Aggressive Intent Research Articles

IMPLEMENTING NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY OF PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS AMONG MANAGERS

Strategy implementation is an important aspect of innovation, as only 30% of planned strategies are matched by realised innovation outcomes. The present study investigates this in a setting of strategic implementation of New Product Development (NPD). In the implementation process, the managers’ characteristics are what lead to successful implementation of NPD. Managers’ characteristics affect the decision outcome. This study incorporates curiosity as a personal trait and NPD experience as a personal characteristic of the manager as moderating effects of the strategy implementation process of NPD. 131 NPD managers of Scandinavia SBUs participated in the study. Data were analysed using partial least squares regression. The study finds that managers influence the realised NPD strategy. NPD managers impose competence traps on strategy implementation. Curious NPD managers implementing aggressive strategic intentions create information overload in the NPD process, which decreases the new product novelty. In contrast, realisation of defensive strategic intentions makes experienced NPD managers focus on known NPD competences, thereby decreasing the new product novelty of NPD efforts. The study identified inadequately developed information competences among NPD managers. The result shows the importance of analysing how personal characteristics facilitate or hinder NPD strategy implementation. The competitive advantage of NPD efforts relies on such an analysis.

Honest Signaling in Aggressive Contests between Ozark Zigzag Salamanders (Plethodon angusticlavius)

Communication of information concerning the sender's quality or intentions is essential for maintaining territories. Receivers that respond to dishonest signals that provide misleading information about quality or intent should therefore be selected against. Honest signals prevent cheating because they are constrained by factors such as the energetic costs of the signal. We tested the hypothesis that “All Trunk Raised” (ATR), a behavior that occurs in territorial contests in terrestrial salamanders, is an honest indicator of aggressive intent. In staged contests between pairs of Ozark Zigzag Salamanders (Plethodon angusticlavius), individuals that performed bites spent more time exhibiting ATR prior to biting than individuals that did not bite. In addition, we examined whether ATR is an energetically costly behavior. In metabolic trials, individuals that performed more ATR produced more CO2. These results support the hypothesis that ATR is an honest indicator of aggressive intent in this species.

Perceptions of low agency and high sexual openness mediate the relationship between sexualization and sexual aggression

Researchers have become increasingly interested in the saturation of popular Western culture by female hypersexualization. We provide data showing that men have more sexually aggressive intentions toward women who self-sexualize, and that self-sexualized women are vulnerable to sexual aggression if two qualifying conditions are met. Specifically, if perceivers view self-sexualized women as sexually open and lacking agency (i.e., the ability to influence one's environment), they harbor more sexually aggressive intentions and view women as easier to sexually victimize. In Experiment 1, male participants viewed a photograph of a woman whose self-sexualization was manipulated through revealing versus non-revealing clothing. In subsequent experiments, men and women (Experiment 2) and men only (Experiment 3) viewed a photograph of a woman dressed in non-revealing clothing but depicted as open or closed to sexual activity. Participants rated their perceptions of the woman's agency, then judged how vulnerable she was to sexual aggression (Experiments 1 and 2) or completed a sexually aggressive intentions measure (Experiment 3). Results indicated that both men and women perceived self-sexualized women as more vulnerable to sexual aggression because they assumed those women were highly sexually open and lacked agency. Perceptions of low agency also mediated the relationship between women's perceived sexual openness and men's intentions to sexually aggress. These effects persisted even when we described the self-sexualized woman as possessing highly agentic personality traits and controlled for individual differences related to sexual offending. The current work suggests that perceived agency and sexual openness may inform perpetrator decision-making and that cultural hypersexualization may facilitate sexual aggression. Aggr. Behav. 42:483-497, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Индивидуально-психологические и социальные факторы риска агрессивного криминального поведения у несовершеннолетних с органическим поражением головного мозга

The article describes the risk factors for criminal aggression in adolescents with an organic mental disorder depending on the level of social deviations or severity of pathopsychological factor. The study involved 113 male adolescents aged 15 to 17 years. The main group consisted of juvenile offenders with organic mental disorder. We used the methods of investigation to determine the individual psychological characteristics, we also used structured risk assessment methods. It is shown that risk factors for criminal aggressive behavior in adolescents with organic mental disorder are a high level of proactive and reactive aggression, combined with underdeveloped mechanisms deter aggressive intentions. With the increase of organic disease, these features become more stable. An important role in shaping the aggressive criminal behavior plays an unsuccessful social environment. Interfamily problems, social deprivation, learning difficulties, communication in antisocial groups and substance abuse - all this increases the risk of aggressive illegal actions.

