Facilitating effects of erotica on aggression against women.

To examine the effects of highly erotic stimuli on aggression against females, 60 male undergraduates were angered by a male or female confederate and exposed to an erotic film, an aggressive film, or a nonfilm condition. Ss were given 2 opportunities to aggress against the confederate. Both the aggressive and the erotic films increased aggression against both targets during the 1st and 2nd aggression opportunities; however, the erotic film facilitated aggression against the female target across the 2 aggression sessions. The processes operating to cause this increase are discussed in terms of reducing restraints against aggressive behavior and the specific cue value of erotic films. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of erotic stimuli on male aggression toward females.

To examine the effects of highly erotic films on aggression toward females, 72 male undergraduates were first either angered or treated in a neutral manner by a male or female confederate. After viewing a highly erotic or a neutral film, Ss were given an opportunity to both aggress against and reward the confederate. Erotic films were found to increase aggression overall, but there was no indication of differential aggression as a function of sex of target. Results for physiological arousal, however, suggested that aggression was possibly inhibited for Ss exposed to an erotic film and paired with a female. Suggestions for future lines of research based on the notion of inhibition are offered, along with observations regarding the sexual arousal and aggression relationship. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aggressive erotica and violence against women.

Examined the effects of aggressive-erotic stimuli on male aggression toward females when 120 male undergraduates were angered or treated in a neutral manner by a male or female confederate. Ss were then shown either a neutral, erotic, or aggressive-erotic film and given an opportunity to aggress against the male or female via the delivery of electric shock. Results indicate that the aggressive-erotic film was effective in increasing aggression overall and that it produced the highest increase in aggression against the female. Even nonangered Ss showed an increase in aggression toward the female after viewing the aggressive-erotic film. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Erotica and aggression: The influence of sexual arousal, positive affect, and negative affect on aggressive behavior.

95 male college students who had never taken a psychology course were first either angered or not angered by a confederate of the experimenter and were then ostensibly given an opportunity to aggress against the confederate by means of electric shock. Prior to aggressing, Ss were shown 1 of 4 sets of stimuli chosen to effect a factorial variation in the intensity of positive sexual arousal (high, low) and negative affect (high, low) elicited by exposure to such material. In addition, 1 group of angered Ss (no-exposure control) was included who did not view any of the 4 sets of stimuli prior to being given an opportunity to aggress. Results indicate that exposure to affectively positive erotic stimuli significantly reduced retaliatory behavior by angered males to a level below that exhibited by Ss exposed to neutral stimuli and by those in the no-exposure control group. In contrast, relative to baseline controls, Ss' exposure to erotic stimuli that were reported to be disgusting and unpleasant slightly enhanced subsequent aggressive behavior. Several possible mechanisms (e.g., attentional shifts, incompatible responses, cognitive labeling) are discussed in relation to the results. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expression of interpersonal aggression by angered and nonangered persons with the Type A and Type B behavior patterns.

37 male undergraduates, who were classified on the student version of the Jenkins Activity Survey as showing the Type A (coronary prone) or Type B (noncoronary prone) behavior pattern, were first either angered or not angered in a problem-solving task by a confederate who posed as another S. In a subsequent bogus learning experiment, Ss had the opportunity to punish or reward the confederate. The effectiveness of the anger manipulation was attested to by the fact that angered Ss had reliably higher pulse rates and blood pressure. In the learning experiment, Type As who had not been angered gave the confederate reliably higher levels of punishment than did Type Bs, but there was no difference in the levels of punishment given by Type A and Type B Ss who had been angered. There was also no difference between Type A and Type B Ss in the levels of reward they gave the confederate. Results provide behavioral evidence for aggression in persons with the Type A behavior pattern. The fact that the difference in aggression was limited to nonangered Ss is interpreted in terms of differences in attributions of responsibility. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit stereotyping in person judgment.

