing social norms for target and aggressor behavior in each of these 3 types of aggression.

Age Factors↗

Stability in aggression and aggression control in a sample of primary school children in China.

The aim was to study the stability of aggression and aggression control in Chinese children. Olweus' Aggression Inventory was retested after 18 months in a sample of Chinese primary school children in Beijing (average age 12 years; 267 children; 139 boys and 128 girls; 92% of the initial study sample). Compared with relevant studies in Scandinavian countries, this study shows that a degree of stability in aggression behaviour is also found in Chinese primary school children despite strong societal pressures against aggressive behaviour and towards aggression control. The result supports the earlier evidence that aggression was a somewhat more global or less differentiated phenomenon for Chinese children. Nevertheless, the average aggression response level for the Chinese children is clearly low and quite high for aggression control. Positive self-report, which reflects good adjustment and psychological health, was still clearly related to aggression control, but slightly less for the boys. The average difference between boys and girls in general aggression and aggression control was stable over time. Girls showed a lower level of general aggression and a higher level of aggression control compared with boys.

Adolescent↗

Sex differences in aggression: does social representation mediate form of aggression?

In contrast to the usual pattern of higher male aggression, girls have been shown to exceed boys on frequency measures of indirect aggression. Women also tend to view aggression in terms of an expressive social representation whereby it is seen to result from loss of self-control, in contrast to men who tend to describe it as an instrumental act aimed at exerting control over others. Sixteen items measuring different forms of aggressive behaviour were given to 105 undergraduates together with Expagg, a psychometric measure of social representation of aggression. Factor analysis of the aggression items revealed three scales: direct (verbal and physical), indirect instrumental and indirect expressive aggression. The only aggression scale showing a significant sex difference was indirect expressive aggression on which women scored higher than men. There was also a significant sex difference on Expagg with women showing a more expressive representation of aggression. However the point biserial correlation between sex and indirect expressive aggression was not diminished when expressive representation of aggression was partialled out. It is argued that indirect expressive aggression (involving bitching and avoiding) fails to show a relationship with social representation because it lacks the formal requirements of intentional harm and consequently is not an act of 'aggression'.

Adolescent↗

Lower restenosis rate with stenting following aggressive versus less aggressive rotational atherectomy.

The present study evaluated the acute and follow-up results of stenting following aggressive rotational atherectomy compared with stenting following less aggressive rotational atherectomy. Recent work has demonstrated that stenting following rotational atherectomy is a promising strategy for complex and calcified lesions. However, there is little information available regarding the optimal procedural technique of rotational atherectomy to be employed before stent implantation. Between May 1995 and February 1997, 162 lesions in 126 patients were stented following rotational atherectomy because of the presence of severe calcification on fluoroscopy or intravascular ultrasound (95%). The lesions were divided as to whether aggressive rotational atherectomy was performed or not. Aggressive rotational atherectomy, defined as the use of a final burr size > or =2.25 mm and/or final burr/vessel ratio > or =0.8, was performed in 56 lesions. A less aggressive rotational atherectomy strategy was performed in 106 lesions. Procedural Q-wave (8.9% vs. 1.9%, P<0.05) and non-Q-wave (11% vs. 1.9%, P<0.05) myocardial infarctions were observed more frequently after aggressive rotational atherectomy; there was no significant difference in the incidence of other procedural complications. Although there was no significant difference in minimal lumen diameter after the procedure (3.11+/-0.68 vs. 2.99+/-0.48 mm, NS), at follow-up a greater minimal lumen diameter was observed in the lesions treated with aggressive rotational atherectomy compared to those treated with less aggressive rotational atherectomy (2.12+/-1.31 vs. 1.56+/-0.89 mm, P<0.01). Restenosis rates were 50.0% in the lesions treated without aggressive rotational atherectomy and 30.9% in those treated with aggressive rotational atherectomy (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of restenosis with a focal pattern between the two groups (25.0% vs. 21.4%, NS). In contrast, restenosis with a diffuse pattern was lower in lesions treated with aggressive rotational atherectomy than in those without aggressive rotational atherectomy (9.5% vs. 25.0%, P<0.05). Aggressive rotational atherectomy followed by stenting is a promising strategy to reduce the restenosis rate in calcified lesions. However, the aggressive strategy is associated with an increased risk of procedural myocardial infarction.

Calcinosis↗

Perception of an aggressive interaction as a function of the perceiver's aggression.

This research examined whether persons high or low in naturally occurring aggression differ in attributions made to others engaged in an aggressive interaction. All participants were shown a videotaped aggressive exchange after which they completed a standard person-perception questionnaire and a self-report used to separate them into groups of persons high and low in aggression. The salience of the more aggressive stimulus person was manipulated as a means of relating results to existing findings and theory in person perception. Five of the seven dependent measures show effects of level of aggression consistent with prediction of more negative perceptions by persons high in aggression than by persons low in aggression. Level of aggression often interacts with salience and stimulus person, and some of these complex interactions are not easily interpretable. However, persons high in aggression than by persons low in aggression. Level of aggression often interacts with salience and stimulus person, and some of these complex interactions are not easily interpretable. However, persons high in aggression perceive greater injury, negative reactions, and domineering in such situations and make greater causal distinction among stimulus persons.

Adult↗

Predatory aggression, but not maternal or intermale aggression, is associated with high voluntary wheel-running behavior in mice.

