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)     

A stability study of the aggression conflict scale.

A report of a stability study of an aggression conflict scale reported earlier, (see Mueller and Grater, 39:4). In the present study, college undergraduate female Ss (N = 207) completed the same form of the semantic differential reported in the earlier study on 2 occasions 33 days apart. Factor scores were developed for Ss from their responses to the relevant concepts and scales by weighting Ss' responses by the normative means, standard deviations, and factor-loading weights from the original study. Factor scores from the 1st testing were correlated with those from the 2nd testing and a stability coefficient in the form of a standard error of measurement was derived for the active-potent and evaluation factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examiner sex, subject sex, and Rorschach productivity.

Investigated the number of Rorschach responses given by 64 male and female clients to 41 male and female graduate students serving as Es. 2 tests were made of the hypothesis that more responses would be given in the female S-male E situation than in any other sex combination. The hypothesis was supported. When a male E tested both a male and female S, the female gave more responses (p = .02); when the sample included male Es who tested either a male S or female S, female Ss again gave more responses than males (p = .05). No such differential effects were found for female Es with male and female Ss. Results are consistent with R. Rosenthal's (see 41:7, 41:8) findings that the male E-female S situation produces unique results. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aggression, need for social approval, and humor preferences.

This study investigated the humor preferences of Ss with extreme scores on need aggression and need for social approval under alcohol and nonalcohol conditions. Since aggression is disapproved by the middle class, conflict in the S was inferred by the relationships between these 2 scores. High-aggression Ss rated aggressive cartoons as funnier than did low-aggression Ss. Nonsense cartoons were rated higher by high need for social approval Ss than by low need for social approval Ss. Alcohol seemed to facilitate the expression of repressed aggressive needs in humor since the ratings of aggressive cartoons by high aggression-high need for social approval Ss were greater under alcohol than nonalcohol conditions. This difference was not found for high aggression-low need for social approval Ss, nor for the Ss with low need aggression. (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)     

A test of sex differences in aggressive response to hypothetical conflict situations.

Administered the response hierarchy (RH), developed by A. D. Leifer and D. F. Roberts (1972) and revised by J. M. Reinisch (see record 1982-00859-001), to 289 male and 268 female college students. The RH provides a retrospective estimate of where physical and verbal aggression reside in an individual's hierarchy of possible behavioral responses to hypothetical conflict situations in adolescence. Results indicate that the RH consistently demonstrated sex differences among Ss in retrospectively reported preference for choosing physical aggression vs other coping strategies as a response to hypothetical interpersonal conflict situations of adolescence. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prevalence and correlates of dating violence in a Canadian university sample.

Assessed the prevalence and correlates of dating violence among 116 female and 50 male undergraduates. Ss responded to the Conflict Tactics Scale, a self-esteem inventory, and questions regarding their course major, demographic characteristics, and current or most recent dating relationship. 52 women and 24 men reported having experienced physical violence in their current or most recent dating relationship. Ss who reported dating violence also reported greater relationship commitment, longer relationship durations, and higher levels of reasoning and verbal aggression strategies than did Ss who did not report dating violence. Women reported more frequent expressions of physically and verbally aggressive conflict resolution tactics than did men. Men were more likely than women to report being the targets of verbal and physical aggression by their partners. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reflection–impulsivity and social reasoning.

28 reflective and 27 impulsive (determined by the Matching Familiar Figures Test) 2nd-grade males (mean IQ, as indexed by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 110.4) were administered a social-reasoning task consisting of 6 social-conflict situations. Measures were taken of the types of responses to conflict that Ss considered to be most appropriate and also of decision latencies. Impulsive Ss considered the responses of yielding and appealing to authority to be appropriate responses to social conflict more frequently than did the reflective Ss, whereas the reflective Ss viewed assertion and physical aggression to be more appropriate than did impulsive Ss. Impulsive Ss also responded somewhat more quickly than the reflective Ss. Teacher ratings on the School Behavior Checklist yielded no differences between the 2 cognitive-style groups on measures of aggression, anxiety, need achievement, extraversion, academic disability, or hostile isolation. The fact that the reflective Ss evidenced a more direct approach than the impulsive Ss on the social-reasoning task is consistent with cognitive-style differences that have been found on nonsocial problem-solving tasks. Findings extend the potential relevance of the reflection–implusivity dimension to social reasoning. (15 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)     

Agressivité et statut auprès des pairs chez les gar?ons du primaire: un examen de la règle de dissimilarité.

Studied the influence of the value attached to aggression by a peer group on the relationship between aggression and peer status. Human Ss: 171 normal male Canadian school-age children (mean age 8 yrs) (3rd-grade students from 14 classes). 106 normal male Canadian school-age children (mean age 10 yrs) (5th-grade students from 9 classes). Ss completed interviews, questionnaires, and peer nomination inventories to assess their peer status and attitudes toward aggression (ATA). Teachers filled out a behavior problem checklist for each S. Interactions between aggressive behavior and peer status were analyzed, and for each grade level, results from the 3 classes with the highest group ATA scores were compared to results from the 3 classes with the lowest group ATA scores. (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Victim reactions in aggressive erotic films as a factor in violence against women.

Investigated whether the behavioral characteristics of the people in erotic films and the nature of the targets available for aggression afterward can affect subsequent aggression. In Exp I, 80 male undergraduates were angered by a male or female confederate. They were then shown a neutral film or 1 of 3 erotic films. The erotic films differed in terms of their aggressive content (2 were aggressive and 1 was not) and the reactions of the female victim in the 2 aggressive films (positive vs negative). Ss were then allowed to aggress against the confederate via electric shock. Results indicated that films had no effect on male targets, whereas both types of aggressive erotic films increased aggression toward the females. In Exp II with 80 male Ss, the effects of the above films on nonangry viewers were investigated with only female confederates. Results indicate that angered Ss were more aggressive toward the female after viewing either aggressive erotic film but that only the positive-outcome aggressive film increased aggression in nonangered Ss. The theoretical and applied aspects of aggressive and nonaggressive erotica are discussed. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Potential intelligence or intelligence test potential? A question of empirical validity.

