Browsing by Subject "Aggression"
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Item A MULTI-GROUP CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS OF THE REACTIVE- PROACTIVE AGGRESSION QUESTIONNAIRE IN A SAMPLE OF YOUNG ADULTS(2016-11-17) Cooke, Eric Meyers; Armstrong, Todd; Boisvert, Danielle; Zhang, YanAggression has long-term negative effects on humanity as a whole. Because of this, aggression has become an important topic of study across many disciplines. Originally conceptualized as being either non-impulsive or impulsive, aggression has become dichotomized as being reactive or proactive. Each form of aggression has been linked to a variety of genetic, psychological, physiological, and neurobiological correlates. Because research continues to grow in these fields surrounding proactive and reactive aggression, it is important to make sure that measurement tools are assessing aggression appropriately across a variety of groups. One such tool that has emerged recently is the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ; Raine et al., 2006). Though a number of studies exist testing the validity of the RPQ in adolescent and child populations. No such studies exist examining the factor structure and measurement invariance of proactive and reactive aggression in young adult male and females from different ethnicities. The current study assesses factor structure and measurement invariance in multiple groups of young North American adults. Results show that a two- factor, proactive-reactive, structure fits the current data overall. However, measurement invariance is not achieved across the majority of these groups. Meaning that interpretation of reactive and proactive scores is not the same across gender and ethnicity. Limitations and future directions are discussed.Item Effects of Trait Behavioral Approach and Inhibition Sensitivity on Behavioral Aggression(2012-07-16) Gravens, Laura ChristineBehavioral approach sensitivity (BAS) has been found to relate to anger contrary to perspectives positing that BAS is only involved in positive emotions. The present study extends this work by examining relations between behavioral aggression and BAS and behavioral inhibition sensitivity (BIS) measures. Forty-three undergraduate participants were socially ostracized to induce anger, and then given an opportunity to behave aggressively. Higher levels of BAS relate to increased aggressive behavior, whereas higher levels of BIS related to decreased aggressive behavior.Item Emotion and aggression : the role of anger in predicting direct and indirect aggression(2016-05) Wyckoff, Joy Plumeri; Buss, David M.; Swann, William BMany psychologists have theorized that negative emotions lead to aggression but remain vague on what contexts trigger these emotions and how these emotions predict aggression. According to the recalibrational theory of anger, signals that an interaction partner places low relational evaluations on oneself trigger anger, which motivates aggression (Sell, Tooby, & Cosmides, 2009). In the present study, we test the theory that anger mediates aggression and examine how other negative emotions relate to aggression. In an online study, we found that anger partially mediated the relationship between relative mate value and direct aggression as well as between relative mate value and indirect aggression. Further, anger fully mediated the relationship between self-perceived strength and direct aggression. For men, anger fully mediated the relationship between self-perceived mate value and indirect aggression. However, fear, embarrassment, and sadness did not predict aggression in any analyses. We conclude that anger, but not negative emotions more generally, predict aggression.Item How do empathy, effortful control, and middle school students’ perceptions and feelings about school affect their aggression? Examining moderation and mediation models of social-emotional learning and behavior(2014-08) Batanova, Milena Dentcheva; Loukas, Alexandra; Bartholomew, John; Cance, Jessica D; Crosnoe, Robert; Pasch, Keryn EAccording to the social and emotional learning (SEL) prevention framework, individual core competencies, the school environment, and students’ attachment or connectedness to the school play various roles in reducing their risky or problem behaviors, such as aggression. The current dissertation involved two studies testing various components of the SEL framework. Specific constructs of interest included individual competencies of social awareness (empathic concern and perspective taking) and self-management (effortful control), four mostly interpersonal aspects of school climate (perceived friction, cohesion, competition, and satisfaction with classes), school connectedness, and both overt and relational forms of aggression. Data were drawn from an existing prospective study of early adolescents, comprised of two waves with one year between each wave. Total participants were 500 10- to 14-year old students (54% female; 78% European American) who completed the first wave of a self-report survey in 6th and 7th grades. The first study