Barroom aggression among Australian tradesmen: associations with heavy episodic drinking, trait aggression, and conformity to masculine norms

Abstract

Objective: Past research associates heavy episodic drinking (HED), trait aggression, and conformity to masculine norms with increased risk of barroom aggression (BA) perpetration by men. Such studies have mostly employed university samples, limiting the generalizability of these findings to other male groups. This study assessed the association of HED, trait aggression, and masculine norms with BA perpetration in a sample of male tradespeople. Method: Australian tradesmen aged 18–35 years (N = 221, Mage = 21.92, SDage = 4.08, 81.5% apprentices) completed an individual interview at their place of work or training, assessing past-month HED and past-year verbal and physical BA perpetrations, as well as the short Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire and items from the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory-46. Results: Participants reported high levels of verbal (35.1%) and physical (27%) BA perpetration. Negative binomial regression analyses found that HED, trait aggression, and Winning, Risk-taking, and Playboy norms predicted increased risk of both verbal and physical BA perpetrations, while Violence was negatively associated with verbal BA perpetration. Conclusions: Trait aggression was the strongest predictor of both verbal and physical BA perpetrations. Dispositional aggression, HED, and norms endorsing competitiveness, risk-taking, and promiscuity increase the risk of male tradespeople engaging in BA.