Ill will
The dark side of inclusion: Undesired acceptance increases aggression
Katharine Greenaway et al.
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, forthcoming
Abstract:
It is generally assumed that being accepted by others should have universally positive effects. The present research questions this assumption and shows that acceptance can sometimes arouse aggressive thoughts and feelings when people have a low desire to belong to the accepting group. In Study 1 (N = 61), international students who had low, compared to high, desire for inclusion in a host society behaved more aggressively when informed that the host society accepted them. Study 2 (N = 57) replicated this finding on attributions of aggression to members of the host society. In Study 3 (N = 76) individuals accepted into a workgroup showed more implicit aggressive cognitions when they did not desire inclusion compared to individuals who desired inclusion. The findings reveal a potential limit to the positive effects of acceptance and highlight the importance of considering group members' motives for inclusion when investigating the effects of group acceptance.
----------------------
The human anger face evolved to enhance cues of strength
Aaron Sell, Leda Cosmides & John Tooby
Evolution and Human Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Animals typically deploy their morphology during conflict to enhance competitors' assessments of their fighting ability (e.g. bared fangs, piloerection, dewlap inflation). Recent research has shown that humans assess others' fighting ability by monitoring cues of strength, and that the face itself contains such cues. We propose that the muscle movements that constitute the human facial expression of anger were selected because they increased others' assessments of the angry individual's strength, thereby increasing bargaining power. This runs contrary to the traditional theory that the anger face is an arbitrary set of features that evolved simply to signal aggressive intent. To test between these theories, the seven key muscle movements constituting the anger face were systematically manipulated one by one and in the absence of the others. Raters assessed faces containing any one of these muscle movements as physically stronger, supporting the hypothesis that the anger face evolved to enhance cues of strength.
----------------------
Face of a fighter: Bizygomatic width as a cue of formidability
Samuele Zilioli et al.
Aggressive Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Humans can accurately extract information about men's formidability from their faces; however, the actual facial cues that inform these judgments have not been established. Here, through three studies, we test the hypothesis that bizygomatic width (i.e. facial width-to-height ratio, fWHR) covaries with actual physical formidability (hypothesis #1) and that humans use this cue when making assessments of formidability (hypothesis #2). Our data confirm that fWHR is predictive of actual fighting ability among professional combatants (study 1). We further show that subjects' assessments of formidability covary with the target's fWHR on natural faces (study 2), computer-generated images of strong and weak faces (study 2), and experimentally manipulated computer-generated faces (study 3). These results support the hypothesis that bizygomatic width is a cue of formidability that is assessed during agonistic encounters.
----------------------
Protective buttressing of the hominin face
David Carrier & Michael Morgan
Biological Reviews, forthcoming
Abstract:
When humans fight hand-to-hand the face is usually the primary target and the bones that suffer the highest rates of fracture are the parts of the skull that exhibit the greatest increase in robusticity during the evolution of basal hominins. These bones are also the most sexually dimorphic parts of the skull in both australopiths and humans. In this review, we suggest that many of the facial features that characterize early hominins evolved to protect the face from injury during fighting with fists. Specifically, the trend towards a more orthognathic face; the bunodont form and expansion of the postcanine teeth; the increased robusticity of the orbit; the increased robusticity of the masticatory system, including the mandibular corpus and condyle, zygoma, and anterior pillars of the maxilla; and the enlarged jaw adductor musculature are traits that may represent protective buttressing of the face. If the protective buttressing hypothesis is correct, the primary differences in the face of robust versus gracile australopiths may be more a function of differences in mating system than differences in diet as is generally assumed. In this scenario, the evolution of reduced facial robusticity in Homo is associated with the evolution of reduced strength of the upper body and, therefore, with reduced striking power. The protective buttressing hypothesis provides a functional explanation for the puzzling observation that although humans do not fight by biting our species exhibits pronounced sexual dimorphism in the strength and power of the jaw and neck musculature. The protective buttressing hypothesis is also consistent with observations that modern humans can accurately assess a male's strength and fighting ability from facial shape and voice quality.
----------------------
Rejection Perceptions: Feeling Disrespected Leads to Greater Aggression than Feeling Disliked
Amber DeBono & Mark Muraven
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, November 2014, Pages 43-52
Abstract:
Social rejection can lead to feeling disliked and disrespected. From research on the culture of honor and perception of procedural justice, we predicted that feeling disrespected should be a more potent predictor of retaliatory aggression than feeling disliked. In four experiments, using correlational measures and experimental manipulations of dislike and disrespect, people who felt disrespected responded with greater aggression than people who felt disliked. The results suggest that merely being rejected may not be enough to trigger aggression; the person needs to feel disrespected. This has implications for understanding why people are more likely to respond to rejection with aggression, as well as future research explaining how people's perception of rejection affects their behavior.
----------------------
Narcissism and Other-Derogation in the Absence of Ego Threat
Sun Park & Randall Colvin
Journal of Personality, forthcoming
Objective: The relation between narcissism and other-derogation has been examined primarily in the context of ego threat. In three studies, we investigated whether narcissistic individuals derogate others in the absence of ego threat.
