Personality, mating effort and alcohol-related violence expectancies

Abstract

The current study investigated whether scores on the Alcohol Related Aggression Questionnaire (ARAQ) were predictable from the independent influences of personality and intra-sexual competition as measured by the mating effort scale (MES) and whether education had a protective factor in any relationship that arose. Ninety-five participants completed personality, MES and ARAQ scales. Hierachical linear regression independently entering MES followed by agreeableness, conscientiousness, age, education and sex found alcohol-aggression expectancies were predicted by higher MES and younger age; alcohol-related trait aggression was predicted by higher MES, lower agreeableness and younger age; alcohol-related sensitivity to pain and anxiety was related to higher MES and younger age; an expectation of drinking cheap but high potency alcoholic beverages was primarily associated with higher MES alone. These results show that mating effort has a disproportionate influence upon different facets of alcohol-aggression expectancies relative to even established constructs such as personality, and that much of alcohol-related violence in social contexts, may reflect intra-sexual competition and forces within the individual that lead them to discount the future.