Evil incarnate
Power Plays: Expressive Mimicry of Valid Agonistic Cues
Abigail Marsh et al.
Social Psychological and Personality Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Both transient and stable facial cues have evolved as essential features of social communication in humans. Accumulating research links actual and perceived aggression to a higher ratio between the height and bizygomatic width of a person's face (facial width-to-height ratio [WHR]) and shows that digitally increasing this ratio can alter apparent aggressiveness. We present evidence that facial behaviors associated with anger - the state most closely associated with aggressive intentions - also increase facial WHR, mimicking the facial morphology of aggressive individuals. In Study 1, individuals induced to appear aggressive naturally increased their facial WHR using anger-related facial behaviors. In Study 2, we found that validated anger expressions increased facial WHR and that this change predicts increased attributions of aggressiveness. We also found statistical suggestions that anger-related facial behaviors may serve as cues that overrepresent the expresser's aggressiveness. Our findings suggest that facial behaviors associated with anger may have emerged to facilitate aggressive encounters.
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Michele Ybarra et al.
Aggressive Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Data were collected from 9 to 18 year olds surveyed nationally in a three-wave longitudinal survey. The population-average (generalized estimating equation, GEE) odds of carrying a weapon to school in the last month were estimated as a function of past-year exposure to violent content in video, computer, and Internet games, as well as peer aggression and biological sex. The sample included youth who were at risk for both the exposure (i.e., game play) and the outcome (i.e., who attended public or private school). 3,397 observations from 1,489 youth were included in analyses. 1.4% of youth reported carrying a weapon to school in the last month and 69% reported that at least some of the games they played depicted violence. After adjusting for other potentially influential characteristics (e.g., aggressive behavior), playing at least some violent games in the past year was associated with a fourfold increase in odds of also reporting carrying a weapon to school in the last month. Although youth who reported frequent and intense peer victimization in the past year were more likely to report carrying a weapon to school in the last month, this relation was explained by other influential characteristics. Consistent with the predictions of social-cognitive, observational learning theory, this study supports the hypothesis that carrying weapons to school is associated with violent game play. As one of the first studies of its kind, findings should be interpreted cautiously and need to be replicated.
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Erin Buckels, Paul Trapnell & Delroy Paulhus
Personality and Individual Differences, forthcoming
Abstract:
In two online studies (total N = 1215), respondents completed personality inventories and a survey of their Internet commenting styles. Overall, strong positive associations emerged among online commenting frequency, trolling enjoyment, and troll identity, pointing to a common construct underlying the measures. Both studies revealed similar patterns of relations between trolling and the Dark Tetrad of personality: trolling correlated positively with sadism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism, using both enjoyment ratings and identity scores. Of all personality measures, sadism showed the most robust associations with trolling and, importantly, the relationship was specific to trolling behavior. Enjoyment of other online activities, such as chatting and debating, was unrelated to sadism. Thus cyber-trolling appears to be an Internet manifestation of everyday sadism.
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Know Thy Avatar: The Unintended Effect of Virtual-Self Representation on Behavior
Gunwoo Yoon & Patrick Vargas
Psychological Science, forthcoming
"Participants were told that they were involved in two separate studies: a test of game usability and a blind tasting test. After signing a consent form, participants were randomly assigned to heroic (Superman), villainous (Voldemort), and neutral geometric-shaped (circle) avatars. They then played a game for 5 min in which they battled enemies as their avatar...Then they were told that the first study was over. Participants were then informed that a blind taste test of food additives would take place...We manipulated good and bad action by asking participants to first taste and then give either chocolate or chili sauce, respectively, to a (fictional) future participant...Participants who played the heroic avatar gave more chocolate than those who played the villainous or neutral avatars. Conversely, participants who played villains poured more chili sauce than did participants who played heroes and neutral avatars...The design of Experiment 2 was the same as that of Experiment 1, except that there was an additional set of conditions to test whether our role-taking manipulation (i.e., playing as a superhero or villain) generated stronger real-world outcomes than common behavioral-priming and perspective-taking manipulations...Indeed, participants who played heroes served significantly less chili sauce than participants who observed heroes, and participants who played villains served more chili sauce than participants who observed villains"
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Nathan DeWall et al.
Social Psychological and Personality Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Does oxytocin influence intimate partner violence (IPV)? Clues from prior research suggest that oxytocin increases prosocial behavior, but this effect is reversed among people with aggressive tendencies or in situations involving defensive aggression. Animal research also indicates that oxytocin plays a central role in defensive maternal aggression (i.e., protecting pups from intruders). Among highly aggressive people, a boost of oxytocin may cause them to use aggression toward close others as a means of maintaining their relationship. Adopting an interactionist approach, we predicted that oxytocin would increase IPV inclinations, but this effect would be limited to people high in trait physical aggression. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-subject experiment, participants varying in trait physical aggression received either 24 international unit of oxytocin or a placebo. Following two provocation tasks, participants rated the probability that they would engage in various aggressive behaviors (e.g., slapping, throwing an object that could hurt) toward a romantic partner. Oxytocin increased IPV inclinations, but this effect was limited to participants prone to physical aggression. These data offer the first evidence that IPV inclinations have a biological basis in a combination of oxytocin and trait physical aggressiveness.
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When Justice Surrenders: The Effect of Just-World Beliefs on Aggression Following Ostracism
Kai-Tak Poon & Zhansheng Chen
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, May 2014, Pages 101-112
Abstract:
The present research examined the influence of general just-world beliefs on aggression following ostracism. The findings provided converging support for the hypothesis that people with weak general just-world beliefs, either measured (studies 1 and 4) or primed (studies 2 and 3), would behave more aggressively following ostracism than people with strong general just-world beliefs. Furthermore, perceived deservingness (study 3) or attribution (study 4) mediated the relationship between general just-world beliefs and aggression following ostracism. These findings highlight the significance of general just-world beliefs in understanding the coping responses to negative interpersonal experiences. The implications are discussed.
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The role of attention problems and impulsiveness in media violence effects on aggression
Edward Swing & Craig Anderson
Aggressive Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Previous research has established media violence as a causal risk factor for aggressive behavior. Several theoretical mechanisms have been identified to explain this effect. The present study assessed 422 undergraduate students to test the possibility that individual differences in attention problems and impulsiveness can help explain the link between violent media and aggression. Attention problems and impulsiveness proved to be a distinct construct from other processes believed to mediate aggression (aggressive beliefs, aggression related schemata, trait anger, and trait hostility). Attention problems and impulsiveness were uniquely related to both media exposure (total weekly hours and violent content) and aggression. Attention problems and impulsiveness were particularly related to impulsive (as opposed to premeditated) aggression. These results suggest that attention problems and impulsiveness may play an important role in violent media effects on aggression.