Beating expectations
Peter Strelan, Mario Weick & Milica Vasiljevic
British Journal of Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
We took an individual differences approach to explain revenge tendencies in powerholders. Across four experimental studies, chronically powerless individuals sought more revenge than chronically powerful individuals following a high power episode (Studies 1 and 2), when striking a powerful pose (Study 3), and when making a powerful hand gesture (Study 4). This relationship vanished when participants were not exposed to incidental power. A meta-analysis revealed that, relative to a lack of power or a neutral context, exposure to incidental power increased vengeance among the chronically powerless and reduced vengeance among the chronically powerful. These findings add to previous research on relations between power and aggression, and underscore the role of individual differences as a determinant of powerholders' destructive responses.
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Aggressive Acts Increase Commitment to New Groups: Zombie Attacks and Blocked Shots
Negin Toosi, E.J. Masicampo & Nalini Ambady
Social Psychological and Personality Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
How do individuals who switch between opposing sides develop a sense of commitment to their new groups? Study 1 examined these dynamics in a live-action tag game known as Humans versus Zombies, in which players transitioned from being Human to being Zombie, thus turning against their former fellow Humans. Study 2 examined data from professional basketball players in the National Basketball Association who moved to a new team and had to play against their former team. Aggressive acts against former group members in these competitive settings determined commitment to the new group above and beyond other factors. Aggressive acts against former teammates, such as simulated killing (Study 1) and blocked shots (Study 2), promoted more positive self-reported attitudes toward the new group (Study 1) and more collaboration with new group members in the form of assists (Study 2).
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Paranoid thinking in mass shooters
Donald Dutton, Katherine White & Dan Fogarty
Aggression and Violent Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Mass murderers, particularly school shooters are depicted in the literature as either reacting with rage to taunts and bullying or as being psychopathic. However, examination of diaries and websites left by a subset of mass shooters (e.g., Eric Harris, Kimveer Gil, Cho Seung Hui, Anders Breivik) reveal a different phenomenology than that typically proposed. This group greatly exaggerates the negativity of their treatment as reported by third-party school peers. They become and remain fixated and obsessed with rejection by what they see as an elite in-group whom they see as having unfairly achieved success. Instead of transcending the rejection, they formulate plans to annihilate the transgressors, which they justify as vengeance for the transgressions made against them. The self-exacerbating and obsessive quality of these perceptions are more consistent with paranoid thinking than with psychopathy. The perceptions feed on themselves and, being part of a closed belief system, expand with time. In the rare cases where the perpetrator survives the mass shooting, they are diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. We focus on the pre-psychotic deterioration of their thinking.
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Urban African American Parents' Messages About Violence
Sarah Lindstrom Johnson et al.
Journal of Adolescent Research, September 2013, Pages 511-534
Abstract:
Family socialization, which includes parental control and support, plays an important role in reducing the likelihood of adolescent involvement in conflict. This study examined the strategies that urban parents living in neighborhoods with high crime rates suggest to help their adolescent children avoid or deescalate conflict. Data came from 48 African American parent/adolescent dyads recruited through the youths' middle school. Dyads responded to three video-taped scenarios depicting youth in potential conflict situations. Qualitative methods were used to identify 11 strategies parents suggested to help youth avoid or deescalate conflict. Although the majority of parents advocated for nonviolent solutions, these same parents described situations in which their child may need to use violence. These findings have important implications for family-focused violence prevention programs.
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Serious Fighting-Related Injuries Produce a Significant Reduction in Intelligence
Joseph Schwartz & Kevin Beaver
Journal of Adolescent Health, forthcoming
Purpose: Fighting-related injuries are common among adolescents within the United States, but how such injuries relate to subsequent cognitive functioning remains unclear. In particular, the long-term effect of fighting-related injuries suffered during important developmental periods, such as adolescence, on subsequent cognitive functioning has been overlooked by previous studies. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between sustaining serious fighting-related injuries and changes in verbal intelligence (IQ) over a 5- to 6-year time period.
Methods: Longitudinal multivariate statistical models were used to analyze data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health collected between 1994 and 2002 and analyzed in 2013.
Results: Even a single fighting-related injury resulted in a significant reduction in IQ over time even after controlling for age, race, sex, and changes in socioeconomic status (SES) over the study period. Additionally, females experienced a significantly greater reduction in IQ from each fighting-related injury than males.
Conclusions: Fighting-related injuries have a significant impact on subsequent cognitive functioning and intelligence. The implications for future policies and research are discussed in more detail.