Three experiments demonstrated implicit gender stereotyping. A target's social category determined the use of previously primed stereotyped information, without Ss' awareness of such influence. After unscrambling sentences describing neutral or stereotyped behaviors about dependence or aggression, Ss evaluated a female or male target. Although ratings of female and male targets did not differ after exposure to neutral primes, Ss exposed to dependence primes rated a female target as more dependent than a male target who performed identical behaviors (Exp 1A). Likewise, Ss rated a male, but not a female, target as more aggressive after exposure to aggression primes compared with neutral primes (Exp 1B). Exp 2 replicated the implicit stereotyping effect and additionally showed no relationship between explicit memory for primes and judgment of target's dependence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does aggression cause a preference for viewing media violence?

Two experiments tested the hypotheses that physical aggression and fantasy aggression would lead to a preference for viewing violence. In Exp I, 45 female and 42 male undergraduates were induced to express aggressive, nonaggressive, or no fantasies and were then given an opportunity to select film clips for viewing. The films chosen by men contained more violence than those chosen by women. In addition, aggressive fantasies in males, compared to nonaggressive fantasies, increased the preference for viewing violence. Exp II, with 64 males, replicated the results of Exp I and also found that men who were given an opportunity to aggress physically, compared to those who had no such opportunity, were more likely to choose to view films containing violent content. Results suggest that just as the viewing of violence may increase aggression, so, too, aggressive behavior may increase the preference for viewing violence. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of upright posture on shock-elicited aggression in rats.

Conducted 2 experiments with a total of 140 male and 140 female hooded rats. In Exp. I, frequencies of upright postural responses displayed by Ss when shocked alone were predictive of upright postural response frequencies during shock-elicited aggression. These differences in upright postural frequencies were associated with differences in frequencies of aggression in male Ss only. Exp. II manipulated upright postural responses. Results suggest that the upright behavior of Ss could be controlled in the shock-elicited-aggression paradigm. Only a slight influence on the aggression of female Ss was obtained. Experimental findings suggest that the upright postural behavior is not a major variable in the provocation to attack in the shock-elicited paradigm. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Provocation to anger and opportunity for retaliation as determinants of alcohol consumption in social drinkers.

Assigned 30 male and 30 female college students identified as heavy social drinkers to 1 of 6 groups in a 3 * 2 factorial design. In addition to the S sex factor, the 3 main treatment groups were provocation to anger with no opportunity to retaliate, provocation with opportunity for retaliation, and a no-provocation, no-retaliation control group. Provoked Ss were angered by an insulting confederate, whereas controls experienced a neutral interaction with the confederate. In the retaliation condition, Ss were given the opportunity to deliver a fixed number of shocks to the confederate who had provoked them. Drinking rates in all Ss were then determined by their participation in a standardized taste-rating task, which permitted an unobtrusive measure of alcohol consumption. Results show that group members who were provoked and expressed their anger by retaliating against the confederate consumed significantly less alcohol than provoked Ss in the no-retaliation condition. Controls drank an intermediate amount of alcohol but did not differ significantly from the other 2 groups. Sex was not a significant determinant of alcohol consumption. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facilitation of social interaction through deindividuation of the target.

Hypothesized that actors want their perception of a target to be consistent with the type of interaction they expect. It was predicted that Ss expecting to aggress would deindividuate their target through the selective recall of deindividuating information. Conversely, Ss expecting a prosocial interaction should individuate the target. Further, angry Ss should deindividuate the individual who angered them. 124 male undergraduates were either angered or not angered by an experimental confederate and then given the opportunity to either shock, reward, or have no interaction with him. Ss recalled information about the confederate either prior to or after the learning task. Ss expecting to aggress deindividuated the target, whereas Ss expecting a prosocial interaction individuated him. Angry Ss deindividuated the target; nonangry Ss did not. Since the selective recall of information occurred prior to the interaction, the deindividuation (individuation) was aimed at facilitating future behavior rather than justifying it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of alcohol and expectancies on verbal aggression in men and women.