examined the unique and interrelated effects of the individual competencies and perceptions of school climate on both subsequent forms of aggression across the one-year period. Study findings indicated that across gender, empathic concern was the only competency to reduce both overt and relational aggression one year later. None of the school climate perceptions made a unique contribution to subsequent aggression, nor did they show protective functions. Rather, several instances of cumulative advantage were observed, whereby positive school climate perceptions only reduced aggression for students who already had high levels of empathic concern. Unexpectedly, high levels of perceived cohesion among students contributed to higher levels of overt aggression for boys already high in effortful control. The second study then sought to examine school connectedness as a mediator that could further explain how students’ competencies and perceptions of school climate contribute to both forms of aggression. Although there were no mediation effects across gender, post-hoc analyses confirmed some hypotheses but raised questions regarding the direction and temporality of associations for others. Overall, the findings of both studies provide general support for some of the proposed relationships by the SEL framework and highlight the need for nuanced investigations when seeking to reduce different forms of aggression during middle school.Item Intrasexual selection and warning color evolution in an aposematic poison dart frog(2014-05) Crothers, Laura Rose; Cummings, Molly E.; Bolnick, Daniel; Hofmann, Hans; Ryan, Michael; Summers, KyleFlamboyant colors are widespread throughout the animal kingdom. While many of these traits arise through sexual selection, bright coloration can also evolve through natural selection. Many aposematic species, for example, use conspicuous warning coloration to communicate their noxiousness to predators. Recent research suggests these signals can also function in the context of mate choice. Studies of warning color evolution can therefore provide new insights into how the interplay of natural and sexual selection impact the trajectory of conspicuous signal evolution. For my dissertation, I investigated the potential for male-male competition to impact the warning color evolution of a species of poison frog. I focused my work on an exceptionally bright and toxic population of the strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) where males are brighter than females, a classic signature of sexual selection. In Chapter 1, I used theoretical models of predator and frog visual systems to determine which can see the variation in bright warning coloration within this population. I found that birds, the presumed major predator, likely cannot see this variation, indicating that sexual selection can work under the radar of predators in this species. In Chapter 2, I tested the aggressive responses of males using a two-way choice paradigm that manipulated the perceived brightness of stimulus males. I found that males directed more of their behaviors to bright stimulus frogs, and brighter focal frogs more readily approached stimuli and directed more of their attention to the brighter rival. In Chapter 3, I tested the outcomes of dyadic interactions between males of varying brightness and observed male reactions to simulated intruders in their territories. I found that brighter males initiated aggressive interactions with rivals more readily, and brightness asymmetries between males settled interactions in a way that is consistent with classic hypotheses about male sexual signals. In Chapter 4 I sought to describe physiological correlates of male warning color brightness. While male brightness did not co-vary with classic measures of body condition (circulating testosterone and skin carotenoids), it did correlate with toxins sequestered from the diet and thus appears to be a reliable signal of toxicity in this population.Item An Introduction to the Personality Assessment Inventory – Adolescent (PAI-A) : understanding applicability for use with forensic adolescent males and investigation of clinical correlates(2011-12) Farwell, Lauren Lee; Sherry, Alissa René; McCarthy, ChristopherPublished in 2007, the Personality Assessment Inventory – Adolescent (PAI-A) is rapidly becoming a widely used adolescent personality measure in psychological assessment, particularly with forensic/delinquent adolescents. The literature indicates forensic adolescent males differ in many domains from non-forensic adolescent males. It is important in adolescent forensic assessment research to align the PAI-A with the empirical literature. The goal of this literature review is understand the utility of the PAI-A for use with forensic adolescent males and provide a foundation for future research with the PAI-A and adolescent males. Particularly, this literature review seeks to identify particular PAI-A scales that are potentially descriptive of one’s forensic status and combine prior research findings to delineate among inherent characteristics of forensic