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Televised relational and physical aggression and children's hostile intent attributions
Nicole Martins
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
An experiment was conducted with 150 children (mean age = 10.1 years) in third to fifth grades to test whether exposure to different forms of aggression in the media affected hostile attributional biases in response to different forms of provocation scenarios. Children were randomly assigned to watch a clip containing physical aggression, relational aggression, or no aggression. After exposure, children were asked to respond to a series of written provocation scenarios where a character caused some form of harm (instrumental or relational) to a target person, but the intent of the provocateur was ambiguous. Results revealed that exposure to relationally aggressive portrayals resulted in a hostile attributional bias in response to relational scenarios, whereas exposure to portrayals of physical aggression was associated with a hostile attributional bias in response to instrumental scenarios. Moreover, these biases were shown to be specific to the exposure condition (physical or relational) and not simply associated with exposure to aggression in general. The findings are discussed in terms of the general aggression model and children's social information processing.
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Jack Hollingdale & Tobias Greitemeyer
Journal of Applied Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Video game developments allow players to design their own personalized avatars. Previous research has shown that this capability increases levels of aggression within socially acceptable forms of violence. Using the general aggression model (GAM), the current study examined the effect of avatar personalization on behavioral aggression within a violent video game. Participants who played a violent video game and designed their own avatars were significantly more aggressive than those who played the same violent video game with a generic avatar, and were also more aggressive than those who played the nonviolent video game, regardless of whether or not they designed their own personalized characters. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.
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Group Cohesiveness, Gang Member Prestige, and Delinquency and Violence in Chicago, 1959-1962
Lorine Hughes
Criminology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Data from Short and Strodtbeck's (1965) study of gangs in Chicago, 1959-1962, are used to examine the association between intragang friendship networks and violent and delinquent behaviors among 248 boys from 11 different gangs (9 Black and 2 White). Contrary to expectations of tightly connected gangs being the most dangerous, estimates from multilevel overdispersed Poisson regression models showed significantly increased mean levels of violence among gangs with relatively low group cohesion. No relationship was observed between delinquency and gang cohesiveness, regardless of the specific network measure employed. At the individual level, popular boys were at a significantly increased risk for both delinquency and violence, suggesting a link between prestigious positions within the structure of gang friendship networks and conformity with group processes. The implications of these findings for detached worker intervention are discussed.
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The voodoo doll task: Introducing and validating a novel method for studying aggressive inclinations
Nathan DeWall et al.
Aggressive Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Aggression pervades modern life. To understand the root causes of aggression, researchers have developed several methods to assess aggressive inclinations. The current article introduces a new behavioral method - the voodoo doll task (VDT) - that offers a reliable and valid trait and state measure of aggressive inclinations across settings and relationship contexts. Drawing on theory and research on the law of similarity and magical beliefs (Rozin, Millman, & Nemeroff [1986], Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 703-712), we propose that people transfer characteristics of a person onto a voodoo doll representing that person. As a result, causing harm to a voodoo doll by stabbing it with pins may have important psychological similarities to causing actual harm to the person the voodoo doll represents. Nine methodologically diverse studies (total N = 1,376) showed that the VDT had strong reliability, construct validity, and convergent validity. Discussion centers on the importance of magical beliefs in understanding the causes of aggressive inclinations.
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Genetic risk factors correlate with county-level violent crime rates and collective disadvantage
J.C. Barnes, Brian Boutwell & Kevin Beaver
Journal of Criminal Justice, forthcoming
Purpose: Social scientists have a rich tradition of uncovering the neighborhood, structural, and ecological correlates of human behavior. Results from this body of evidence have revealed that living in disadvantaged communities portends myriad negative outcomes, including antisocial behaviors. Though it has long been argued that associations between neighborhood factors and individual-level outcomes may, at least partially, reflect genetic selection, a paucity of research has empirically investigated this possibility.
Methods: The current study examined whether known genetic risk factors for antisocial behavior were predictive of exposure to disadvantage and violent crime measured at the county level. Drawing on genotypic data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a dopamine risk scale was created based on respondents' genotypes for DAT1, DRD2, and DRD4. County-level disadvantage was measured via Census data and violent crime rates were measured via the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports.
Results: Findings revealed that individuals with a greater number of dopamine risk alleles were more likely to live in a disadvantaged county and were more likely to live in a county with higher violent crime rates.