In Exp I, 48 male and 48 female heavy social-drinking undergraduates were assigned to beverage (vodka [.75 ml/kg] and tonic or only tonic) and beverage-expectancy (alcohol or tonic) conditions. Ss were provoked by a confederate's unfavorable evaluation and allowed to retaliate. In Exp II, Exp I was repeated using 44 males and 45 females and higher doses of ethanol (1.12 and 1.10 ml/kg, respectively, for males and females). In Exp III, an experimenter criticized 62 male drinkers (.9 ml/kg ethanol) who later evaluated the experimenter's job performance on a questionnaire for his employer. Results show that for Ss at higher doses and males at the lower dose, those expecting alcohol were significantly less aggressive and at higher doses felt happier than did Ss expecting only tonic. Actual alcohol consumption increased aggression only for females at the lower doses. It is concluded that alcohol by its pharmacologic action alone does not necessarily increase aggression at either a low or a moderately high dose. It is suggested that many of the reinforcements of alcohol use are due to the drinkers' cognition rather than the pharmacologic action of alcohol itself. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Passionate love and the misattribution of arousal.

Two studies provide evidence that misattribution of arousal facilitates romantic attraction. In Exp I, arousal of 54 male undergraduates was manipulated through exercise. Arousal Ss liked an attractive female confederate more and an unattractive female less than did controls. In Exp II, arousal of 66 Ss was manipulated in a positive (comedy tape) or negative (mutilation tape) way; other Ss heard a nonarousing tape (textbook excerpt). Results replicate the interaction found in Exp I: Valence of initial arousal did not affect attraction to the confederate. Salience of plausible labels for arousal is hypothesized to mediate the misattribution effect. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in response to erotica? Love versus lust.

Examined gender differences in response to varying erotic themes in 2 experiments. In Exp I, 30 unmarried male and 32 unmarried female undergraduates viewed an erotic film portraying petting; this film was prefaced with instructional sets that established either a love theme (affectionate marital sex) or a lust theme (unemotional sex with a prostitute). In Exp II, 36 married couples (the majority of which had at least 1 member who was a university student) viewed either a petting erotic film or one depicting coitus; these films were prefaced with instructional sets that established either the love or lust themes or a casual-sex theme (a chance sexual encounter). Arousal, affective, and evaluative responses to these stimuli were assessed using an 11-item feelings scale, Self-report of Sexual-Physiological Relations, and the Interpersonal Judgment Scale. Results of Exp I confirm the effectiveness of the thematic manipulation and indicate that males and females were not differentially responsive to the love or lust themes along any of the response dimensions. Results of Exp II replicate this finding and indicate that both men and women were more sexually aroused by the casual-sex theme than by those involving love or lust. Apparently, romantic or affectional emphasis is not a precondition for female arousal by erotica. Methodological and conceptual issues relating to the discrepancy between the often-cited female indifference to erotica and the present findings for equal male–female arousal responses are discussed. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety and perceived causation in social success and failure experiences: Disconfirmation of an attribution hypothesis in two experiments.

Two experiments were designed to test hypotheses derived from an attribution model of psychopathology as applied to social anxiety. In the 2 studies with 64 male undergraduates each, Ss first interacted with a female confederate who behaved either warmly (success) or coldly (failure) toward them. All Ss then interacted with a 2nd confederate who behaved warmly. It was predicted that high social anxiety (Social Avoidance and Distress Scale) would be associated with the internal attribution of social failure and the external attribution of social success (Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale). By contrast, it was predicted that low social anxiety would be associated with the internal attribution of social success and the external attribution of social failure. In Exp I, patterns of attribution were manipulated in normal Ss, and the effects of the manipulations were examined with respect to their subsequent social anxiety. In Exp II, the attributional patterns of high and low socially anxious men were examined in success and failure situations. Neither study provided any support for the hypothesis relating attibutional patterns to social anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reactions of workers to male and female mental patient job applicants.

48 female department store workers in Exp I evaluated a female confederate unfavorably when she was tense, but whether or not she had been mentally ill made no difference to them. In Exp II 48 male hospital employees rejected a male confederate both when he was tense and when he had a history of mental illness. In Exp III 44 female hospital workers met another female confederate, and the results were virtually identical to those of Exp I. It is concluded that either the sex of the Ss and/or of the patient seems to be an important variable in the acceptance granted previous mental patients. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aggression-inhibiting influence of sexual humor.

