Relationship specificity of aggressogenic thought–behavior processes.

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the relationship specificity of aggressogenic thought–behavior processes and to investigate the role of self-esteem in translating or inhibiting aggressogenic thought into aggression toward personally liked and disliked targets. Participants (186 Finnish boys and girls; 11–12 years old at Time 1) completed measures twice over a 1-year interval. We assessed children's attributions of hostility, relational goals, expectations of anger, and self-efficacy at Time 1 as well as aggression, at both time points, toward their previously identified liked and disliked peers. Our results mostly supported our hypothesis that cognitions guide behavior mainly within the relationship context. Moreover, high self-esteem potentiated cognition–behavior links toward children's own liked peer but inhibited the actualization of aggressogenic thought toward children's disliked peer. These findings highlight the importance of taking a Person × Situation approach when studying cognition–behavior processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The cost of lower self-esteem: Testing a self- and social-bonds model of health.

The authors draw upon social, personality, and health psychology to propose and test a self-and-social-bonds model of health. The model contends that lower self-esteem predicts health problems and that poor-quality social bonds explain this association. In Study 1, lower self-esteem prospectively predicted reports of health problems 2 months later, and this association was explained by subjective reports of poor social bonds. Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 but used a longitudinal design with 6 waves of data collection, assessed self-reports of concrete health-related behaviors (i.e., number of visits to the doctor and classes missed due to illness), and measured both subjective and objective indicators of quality of social bonds (i.e., interpersonal stress and number of friends). In addition, Study 2 showed that poor-quality social bonds predicted acute drops in self-esteem over time, which in turn predicted acute decreases in quality of social bonds and, consequently, acute increases in health problems. In both studies, alternative explanations to the model were tested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Deconfounding the effects of dominance and social acceptance on self-esteem.

Three studies examined the independent effects of social acceptance and dominance on self-esteem. In Studies 1 and 2, participants received false feedback regarding their relative acceptance and dominance in a laboratory group, and state self-esteem was assessed. Results indicated that acceptance and dominance feedback had independent effects on self-esteem. Study 2 showed that these effects were not moderated by individual differences in participants' self-reported responsivity to being accepted versus dominant. In Study 3, participants completed multiple measures of perceived dominance, perceived acceptance, and trait self-esteem. Results showed that both perceived dominance and perceived acceptance accounted for unique variance in trait self-esteem, but that perceived acceptance consistently accounted for substantially more variance than perceived dominance. Also, trait self-esteem was related to the degree to which participants felt accepted by specific people in their lives, but not to the degree to which participants thought those individuals perceived them as dominant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between self-esteem and functional outcome in the acute stroke-rehabilitation setting.

Objective: To explore the relationship between self-esteem and functional recovery in patients with acute stroke. Design: A nonconsecutive sample of stroke survivors received ratings of functional status and completed self-report measures of self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Bivariate correlational analyses and multivariate regression analyses explored the relationships of functional status and self-report of self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Setting: Acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital. Participants: A group of 176 right- or left-hemisphere stroke participants. Main Outcome Measures: Self-care and mobility domain scores (based on Functional Independence Measure ratings) at admission and discharge. Efficiency scores for each domain. Visual Analogue Self-Esteem Scale (S. M. Brumfitt & P. Sheeran, 1999) and Geriatric Depression Scale (J. A. Yesavage et al., 1983). Results: Regression analyses indicated that lower self-esteem ratings were related to poorer discharge self-care and mobility scores and poorer efficiency in these domains, whereas ratings of depressive symptoms were not. However, interactions between self-esteem ratings and ratings of depressive symptoms were noted. Exploratory analyses suggested that self-esteem ratings mediated the relationship between ratings of depressive symptoms and functional outcome indices. Conclusions: Self-esteem ratings may have a mediating/moderating role in the relationship between emotional functioning and functional outcome. This may have implications for research in this area and the type of mental health treatment available to stroke rehabilitation patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploring the role of individual differences in the prediction of workplace aggression.

