Direct and vicarious reduction of hostility.

"Fifty Ss participated in a simulated interaction in which each was verbally attacked by a standard tape recording. Under three experimental conditions Ss (a) sat in silence after the attack, (b) heard a third person denounce the attacker, (c) were permitted to communicate back to the attacker themselves… . Results demonstrated… more residual hostility for low self-esteem Ss who were not allowed to reply to the aggressor… and very little actual aggression shown by any of the Ss who were allowed to communicate back to the aggressor after the attack." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some effects of verbal expression of hostility.

113 Ss participated in simulated interaction in the course of which they were verbally attacked. The experiment demonstrated (with a Before-After measure) increased hostility in the Ss at the end of the experiment which was a positive function of the number of hostile statements made to the attacker after the attack. A vicarious analogue was consistent in showing a similar increase. The major findings are inconsistent with a simple catharsis hypothesis. They are more easily interpreted by viewing hostility as instrumental behavior which is unsuccessful (frustrated) and as a result increases in intensity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thematic hostility and guilt responses as related to self-reported hostility, guilt, and conflict.

Thematic hostility and guilt responses were investigated as a function of hostile cues and self-reported drive, guilt, and conflict over hostility. From a pool of 181 college males, extreme groups of 20 each were selected on each of the self-report measures. It was found that: (a) self-reported hostility across levels of guilt was directly related to TAT hostility on pictures of low relevance for hostility only; (b) TAT hostility across pictures was directly related to self-reported hostility when guilt was low and inversely when guilt was high; (c) TAT hostility was inversely, and TAT guilt directly, related to self-reported guilt; and (d) there was no evidence that conflict produces a simultaneous increase in drive related responses to cues of low relevance and decrease in drive related responses to cues of high relevance. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between humor and the expression of hostility.

This study explored the relationships among the expression of hostility in behavior, the extent to which hostile cartoons are judged funny, and the ability to recognize hostility in cartoons. 3 groups of 15 male psychiatric patients each were rated as expressing hostility overtly, covertly, or not at all. They were asked to judge the funniness of 32 cartoons and also to indicate which of the cartoons expressed hostility and which did not. Relationships were found between the expression of hostility and the tendency to judge hostile cartoons as funny, between estimated IQ and the ability to differentiate hostile and non-hostile cartoons, between the expression of hostility and the differentiation of hostile and non-hostile cartoons, and between the tendency to judge hostile cartoons as funny and the ability to differentiate hostile and non-hostile cartoons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Catharsis and the relief of hostility.

A study of the effect of different cathartic techniques on the relief of hostility feelings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in the relation of depressive symptoms, hostility, and anger expression to indices of glucose metabolism in nondiabetic adults.

This study examined the relation of depressive symptomatology, hostility, and anger expression to indices of glucose metabolism and tested whether gender moderates these associations in a sample of 135 healthy, nondiabetic adults (75 men, 60 women). The severity of depressive symptoms, hostility, and anger expression was positively associated with estimated insulin resistance (IR) and insulin in women but not in men. Anger expression was positively associated with glucose in women only. A summary score of depressive symptoms, hostility, and anger expression was positively associated with estimated IR, insulin, and glucose in women but not in men. Hence, in women, IR and elevated levels of fasting insulin and glucose may be one pathophysiological mechanism mediating the increased risk of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes associated with these psychological attributes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship of hostility to authoritarianism.

A manifest hostility scale, consisting of items drawn from the MMPI, and the Elizur Rorschach Content Test were given to groups differing in degree of authoritarianism. Statistical analysis of the relationship between the manifest hostility scale and authoritarianism indicated that groups high on the dimension of authoritarianism have greater overt hostility than groups lower on this dimension. Results relevant to the relationship between the Rorschach Content Test and authoritarianism indicated a less certain tendency for groups low on the dimension of authoritarianism to have greater covert hostility than groups higher on this dimension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some relationships between manifest anxiety, authoritarian tendencies, and modes of reaction to frustration.

The relationship between authoritarianism and mental health was studied; authoritarianism was measured by the F scale, anxiety by the Taylor Scale, and reactions to frustration by the Child-Waterhouse scale. All intercorrelations of the scales were low but statistically significant. Correlations of authoritarianism and anxiety with each other, and each with intra- and extrapunitive tendencies were in the positive direction, and both correlated negatively with constructive resolutions of frustrating situations. 15 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of manifest anxiety and IQ on discrimination.

20 Ss were selected from a population of 400 high school students who had been given the Otis IQ test and the Taylor Scale of Manifest Anxiety so that five of them fell into each of the following groups: (a) high IQ, high anxiety, (b) high IQ low anxiety, (c) low IQ, low anxiety, and (d) low IQ, high anxiety. The Ss were asked to rate 10 attitudinal concepts on each of 10 scales. The results were tabulated to determine the frequency with which each S used each step in the scale. It was found that intelligence, as measured by the Otis IQ test, does significantly relate to scale discrimination. High IQ Ss made more use of the whole scale. High and low anxiety Ss make equally fine discriminations along a graduated series. However, IQ and anxiety do appear to interact with regard to discrimination. In general, the effect of increased anxiety on high IQ Ss is to make them less discriminating. The reverse effect is found for low IQ Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of eyelid conditioning to manifest anxiety, extraversion, and rigidity.