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Joseph Schwartz & Kevin Beaver
Comprehensive Psychiatry, forthcoming
Abstract:
Research has revealed that despite many similarities, siblings raised within the same household have also been found to be markedly different from one another. Behavioral differences between siblings have been primarily attributed to differential exposure to a wide variety of environmental influences. The potential role that between-sibling genetic differences play in the development of behavioral differences has been overlooked in the extant literature. The current study examines the association between differences in three dopaminergic polymorphisms (DAT1, DRD2, and DRD4) and differences in arrest, incarceration, and multiple arrests between siblings. Between-sibling difference scores were estimated for each examined polymorphism and each criminal justice outcome measure (along with all controls). Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models were estimated to examine the potential association between genetic differences between siblings and differences in experiences within the criminal justice system. Models were estimated for the full sample and then for the same-sex male and female subsamples separately. The results provide preliminary evidence that between-sibling differences in some of the examined dopaminergic polymorphisms are associated with differences in contact with the criminal justice system. Findings are discussed in more detail and suggestions for future research are also provided.
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Physical Aggression Facilitates Social Information Processing
Henry Markovits
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, November 2013, Pages 1023-1026
Abstract:
Physical aggression appears to have a much stronger effect on behavior than its overt frequency of occurrence would suggest. Studies examining effects of observing aggressive behavior and others looking at cognitive differences related to aggressive behavior suggest that physical aggression might be processed preferentially by the cognitive system. In order to examine this hypothesis, adult participants were given a social cue learning task. Study 1 presented three conditions which were identical except for the description of one potential outcome. Participants learned the cue more often when this outcome involved physical aggression (hit) compared to non-physical aggression (steal) or being friendly. Study 2 showed that the specific nature of the cue had no effect on success rates. Study 3 compared unusual outcomes involving aggression (being hit with a suitcase) and non-aggression (dancing). Results show that people were more accurate with the former. These results provide evidence that physical aggression is processed more efficiently than other forms of social interaction and gives a cognitive basis for the specific impact of physical aggression on behavior.
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Do peer group norms moderate the expression of genetic risk for aggression?
Mara Brendgen et al.
Journal of Criminal Justice, forthcoming
Purpose: Using a genetically informed design based on 192 Monozygotic and Dizygotic twin pairs assessed in kindergarten, this study examined whether the expression of genetic risk for physical aggression or for relational aggression varies depending on the peer group's injunctive behaviour norms.
Methods: Physical aggression and relational aggression, as well as injunctive peer group norms in regard to these behaviours, were measured via peer nominations in the twins' kindergarten classes.
Results: Peer groups varied considerably in terms of the level of acceptability of both physical and relational aggression. Bivariate Cholesky modeling revealed a significant gene-environment interaction, indicating that a strong genetic disposition for physical aggression was much more likely to be expressed when peer group injunctive norms were favourable to such behaviour. In contrast, genetic factors essentially played no role in explaining inter-individual differences when peer group norms discouraged physical aggression. Relational aggression was generally less explained by genetic influences and more by environmental influences regardless of peer group norms, but environmental influences became even more important when peer group norms favoured such behaviour.
Conclusions: These findings speak to the importance of the peer group in shaping aggression already in young children by either condoning or penalizing such behaviour.
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Childhood Chronic Physical Aggression Associates with Adult Cytokine Levels in Plasma
Nadine Provençal et al.
PLoS ONE, July 2013
Background: An increasing number of animal and human studies are indicating that inflammation is associated with behavioral disorders including aggression. This study investigates the association between chronic physical aggression during childhood and plasma cytokine levels in early adulthood.
Methodology/Principal Findings: Two longitudinal studies were used to select males on a chronic physical aggression trajectory from childhood to adolescence (n = 7) and a control group from the same background (n = 25). Physical aggression was assessed yearly by teachers from childhood to adolescence and plasma levels of 10 inflammatory cytokines were assessed at age 26 and 28 years. Compared to the control group, males on a chronic physical aggression trajectory from childhood to adolescence had consistently lower plasma levels of five cytokines: lower pro-inflammatory interleukins IL-1α (T(28.7) = 3.48, P = 0.002) and IL-6 (T(26.9) = 3.76, P = 0.001), lower anti-inflammatory interleukin IL-4 (T(27.1) = 4.91, P = 0.00004) and IL-10 (T(29.8) = 2.84, P = 0.008) and lower chemokine IL-8 (T(26) = 3.69, P = 0.001). The plasma levels of four cytokines accurately predicted aggressive and control group membership for all subjects.
Conclusions/Significance: Physical aggression of boys during childhood is a strong predictor of reduced plasma levels of cytokines in early adulthood. The causal and physiological relations underlying this association should be further investigated since animal data suggest that some cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-1β play a causal role in aggression.