This study investigates the relationship between individual differences and the incidence of workplace aggression in a sample of employees from a transportation company and a public school system. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that measures of trait anger, attribution style, negative affectivity, attitudes toward revenge, self-control, and previous exposure to aggressive cultures accounted for 62% of the variance in the participants' self-reported incidence of workplace aggression. Further research on workplace aggression is advocated, focusing on the role of individual differences and their interactions with organizational and group-level variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between sports participation and self-esteem during early adolescence.

The main purpose of the present study was to examine the links between sports participation and self-esteem, with particular interest in the possible mediating role of physical self-esteem. The participants in this study were 382 students (167 boys; 215 girls) in Grades 5-8. Participants completed a series of paper and pencil measures, detailing their sports participation, as well as their self-perceptions concerning physical and general self-esteem. Sports participation was related to all indices of self-esteem and this was equally true for boys and girls. Two distinct but related factors were identified as components of physical self-esteem (Physical appearance and Physical competence), differentially associated with self-esteem for boys and girls. Results supported a mediational model, with physical self-esteem mediating the relationship between sports participation and general self-esteem. Significant sex differences were noted with regard to specific indices of physical self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between level of self-esteem and suicidal ideation with stability of self-esteem as moderator.

131 undergraduate university students (aged 18-24 yrs) participated in a study of the relationship between suicidal ideation and level and (in)stability of self-esteem, while controlling for the possible effect of depression. Level of self-esteem and (in)stability of self-esteem, suicidal ideation, and depression were measured using M. Rosenberg's (1965) Self-Esteem Scale, the scale for Suicidal Ideation, and the Beck Depression Inventory (A. T. Beck et al., 1961), respectively. Results of correlation analyses and an analysis of covariance show that suicidal ideation was significantly related to level of self esteem, but not to (in)stability of self-esteem. An interaction effect shows that for individuals with high self-esteem, variation in self-esteem stability did not have a significant moderating influence, whereas for those with low self-esteem, stable self-esteem appeared to be a protective factor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The moderating roles of self-esteem and neuroticism in the relationship between group and individual undermining behavior.

The authors developed and tested a multilevel interactive model of the relationship between group undermining and individual undermining behavior in 2 multiwave studies of group members. Integrating the literature on group influences on individual behavior with the individual difference literature, the authors predicted a 3-way Group Undermining × Self-Esteem × Neuroticism interaction, such that the relationship between group and individual undermining would be strongest among those simultaneously high in self-esteem and neuroticism. The 3-way interaction was supported in Study 1 (457 participants in 103 groups) and replicated in Study 2 (415 participants in 93 groups) with additional controls and alternative measures of key constructs. The authors discuss the implications of the research and identify future research directions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of response to novelty are associated with social engagement and aggression in adult male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).

In this study, the authors tested the hypothesis that behavioral response across social and nonsocial, novel and familiar conditions may be guided by the same trait(s) related to impulsivity in adult male rhesus macaques. The authors assessed 23 individuals' behavioral response to a series of nonsocial novel scenarios, as well as aggression and sociality within familiar and novel social contexts. Factor analysis of responses to nonsocial novelty identified two factors: Caution, which reflected latency to engage different novel situations, and Interest in Novelty, which consisted of duration and quality of exploration. Each dimension was associated with different social manifestations. Caution was negatively correlated with social aggression in novel and familiar social circumstances; Interest in Novelty was positively associated with social engagement in familiar, but not novel, social circumstances. The authors conclude that traits influencing impulsive response to novelty contribute to risky and normal social behavior across social contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The regulatory function of self-esteem: Testing the epistemic and acceptance signaling systems.