The performance of 100 male and 60 female college students in an eyelid conditioning situation was correlated with personality measures of anxiety, neuroticism, extraversion, and rigidity. As predicted by the writers' drive theory, scores on the (MA) scale and the Neuroticism scale of the Maudsley Personality Inventory were significantly related to performance (p     

The expression and inhibition of hostility in imaginative and overt behavior.

"Half of a group of 40 white male college students, representing the extreme scores on the Segal Manifest Hostility Scale, were placed in a situation designed to arouse strong hostility, and half in a low arousal situation. Ss were then permitted to express hostility in fantasy (using TAT pictures selected for differences in cue properties relevant to hostility) and in overt behavior, in a situation in which Ss could actually hurt another person… . The results of this experiment were consistent with a goal gradient model in which high and low expressors were assumed to differ in strength of approach motivation (proximity to the goal)." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antisemitism, judgmental processes, and displacement of hostility.

"The present study was designed to test a theoretical argument used to explain the different results in various investigations of the scapegoat theory of prejudice… . it is suggested that the index of hostility displacement employed by Berkowitz… [see 34: 2746] was more affected by judgmental processes than the indices of fantasy aggression used by… other investigators, and that highly prejudiced people make different kinds of judgments under stress than do people lower in prejudice." 2 groups of high and low feelings of anti-Semitism were placed in stressful and non-stressful, non-ego-involving situations. The results tend to support the hypotheses. Difference in capacity for perceptual discrimination was seen as affecting results rather than conceptual rigidity. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4GD10B. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repeated frustrations and expectations in hostility arousal.

"Two experiments were devised to test predictions developed on the basis of an earlier investigation… . (wherein) it was found that the partner's act had its greatest effect on S's final attitude toward him when it was inconsistent with the partner's earlier behavior… . The… experiment reported here… obtained essentially similar results… (suggesting) that unexpected frustrations produce a stronger aggressive reaction than anticipated frustrations because, as a result of the hypothesized contrast effect, the former probably are evaluated as being more severe." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Status restoration and the reduction of hostility.

"The present study reports positive results on a test of the implications of a 'threat' theory of hostility, namely, that hostility is reduced by status restoration. Essentially, the experiments deals with techniques designed to restore the status or the integrity of the S, who has been subjected to the hostile arousing conditions, without permitting expression of aggression (catharsis or communication)." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The measurement of hostility in clinical situations.

"This study attempted to formulate operational definitions for the various meanings of the concept of hostility. Thirty men and thirty women, patients in a neuropsychiatric hospital, were interviewed and rated by three judges for the following aspects of hostility: Resentment, Verbal hostility, Indirect hostility, Assault, Suspicion, Over-all hostility, and Strength of hostile urges. Also, the Iowa Hostility Inventory was administered. It was found that the judges' ratings of the various aspects of hostility showed general agreement." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of manifest anxiety to stimulus generalization.

This study examined the relationship between anxiety and stimulus generalization in psychiatric patients. The results suggested that "there is no relationship between MAS [Manifest Anxiety Scale] and stimulus generalization in psychiatric Ss. Moreover, situational factors do not seem important in limiting the generality of such an interpretation. Since the relationships between anxiety and learning phenomena are generally well recognized, these negative results presumably reflect the inadequacy of the Taylor scale as a relevant index of anxiety levels in psychiatric subjects." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem and memory.

This article describes two potential bases for memory bias associated with global self-esteem. According to the mood-congruence model, activation of either dimension of self-esteem (self-competence or self-liking) produces an affective state that facilitates retrieval of traces that are consistent with that state while hindering retrieval of traces that are inconsistent. According to the relevance model, activation of either dimension results in superior encoding of matching negative content by individuals who are low on the dimension. Three studies were conducted to determine which model best accounts for the pattern of bias across distinct content categories. Results were generally consistent with the relevance model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anger, hostility, and posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults: A meta-analysis.

This meta-analysis synthesizes the available data on the strength of association between anger and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and between hostility and PTSD, covering 39 studies with trauma-exposed adults. Effect sizes did not differ for anger and hostility, which could therefore be combined; effect sizes for anger expression variables were analyzed separately. The analyses revealed large effects. The weighted mean effect size (r) was .48 for anger-hostility, .29 for anger out, .53 for anger in, and -.44 for anger control. Moderator analyses were conducted for anger-hostility, showing that effect sizes were substantially larger with increasing time since the event and that effect sizes were larger in samples with military war experience than in samples that had experienced other types of traumatic events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mediated generalization and the incubation effect as a function of manifest anxiety.

"Two groups of 45 Ss each were chosen on the basis of extreme scores on the MAS [Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale]. A conditioned PGR was first established by repeated pairings of a critical word (CS) with a raucous buzzer. Tests of mediated generalization were made following training, using as generalization stimuli, words to which the CS was associated as determined by free associations of a standardization group. In order to investigate the incubation effect the Ss were divided following training into three subgroups differing in the length of the rest interval between conclusion of training and the institution of extinction trials (immediate extinction, 10-min. interval, and 24-hr. interval). The results indicated heightened responsivity towards words associated with the CS, thus indicating that mediated generalization had taken place. It was also found that extreme MAS scores were directly related to the magnitude of mediated generalization responsivity." Level of manifest anxiety was found to be directly related to conditioning responsivity as well as to resistance to extinction. 20 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)