Method: In Study 1, judges watched four videotaped dyadic interactions and rated the personality of the same four people. In Study 2, judges rated the personality of a friend. In Study 3, judges considered the average Northeastern University student and rated the personality of this hypothetical person. Across the three studies, targets' personality characteristics were described on the 100-item California Adult Q-Sort (CAQ; Block, 2008). Judges' ratings of targets were compared to a CAQ prototype of the optimally adjusted person to assess target-derogation.
Results: Judges' narcissism and other-derogation were positively related in Study 1 and 2. Narcissism positively predicted and self-esteem negatively predicted target-derogation after controlling for each other in Study 3.
Conclusion: Narcissistic individuals derogate others more than non-narcissistic individuals regardless of whether ego threat is present or absent.
----------------------
The Commitment Function of Angry Facial Expressions
Lawrence Ian Reed, Peter DeScioli & Steven Pinker
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
What function do facial expressions have? We tested the hypothesis that some expressions serve as honest signals of subjective commitments - in particular, that angry faces increase the effectiveness of threats. In an ultimatum game, proposers decided how much money to offer a responder while seeing a film clip depicting an angry or a neutral facial expression, together with a written threat that was either inherently credible (a 50-50 split) or less credible (a demand for 70% of the money). Proposers offered greater amounts in response to the less credible threat when it was accompanied by an angry expression than when it was accompanied by a neutral expression, but were unaffected by the expression when dealing with the credible threat. This finding supports the hypothesis that angry expressions are honest signals that enhance the credibility of threats.
----------------------
Who does that anyway? Predictors and personality correlates of cyberbullying in college
Zebbedia Gibb & Paul Devereux
Computers in Human Behavior, September 2014, Pages 8-16
Abstract:
Less is known about cyberbullying behaviors in college populations because studies on this topic traditionally have focused on adolescent populations, have not measured correlates of this behavior within college samples, or have methodological weaknesses limiting their findings. By using a more comprehensive measure of cyberbullying behaviors and examining what is associated with its occurrence, the current study aims to extend the knowledge about cyberbullying behaviors in college. Results showed that approximately 52% of college students report engaging in cyberbullying behaviors and indicated that victims of CBB and individuals high on a subclinical measure of psychopathy were more likely to report having engaged in CBB. It was also found that victims of CBB, men, and individuals high on subclinical psychopathy engaged in a wider range of cyberbullying behaviors. Age was the only factor associated with a decrease in CBB.
----------------------
Pluralistic ignorance in revenge attitudes and behavior in interpersonal relationships
Susan Boon & Stephen Yoshimura
Personal Relationships, June 2014, Pages 258-271
Abstract:
We investigated whether people's perceptions of social norms concerning interpersonal revenge reflect a tendency for individuals to believe that others' revenge attitudes and behavior differ from their own (i.e., pluralistic ignorance). As part of a survey on revenge experiences in relationships with romantic partners, family members, and associates (e.g., friends), participants (N = 534) judged the acceptability and frequency of revenge in significant personal relationships. As expected, participants believed that others (a) saw revenge as more acceptable and (b) engaged in revenge more frequently than they did themselves. They did not, however, perceive others' revenge attitudes and behaviors to be any more variable than their own attitudes and behaviors actually were. Explanations for and implications of these findings are discussed.
----------------------
V.R. Mileva et al.
Personality and Individual Differences, October 2014, Pages 115-118
Abstract:
In recent research, facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) has garnered considerable attention because it has been linked with different behavioural characteristics (e.g., achievement drive, deception, aggression). Here we examined whether other-perceptions and self-perceptions of dominance are related to fWHR. In study 1, we found that other-perceived dominance was positively associated with fWHR, but only in men. In studies 2 and 3, using two different self-perceived dominance scales, and two different samples of participants, we found that fWHR was positively related to self-perceived dominance, again only in men. There was no relationship between fWHR and self-perceived prestige scores. Consistent with previous work, we also found that there was no sexual dimorphism in fWHR across all three studies. Together these results suggest that fWHR may be a reliable cue to dominant social behaviour in men.
----------------------
Ashley Howell, Julia Buckner & Justin Weeks
Cognition and Emotion, forthcoming
Abstract:
Consistent with the "flight or fight" model of anxiety, social anxiety may incite withdrawal or attack; yet, it is unclear why some socially anxious individuals are vulnerable to aggress. It may be that culture impacts tendencies to "fight" or "flee" from social threat. Honour cultures, including the American South, permit or even promote aggression in response to honour-threats. Thus, social anxiety in the South may be more associated with aggression than in non-honour cultures. In the current sample, region moderated the relation between social anxiety and aggression; social anxiety related positively to reactive (but not proactive) aggression among Southerners (n = 285), but not Midwesterners (n = 258). Participant sex further moderated the relationship, such that it was significant only for Southern women. Also, for Southerners, prototypically masculine honour-concerns mediated the relationship between social anxiety and reactive aggression. Cultural factors may play key roles in aggressive behaviour among some socially anxious individuals.