violent, forensic non-violent and non-forensic community adolescent males.Item Molecular mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity in Astatotilapia burtoni(2011-12) Huffman, Lin Su; Hofmann, Hans A.; Crews, David; Gore, Andrea; Ryan, Michael; Zakon, HaroldThe ability of an animal to respond and adapt to stimuli is necessary for its survival and involves plasticity and coordination of multiple levels of biological organization, including behavior, tissue organization, hormones, and gene expression. Each of these levels of response is complex, and none of them responds to stimuli in isolation. Thus, to understand how each system responds, it is necessary to consider its role in the context of the entire organism. Here, I have used the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni and its extraordinary phenotypic plasticity to investigate how animals respond to a change in social status from subordinate to dominant and attempted to integrate these multiple levels of biological response, as well as the roles of several candidate neuromodulators,. First, I have described how male A. burtoni become more aggressive and reproductive during their transition to dominance as well as increasing circulating levels of testosterone and estradiol and the histological organization of their testes. I then mapped the distribution of expression of two behaviorally relevant neuropeptides, arginine vasotocin and isotocin, and their respective receptors, throughout the A. burtoni brain, and found that they were highly expressed in several brain areas important for social behavior and decision-making. I then investigated the role of arginine vasotocin in social status and behavior via pharmacological manipulation and qPCR, showing the importance of arginine vasotocin in controlling the transition to dominance. Lastly, I investigated the role of aromatase, testosterone, and estradiol in male A. burtoni, both in stable dominant males and in males as they transition to dominance, using pharmacological manipulation and quantitative radioactive in situ hybridization, illustrating that estradiol synthesis during dominance is dependent on aromatase activity and necessary for aggressive behavior.Item Naturally-occurring declines in antisocial behavior from ages 4 to 12 : relations with parental sensitivity and psychological processes in children(2013-05) Buck, Katharine Ann; Dix, Theodore H.Although common in toddlerhood, for most children, antisocial behavior declines with age. The current study examined whether changes in maternal sensitivity, children's social skills, emotion regulation, and hostile attributions account for these declines. Data from 1022 participants, (52% female; 87% Caucasian) from the NICHD SECCYD were examined from 54 months through 6th grade. Analyses revealed that increases in sensitivity, social skills, and emotion regulation predicted decreases in antisocial behavior. Increases in sensitivity predicted declines because they promoted social skills and emotion regulation. Decreases in antisocial behavior predicted subsequent increases in sensitivity, children's social skills, emotion regulation, and decreases in hostile attributions. Increasing sensitivity, children's social skills, and emotion regulation, appear to be critical factors for naturally-occurring declines in antisocial behavior.Item The Role Of Impulsive Aggression In A Cohort Of Suicide Attempters(2006-06-21) Hodges, Gayle Elizabeth; Claassen, CynthiaResearch Objective: This study attempts to understand the role of impulsive aggression in a group of suicide attempters. The study hypothesized that a greater proportion of suicide attempters would meet criteria as impulsive aggressive than would be found among suicide ideators and unintentionally injured controls. The study further hypothesized that levels of impulsive aggression among all study participants would remain stable across time. Methods: Three groups of patients (n = 291) were recruited, with suicide attempters as the experimental group and suicide ideators and traumatic injury patients as control groups. Subjects were evaluated for the presence of impulsivity and aggression during initial treatment for suicidality or unintentional injury and again three months later. Two hundred one of the initial recruits also completed a follow-up assessment. Using a definition of impulsive aggression previously developed by Skodol (2002), study patients identified as "impulsive aggressive" needed to meet three criteria: the presence of significant impulsivity a measured by the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (Barratt, 1994), and significant aggression, measured using two subscales (irritability and assaultiveness) from the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (Buss&Durkee, 1956). Chi-square analyses, one-way ANOVAs, and interclass correlation coefficients were utilized to compare groups, with post hoc tests used as warranted. Covariates that are known to impact impulsivity and aggression (i.e., age, race, gender, depression, borderline personality disorder, and alcohol use/abuse) were