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Biological protective factors for antisocial and criminal behavior
Jill Portnoy, Frances Chen & Adrian Raine
Journal of Criminal Justice, forthcoming
Purpose: Although risk factors are typically the focus of criminological research, increasingly researchers are interested in identifying protective factors that reduce the probability of antisocial behavior, either in the presence or absence of risk factors. Biosocial researchers are in an opportune position to research factors that protect against the development of antisocial behavior in high-risk individuals, given biosocial criminology's focus on the interaction between biological and social factors. The purpose of this article is to review neuropsychological and psychophysiology research into protective factors.
Results: Of the neuropsychological factors, high IQ has the best-replicated protective effects, though executive functioning is also a promising candidate as a protective factor. High resting heart rate, as well as enhanced autonomic fear conditioning and attentional processing may also have protective effects.
Conclusions: Though research into biological protective factors is currently limited, there is promising evidence that biological factors could help us to better understand why some individuals do not become antisocial or criminal in the presence of high social risk. Neuropsychological and psychophysiological measures are relatively easier and less costly to operationalize than other biological measures, making them promising candidates for criminological researchers who would like to incorporate biological measures into their research designs.
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Megan Johnson et al.
Developmental Psychobiology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Conduct disorder (CD) is a heterogeneous diagnosis, leading researchers to initiate studies focused on neurobiological mechanisms underlying this disorder. One specifier of CD currently considered for inclusion in the DSM-V is callous-unemotional (CU) traits, a key component of psychopathy. CU traits are thought to have neuroendocrine underpinnings, yet little is known about hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and -gonadal (HPG) hormones in the context of psychopathic traits. The current study sought to identify daily coupling patterns between HPA and HPG hormones in order to clarify distinct neurobiological underpinning associated with psychopathic/CU traits. Fifty incarcerated adolescent males who met criteria for CD were recruited and provided 10 saliva samples across 2 days. Participants completed the Psychopathy Checklist Youth Version (PCL:YV) and Inventory of Callous Unemotional Traits (ICU) on a third day. Diurnal cortisol, testosterone, and DHEA functioning was modeled via hierarchical linear modeling. Psychopathy subscales from the measures administered were used as predictors of daily coupling patterns between these hormones. Results indicated all three hormones were tightly coupled. Further, higher PCL-YV interpersonal scores related to greater coupling between all three hormones, whereas higher ICU callousness scores related to greater uncoupling of testosterone with cortisol and DHEA. The current study is novel in its emphasis on testing the coupling of HPA and HPG hormones among incarcerated adolescent males. Results suggest that affective and interpersonal psychopathic traits are marked by unique HPA- and HPG coupling.
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Sharon Niv et al.
Journal of Criminal Justice, forthcoming
Purpose: This twin study examined the structure of genetic and environmental influences on aggression and rule-breaking in order to examine change and stability across the span of childhood to mid-adolescence.
Methods: Behavioral assessments were conducted at two time points: age 9-10 years and 14-15 years. Using behavioral genetics biometric modeling, the longitudinal structure of influences was investigated.
Results: Aggression and rule-breaking were found to be influenced by a latent common factor of antisocial behavior (ASB) within each wave of data collection. The variance in the childhood-age common factor of ASB was influenced by 41% genetics, 40% shared environment and 19% nonshared environment. In adolescence, 41% of variance in the common factor were novel and entirely genetic, while the remainder of variance was stable across time. Additionally, both aggression and rule-breaking within each wave were found to have unique influences not common across subscales or across waves, highlighting specificity of genetic and environmental effects on different problem behaviors at both ages.
Conclusions: This research sheds light on the commonality of influences on different forms of antisocial behavior. Future research into interventions for antisocial behavior problems in youth could focus on adolescence-specific environmental influences.
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Jelle Jurrit Sijtsema et al.
Development and Psychopathology, August 2013, Pages 699-712
Abstract:
The biological sensitivity to context hypothesis posits that high physiological reactivity (i.e., increases in arousal from baseline) constitutes heightened sensitivity to environmental influences, for better or worse. To test this hypothesis, we examined the interactive effects of family cohesion and heart rate reactivity to a public speaking task on aggressive/rule-breaking and prosocial behavior in a large sample of adolescents (N = 679; M age = 16.14). Multivariate analyses revealed small- to medium-sized main effects of lower family cohesion and lower heart rate reactivity on higher levels of aggressive/rule-breaking and lower levels of prosocial behavior. Although there was some evidence of three-way interactions among family cohesion, heart rate reactivity, and sex in predicting these outcome variables, these interactions were not in the direction predicted by the biological sensitivity to context hypothesis. Instead, heightened reactivity appeared to operate as a protective factor against family adversity, rather than as a susceptibility factor. The results of the present study raise the possibility that stress reactivity may no longer operate as a mechanism of differential susceptibility in adolescence.