The authors draw on sociometer theory (e.g., Leary, 2004) and self-verification theory (e.g., Swann, 1997) to propose an expanded model of the regulatory function of self-esteem. The model suggests that people not only possess an acceptance signaling system that indicates whether relational value is high or low but also possess an epistemic signaling system that indicates whether social feedback is consistent or inconsistent with chronic perceived relational value (i.e., global self-esteem). One correlational study and 5 experiments, with diverse operationalizations of social feedback, demonstrated that the epistemic signaling system responds to self-esteem consistent or inconsistent relational-value feedback with increases or deceases in epistemic certainty. Moreover, Studies 3–6 demonstrated that the acceptance and epistemic signaling systems respond uniquely to social feedback. Finally, Studies 5 and 6 provide evidence that the epistemic signaling system is part of a broader self-regulatory system: Self-esteem inconsistent feedback caused cognitive efforts to decrease the discrepancy between self-views and feedback and caused depleted self-regulatory capacity on a subsequent self-control task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of group expectations and self-esteem upon self-evaluation.

This study explores the effect of a specific level of achievement upon an individual's evaluations of his performance when the achievement is relative to an aspiration level set by a group and to the member's stabilized expectations about himself as represented by his self-esteem. Ss were assigned to one of 4 conditions, composed of the combinations of high and low group expectations and relevance and non-relevance of task to the purposes of the group. Half of the Ss within each experimental condition were allowed to succeed and the other half made to fail. Several specific hypotheses within this framework were tested. "The group's expectations appear to have been more potent as a scale of reference than the individual's self-esteem in determining his evaluation of his performance. When the influence of the group was weakest (task was non-relevant) persons high in self-esteem… differed in the way they evaluated their performance. When the influence of the group was strongest (task was relevant) there was no difference in the way that persons high or low in self-esteem rated their achievement." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parallel syndromes: Two dimensions of narcissism and the facets of psychopathic personality in criminally involved individuals.

Little research has examined different dimensions of narcissism that may parallel psychopathy facets in criminally involved individuals. In this study, we examined the pattern of relationships between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, assessed using the Narcissistic Personality Inventory–16 and the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale, respectively, and the four facets of psychopathy (interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, and antisocial) assessed via the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version. As predicted, grandiose and vulnerable narcissism showed differential relationships to psychopathy facets, with grandiose narcissism relating positively to the interpersonal facet of psychopathy and vulnerable narcissism relating positively to the lifestyle facet of psychopathy. Paralleling existing psychopathy research, vulnerable narcissism showed stronger associations than grandiose narcissism to (a) other forms of psychopathology, including internalizing and substance use disorders, and (b) self- and other-directed aggression, measured with the Life History of Aggression and the Forms of Aggression Questionnaire. Grandiose narcissism was nonetheless associated with social dysfunction marked by a manipulative and deceitful interpersonal style and unprovoked aggression. Potentially important implications for uncovering etiological pathways and developing treatment interventions for these disorders in externalizing adults are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social acceptance and self-esteem: Tuning the sociometer to interpersonal value.

The authors draw on sociometer theory to propose that self-esteem is attuned to traits that garner others' acceptance, and the traits that garner acceptance depend on one's social role. Attunement of self-esteem refers to the linkage, or connection, between self-esteem and specific traits, which may be observed most clearly in the association between self-esteem and specific self-evaluations. In most roles, appearance and popularity determine acceptance, so self-esteem is most attuned to those traits. At the same time, interdependent social roles emphasize the value of communal qualities, so occupants of those roles have self-esteem that is more attuned to communal qualities than is the general norm. To avoid the biases of people's personal theories, the authors assessed attunement of self-esteem to particular traits indirectly via the correlation between self-esteem and self-ratings, cognitive accessibility measures, and an experiment involving social decision making. As hypothesized, self-esteem was generally more attuned to appearances than to communal qualities, but interdependent social roles predicted heightened attunement of self-esteem to qualities like kindness and understanding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive functioning, irritability, and alcohol-related aggression.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine (a) whether irritability mediates the relation between executive functioning (EF) and alcohol-related aggression and (b) whether the alcohol-aggression relation is better explained by the interactive effects of EF and irritability above and beyond the effects of either variable alone. EF was measured using seven well-established neuropsychological tests. Irritability was assessed with the Caprara Irritability Scale. Participants were 313 male and female social drinkers between 21 and 35 years of age. Following the consumption of an alcohol or a placebo beverage, participants were tested on a laboratory aggression task in which electric shocks were given to and received from a fictitious opponent under the guise of a competitive reaction-time task. Aggression was operationalized as the shock intensities administered to the fictitious opponent. Results indicated that irritability successfully mediated the relation between EF and intoxicated aggression for men only. Despite the fact that irritability and EF both independently moderated the alcohol-aggression relation in previous studies, no significant interaction for their combined effect was detected here. The findings are discussed, in part, within a cognitive neoassociationistic framework for aggressive behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Narcissism, sexual refusal, and aggression: Testing a narcissistic reactance model of sexual coercion.