controlled. Results: Before controlling for clinical differences between groups (e.g., levels of depression, alcohol use/abuse), chi-square analysis revealed significant differences in the number of impulsive aggressive individuals by group. A post hoc analysis suggested that the percentage of impulsive aggressive individuals was significantly higher among suicide ideators than among traumatic injury patients However, when covarying for age, gender, race, borderline personality disorder, major depressive disorder, and alcohol abuse, no differences were found in the level of impulsivity, irritability, or assaultiveness between groups. There was good consistency in the proportions of individuals by group who maintained their baseline level of impulsivity, irritability, and assaultiveness at follow-up, suggesting that these characteristics function in many individuals as a trait, rather than a state. In an attempt to corroborate the validity of this study's operationalized definition of impulsive aggression, external items that assessed these tendencies were identified and analyses were performed to see if participants who endorsed impulsive aggressive behavior also endorsed these external variables. There was not a good match between groups of individuals who were classified as impulsive aggressive using the traditional BIS-11/BDHI criteria and selected external variables. Conclusions: Findings from this research study do not support an association between impulsive aggression and suicidal behaviors.Item Songs of aggression : the singing mouse model(2015-05) George, Andreas Sherron; Phelps, Steven Michael, 1970-; Crews, DavidSocial behavior is a vital part across vast taxa, from honey bees to elephants. This behavior is known to be modulated by nonapeptides acting on various nodes of the social behavior network (Newmann, 1999). Vasopressin and its evolutionary precursor vasotocin are both highly involved in the social brain. (De Vries and Panzica 2006; Goodson, 2005) Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that these systems are under the control of gonadal hormones (Bester-Meredith and Marler 2005). Here, we study the effects of hormones and experience on the social behaviors, specifically aggression, in the singing mouse Scotinomys teguina. These mice are known for their male stereotyped song used in territorial aggression as well as mate attraction. We gonadectomized the animals and coupled this with androgens at varying levels, or empty implants, to determine how gonadal hormones affect aggression and song. We discovered a significant increase in frequency of submission in animals following no hormone treatment, and a positive correlation with androgen level and physical aggression, as well as increase in propensity to sing. In a separate study, we also studied the singing response to social stimuli. We introduce the subjects to conspecific song, female bedding, and pink noise. We then recorded their responses following winning or losing encounters. We found animals increased their singing behavior in response to all stimuli following wins. Winning is known to increase aggression by allowing a transient increase in gonadal hormones. This study further bolsters the winner’s effect. Taken together, these experiments demonstrate in dynamic social behavior in a novel species that is modulated by hormonal states as well as social encounters.Item The Association Between Perceived Parenting Styles and Aggression in Mexican American Young AdultsMedrano, Maria R; Munoz, Monica E.The relationship between parenting styles and aggression in children has recently received ample attention throughout the psychological literature, with some aspects of this relationship yielding consistent results while others involve more complex dynamics that require further exploration. One factor that may influence both parenting styles and aggression is culture. While many researchers have investigated the relationship between culture and parenting styles, as well as the relationship between culture and aggression, there appears to be a lack of research investigating the relationship and interactions among these three constructs. It is important to further explore the relationship between perceived parenting styles and aggression to understand the negative consequences that can result during young adulthood from exhibiting aggressive behaviors during primordial days. Given that research on this topic with Mexican American young adults is scarce, and the influence of parenting styles, and perceived parenting styles, that has often been found in the literature may not be applicable due to differences in culture, and levels of acculturation. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between perceived parenting styles and aggression in young adults of Mexican descent, as moderated by individual differences in acculturation. Results indicated that perceived permissive and authoritative parenting, in interaction with acculturation are significant predictors of aggression. Perceived authoritarian and permissive parenting styles also significantly predict aggression.