48 undergraduate males participated in an experiment designed to investigate the hypothesis that prior exposure to sexual humor would reduce the level of aggression directed by angry individuals against the person who had previously provoked them. Ss were first angered or not angered by a male confederate; next, exposed to either neutral, nonhumorous pictures or to 1 of 2 types of sexual humor (nonexploitative, exploitative); and finally, provided with an opportunity to aggress against this individual by means of electric shock. Results indicate that exposure to exploitative sexual humor, but not exposure to nonexploitative sexual humor, significantly reduced the strength of Ss' later attacks against the victim. Findings are discussed in terms of the results of a follow-up study in which 2 groups of male Ss examined the exploitative or nonexploitative sexual cartoons and rated the extent to which they would fantasize about these stimuli, following their removal. Results of this study suggest that individuals are more likely to think or fantasize about exploitative than nonexploitative sexual humor following the removal of such stimuli. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Habituation, sensitization, and redirection of aggression and feeding behavior in the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.).

In Exp I, 3-spined stickleback males maintained in individual aquaria built nests and defended the entire aquarium as a territory. Adjacent compartments containing another male, a gravid female, or a nongravid female provided a social context within which to study habituation and sensitization of aggression elicited by a conspecific male intruded into S's territory. Typical sensitization–habituation curves were found for all Ss regardless of kind of neighbor. However, behavior redirected as a result of stimulation of the intruded male differed between conditions. Ss with a male neighbor showed increased aggression toward the neighbor; Ss with a gravid female neighbor showed courtship; and Ss with nongravid female showed neither. A 3rd behavior, nest building, showed no difference between conditions. Exp II elicited the same motor response to the intruded stimulus, but the motivational category was changed by eliciting the behavior by presenting live brine shrimp. Aggression did not change during habituation, but the waning predation was redirected to another food-securing behavior, picking at the substrate. Results provide evidence for the important role that social context plays in understanding the redirection of behaviors, a phenomenon predicted from an extension of the dual-process theory of habituation. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expression of feeling and cognitive reinterpretation in the reduction of hostile aggression.

90 male college students were first angered by a confederate's critical evaluation of their autobiographical letters. They were then given 1 of 3 procedures designed to reduce hostile aggression: an expression of their feelings to the confederate; a reinterpretation of the criticism by the confederate; and a combination of expression and reinterpretation. In comparison to a hostility induction, no-reduction control group, and a no-hostility-induction control group, the combination of expression and reinterpretation produced a significant reduction in hostile aggression as measured by A. H. Buss's aggression machine and changes in verbal hostility ratings. Neither expression alone nor reinterpretation alone produced significant reductions in aggression. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of alcohol on aggression in male social drinkers.

Assigned 96 male undergraduates to 1 of 8 groups in a 2 * 2 * 2 factorial design. To control fully for expectation effects, 48 Ss were led to believe that they would be drinking alcohol (vodka and tonic), and 48 believed they would be drinking only tonic water. Within each of these 2 groups, 24 Ss actually received alcohol, but 24 were given only tonic. Following the beverage administration, 48 Ss were provoked to aggress by exposing them to an insulting confederate, whereas control Ss experienced a neutral interaction. Aggression was assessed by the intensity and duration of shocks administered to the confederate on a modified version of A. H. Buss's aggression apparatus. The only significant determinant of aggression was the expectation factor: Ss who believed they had consumed alcohol were more aggressive than Ss who believed they had consumed a nonalcoholic beverage, regardless of the actual alcohol content of the drinks. Ss receiving alcohol, however, showed a significant increase in a reaction time measure, regardless of the expectation condition. Provocation to aggress was also a significant determinant of aggression, but it did not interact with the beverage conditions. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dominance in intermale encounters and subsequent sexual success in mice.

In Exp I, when previously isolated male CD-1 mice (n?=?26) were paired and given a female, they fought before beginning to mount, and the more aggressive male ejaculated somewhat more frequently. Males housed together (n?=?26) for several days showed little aggression when jointly given a female, but those that were more aggressive in the home cage clearly ejaculated more frequently. In Exp II, with 144 Ss, males were paired for 4 days after a period of isolation. More aggressive males showed more ejaculations when subsequently tested individually with females, but not when pair members conjointly encountered females. In Exp III, 60 males were paired for several weeks before encountering females. In cases in which home cage dominance was constant, the more aggressive males ejaculated more frequently both when tested individually and when tested as pairs. Findings indicate that success in reproductive behavior in mice is contingent on dominance in intermale aggressive encounters. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)