Laboratory analog studies investigated the theory that narcissism and reactance contribute to causing rape. In Study 1, narcissism correlated positively with rape-supportive beliefs and negatively with empathy for rape victims. In Study 2, narcissists reported more enjoyment than other men of film depictions that presented consensual, affectionate activity followed by rape (but not in response to either affection or rape alone). In Study 3, narcissists were more punitive than other men toward a female confederate who refused to read a sexually arousing passage aloud to them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The kinship, acceptance, and rejection model of altruism and aggression (KARMAA): Implications for interpersonal and intergroup aggression.

Although evolutionary perspectives such as the inclusive fitness theory (Hamilton, 1964) have made unique contributions to explaining human altruism, their implications for interpersonal and intergroup aggression have remained largely overlooked. It is advanced that many of the same kin-based psychological mechanisms that promote altruism and prosocial behavior can be used in a similar fashion to promote or deter aggression and antisocial behavior. On the basis of a conceptual framework that incorporates evolutionary and social psychological constructs, a kinship, acceptance, and rejection model of altruism and aggression (KARMAA) is proposed. The KARMAA bridges the conceptual gap between human altruism and aggression, unites altruism and aggression under the common rubric of evolutionary psychology, and incorporates two key proximal constructs--social acceptance and rejection--that mediate the direct links between kinship cues and altruism, and between kinship insults and aggression, respectively. A critical review of the extant empirical literature supports the proposed links that comprise the KARMAA. The limitations of the KARMAA, as well as its broader implications for researching interpersonal and intergroup aggression, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Valence focus and self-esteem lability: Reacting to hedonic cues in the social environment.

Individuals differ in the extent to which they emphasize feelings of pleasure or displeasure in their verbal reports of emotional experience, termed valence focus (VF). Two event-contingent, experience-sampling studies examined the relationship between VF and sensitivity to pleasant and unpleasant social cues. It was predicted, and found, that individuals with greater VF (i.e., who emphasized feelings of pleasure/displeasure in reports of emotional experience) demonstrated greater self-esteem lability (i.e., larger changes in self-esteem) to pleasant and unpleasant information contained in social interactions than did those lower in VF. These effects held even after statistically controlling for possible confounding variables (neuroticism, affect intensity). Implications for understanding the psychological impact of valenced interpersonal events are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anti-semitism and the displacement of aggression.

"… an object's likelihood of receiving displaced aggression varies not only with the objective stimulus factors… but also with the personality characteristics of the angered person… . it was hypothesized… that highly anti-Semitic Ss would be more likely to displace aggression when angered than less anti-Semitic Ss. The results support the hypothesis. Several factors possibly accounting for this displacement are discussed." 17 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Definitions and methodology in the study of aggression.

Literature on aggression and hostility is viewed in the light of 2 major criticisms: (1) Definitions of terms with obvious denotations of hypothetical constructions are attempted in purely operational terms, (2) The phenotype of aggression has impaired a sound investigation of the many genotypic determinants of aggressive behavior. Present trends of studying aggression as an end result of a variety of stimulus, dispositional, and reward variables are considered, and some amplifications are suggested. (2 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)