Administered a written form of the WAIS Comprehension and Similarities subtests to 27 male and 23 female undergraduates. Ss wrote down all of the correct answers they knew for each. The total correct responses were summed to obtain experimental scores. Differences between the experimental and standard scores were significant (p     

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)     

Sexual Experiences Survey: Reliability and validity.

Explored the veracity of self-reported sexual experiences as relayed by university students (242 females and 144 males) on a sexual experience survey that was completed once privately and a 2nd time in the presence of an interviewer. The Ss were selected from a group of 4,000 students to represent all degrees of exposure to sexual aggression and sexual victimization. Of the female Ss (mean age 21.3 yrs), 86% were single, 92% were White, and 25% were in each year of college study. Of the male Ss (mean age 21.7 yrs), 89% were single, 87% were White, and 25% were in each year of college study. Female Ss were classified as nonvictimized, sexually coerced, sexually abused, or sexually assaulted. Male Ss were classified as nonsexually aggressive, sexually aggressive, sexually abusive, or sexually assaultive. The Pearson correlation between female Ss' level of victimization (LOV) based on self-report and her LOV based on responses as related to the interviewer was .73. Among the 62 females whose self-reports suggested that they were rape victims, only 2 changed their responses. The LOV correlation between male Ss' responses was .61. Results reveal a tendency for males to deny behaviors during interviews that had been revealed on self-reports. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of hyperdipsia in aggression following septal lesions in rats.

Lesions of the septum in animal Ss are known to produce an increase in aggressiveness and an increase in water intake. A series of 5 experiments with 120 female Sprague-Dawley rats examined the possibility that aggression is secondary to hyperdipsia. When Ss with septal lesions were restricted to preoperative levels of water intake, aggression scores declined significantly. When Ss without lesions were preloaded with either water or saline, aggression increased. Neither decreased shock threshold nor increased cell hydration provided a full explanation for the results. It is suggested that the aversive nature of the stomach turgescence caused by increased water intake may be an additional mediating factor in septal aggression. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of guilt, approachability of examiner, and stimulus relevance upon sexual responses to thematic apperception stimuli.

Examined the effects of approachability of female Es and stimulus relevance upon the sexual responses of 24 high- and 24 low-guilt male undergraduates (as determined by the Mosher Forced Choice Guilt Scale) to thematic stimuli. Consistent with previous results, findings show that all Ss made more sexual responses to high-relevant than low-relevant stimuli and that low-guilt Ss gave more sexual responses than high-guilt Ss to the high-relevant stimuli. Ss' perceptions of the Es were also examined. Results support predictions derived from social learning theory that high-guilt Ss are unable to discriminate between Es playing approachable and unapproachable roles, while low-guilt Ss are able to do so. Results support the hypothesis that high-guilt Ss are relatively insensitive to situational cues regarding external reward or punishment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reduced electrodermal response to conflict, failure to inhibit dominant behaviors, and delinquency proneness.

Antisocial behavior patterns have been hypothesized to result in part from a reduced physiological component of fear, anxiety, and avoidance responses. The authors examined whether reduced electrodermal responses (EDR) of undersocialized individuals should be conceptualized in terms of reduced inhibitory control rather than in terms of reduced aversive processes and whether the reduced EDR actually relates to relevant behavior of undersocialized young adults. 90 male college students with high or low scores on the Socialization scale of the California Psychological Inventory performed a nonstressful response-conflict (or interference) task while the EDR was recorded. As predicted by the weak inhibitory control model, low-socialization Ss gave a larger EDR on response conflict than on control trials less frequently than did high-socialization Ss and, correspondingly, committed more errors by failing to inhibit a dominant behavioral response. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Persuasibility in young children as a function of aggressive motivation and aggression conflict.

This study investigating the dynamic bases of the reported negative relationship of overt aggression to persuasibility postulated that low persuasibility is associated with an overtly aggressive orientation, high persuasibility with a defensive need to inhibit strong aggressive motivation, and medium presuasibility with a relative absence of aggressive motivation and inhibitions against aggression. 3 groups of 15 were selected from an initial sample of 169 1st-grade boys for high, medium, and low presuasibility, and were compared on aggressive motivation and an aggression conflict ratio. The results are that High and Low persuasible (P) Ss have more aggressive motivation than Medium P Ss; High P Ss have a smaller aggression conflict ratio than Low P Ss. The results thus support the initial postulates. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Components of aggression in chickens and conceptualizations of aggression in general.

A refined analysis of the peck order in chickens is offered as a test of the notion that, for this species, different responses such as leaping and various types of pecking need not be interchangeable indexes of aggression. Tests showed that particular response types of the birds were differentially mediated by organismic or environmental factors. 36 pairs of male and female White Leghorn chicks were assigned to large cages, and 48 pairs were assigned to small cages. In large cages pecking at the body was most frequent by Ss that had a home-cage advantage. Contrarily, rates of aggressive leaping were independent of this influence, with males having an advantage over females. Males showed more head pecking than females, but the profile for this sex difference did not resemble the profile for leaping. Correlational analyses revealed that whereas head pecking between testmates was not matched in frequency, leaping was positively related. The behavior of Ss in small cages differed from that of large-cage Ss. Although there was more head pecking in small cages, males did not have an edge, and leaping was infrequent. Results indicate that these responses cannot be viewed as interchangeable indicators of aggression in fowl. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)