Predatory (towards crickets), intermale, and maternal aggression were examined in four replicate lines of mice that had been selectively bred for high wheel-running (S) and in four random-bred control lines (C). In generation 18, individual differences in both predatory and intermale aggression were significantly consistent across four trial days, but predatory and intermale aggression were uncorrelated both at the individual level and among the eight line means. Latencies to attack crickets were significantly lower in S lines as a group. Intermale aggression, however, did not differ between S and C lines. S lines were significantly smaller in body mass, but did not differ in either testes mass or plasma testosterone. In generations 28 and 30, respectively, S and C lines did not differ in either maternal or intermale aggression. However, significant differences among the individual lines were found for maternal aggression, and one S line exhibited an extremely high mean time of aggression (>120 sec for a 5-min test). Maternal and intermale aggression were not correlated among the eight line means or at the level of individual variation. Overall, our results suggest: (1) predatory aggression and voluntary wheel-running are positively related at the genetic level; (2) predatory and intermale aggression are unrelated at a genetic level; and (3) maternal and intermale aggression are not tightly related at the genetic level. Possible relationships between predatory aggression, dopamine, and wheel-running behavior are discussed.

Aggression↗

Psychological aggression predicts physical aggression in early marriage.

Psychological aggression by self and partner, physical aggression by the partner, and marital dissatisfaction were examined as longitudinal predictors of first instances of physical aggression during marriage. Subjects who were not physically aggressive at a premarital assessment were selected from a sample of 393 engaged couples. Couples participated in three subsequent assessments over the first 30 months of marriage. As hypothesized, individuals' own psychological aggression predicted their initial incidents of physical aggression in marriage. Psychological aggression by their partners also predicted initial incidents of physical aggression. Prior physical aggression by their partners was inconsistently associated with first instances of physical aggression. Contrary to our hypothesis, previous levels of marital dissatisfaction did not predict initial incidents of physical aggression. These findings were consistent across sexes. The results underscore the progression from psychological to physical abuse and have clear implications for understanding the development and prevention of interspousal aggression.

Adult↗

Aggression in psychiatry: a qualitative study focusing on the characterization and perception of patient aggression by nurses working on psychiatric wards.

The present study focuses on the characterization and perception of patient aggression by nurses working in a psychiatric hospital in The Netherlands. Data have been collected by interviewing nurses working on open and closed wards. The results have been compared and related to the existing literature on aggression. An expert panel has collaborated in the assessment of part of the research findings. Nurses perceive and describe aggression in different ways. Since the descriptions of aggression varied considerably, it was not possible to formulate a general definition of aggression on the basis of the results of the study. Despite the fact that on the whole the general public have a negative view of aggression, the descriptions nurses gave were not always negative. Most of the nurses acknowledged positive as well as negative aspects of aggressive behaviour by patients. Interventions in cases of aggressive behaviour depend on different factors, e.g. the individual nurse's perception of the situation, the (mostly unwritten) rules, and the type of ward (open or closed). The same interventions are often used both to prevent aggression and to stop it. The difference lies in the moment of execution. Most interventions are aimed at stopping aggressive behaviour by acting in a non-restrictive way, e.g. by talking to the patient, touching the patient and giving unexpected responses. Nurses express the belief that aggression is mainly caused by a combination of patient-related, situational and interactional factors. This is not in accordance with the opinion of the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association, who relate aggressive behaviour mainly to patient characteristics.

Aggression↗

An examination of social cognitive theory with differences among sexually aggressive, physically aggressive and nonaggressive children in state care.

Three groups of boys in Washington State care (37 sexually aggressive, 17 physically aggressive, and 15 nonaggressive) are compared on measures of behavior and cognition. Bandura's Social Cognition theory is offered as a possible explanation for sexual aggression by children. Two theory-based hypothesis are tested. First, are sexually aggressive children cognitively deficient when compared to the other groups? Second, do the sexually aggressive children have cognitive distortions about their behavior and about sex? Similarities were found in the aggressive and sexually aggressive groups on several measures. Physically aggressive boys were found to have some sexual behavior problems. Sexually aggressive boys were also found to be physically aggressive. Physically aggressive boys were found to have the least severe and least frequent victimization history. No support was found for the first hypothesis, while some evidence of cognitive distortions regarding both social behavior and sex was found in the sexually aggressive children. Discussion and some implications for research and practice are offered.

Aggression↗

What can animal aggression research tell us about human aggression?

Research on endocrinological correlates of aggression in laboratory animals is implicitly motivated by an expectation that the results of such studies may be applicable to human aggression as well. Research with a focus on the stimulus antecedents of aggression, its response characteristics, and its outcomes suggests a number of detailed correspondences between offensive aggression in laboratory rodents and human angry aggression. These include resource (including status and territory) competition as motives that are particularly elicited by conspecific challenge situations and, when the aggression is successful, outcomes of reduction of challenge and enhancement of resource control and status. Although the response characteristics of human aggression have been dramatically altered by human verbal, technological, and social advancements, there is some evidence for targeting of blows, similar to a well-established pattern for offensive aggression in many nonhuman mammals. Finally, for people as well as for nonhuman mammals, fear of defeat or punishment is a major factor inhibiting the expression of offensive aggression. While defensive aggression has been very little researched in people, it may represent a different phenomenon than angry aggression, again providing a parallel to the offense-defense distinction of laboratory rodent studies.

Aggression↗