Effects of Labeling and Group Category of Evaluators on Evaluations of Aggression.

This study investigated whether the effect of labeling on people’s evaluation of aggression varies according to the group category of the evaluators (i.e., whether they are ingroup members or third parties). Two labeling strategies—the negative labeling of victims (NL strategy) and the positive labeling of aggressors (PL strategy)–were adopted. We conducted an experiment using the hot sauce paradigm, as a way to assess aggressive intent that includes behavioral measures of evaluations. The results suggested that the NL strategy causes ingroup members to evaluate aggression in a more positive light, while the PL strategy has the same effect but on third parties instead. Thus, labeling strategies may increase the severity of aggressors’ reaction and could also be a factor that can escalate a war or conflict.

The sparrow and the hawk: aggressive signaling under risk of predation

Eavesdropping by predators imposes a major cost on signalers, which in turn have evolved a number of strategies to deal with this cost. These strategies however, have not been well studied in the context of aggressive signaling. Here, we report an experiment on male song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) in which we experimentally increased the perceived predation risk by playing Cooper’s hawk (Accipiter cooperi) calls or control Northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) calls in the midst of a simulated conspecific territorial intrusion and assessed the change in signaling strategies. We found that song sparrows clearly discriminated between the hawk call and the flicker call. Specifically, subjects decreased number of songs and wing wave displays (a visual signal of aggressive intent) and increased alarm calling during the hawk playback. However, the change in signaling behaviors did not persist when the simulated intruder resumed his challenge, despite the fact that the subjects were still alarmed as indicated by high rates of alarm calling. Additionally, we found no evidence for the eavesdropping avoidance hypothesis as an explanation for the low amplitude of soft song, the most reliable signal of aggression in this species. These results suggest that male song sparrows flexibly adjust their signaling effort in response to both the predation risk and the need to defend their territory against an intruder.

Ready to Fight: Reliable Predictors of Attack in a Cooperatively Breeding, Non‐Passerine Bird

AbstractSignal reliability is a major focus of animal communication research. Aggressive signals are ideal for measuring signal reliability because the signal referent – attack or no attack – can be measured unambiguously. Signals of aggressive intent occur at elevated rates in aggressive contexts, predict subsequent aggression by the signaler, and elicit appropriate responses from receivers. We tested the ‘predictive criterion’ in smooth‐billed anis, Crotophaga ani, by broadcasting one of two playback types (‘ahnee’ calls only or ‘ahnee + hoot’ calls), presenting a taxidermic mount, and observing the animals’ behavior. Based on the hypotheses that ‘hoot’ calls and ‘throat‐inflation’ displays signal aggressive intent, we predicted that they would be associated with attack, and that signaling rate would increase over the time period leading up to an attack. Indeed, both hoots and throat‐inflation displays reliably predicted attack. The second prediction, that signaling rate increases in the time leading up to attack, was strongly supported for throat‐inflation displays, which increased over the pre‐attack period in both treatments. Hoots increased over the pre‐attack period in ahnee playbacks but not in ahnee + hoot playbacks. Hierarchical signaling systems are characterized by early, less‐reliable predictors of attack, and later, more reliable predictors of attack. During both natural and simulated interactions, the more‐reliable throat‐inflation display tended to precede the less‐reliable hoot call, suggesting that this signaling system is not hierarchical. In a comparison of 11 putative signals of aggressive intent in birds, the throat‐inflation display had the second highest mutual information (reduction in uncertainty) among visual signals and non‐passerine signals while hoots had below‐average mutual information. Natural observations indicate that both hoots and throat‐inflation displays occur in the context of aggressive between‐group encounters, and hoots also occur during within‐group interactions. Throat‐inflation displays appear to be reliable indicators of aggressive intent, but the function of hoot calls is less clear.

Essays on school bullying

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Traumatic Reminders, and Partner Aggressive Tendencies Among Veterans

This study examined whether laboratory exposure to traumatic reminders potentiated the relationship between veterans’ posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and intimate partner aggression (IPA) articulations elicited during an anger-induction task. The sample included 82 male Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom veterans. The Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations (ATSS) procedure was used to assess physical IPA articulations (i.e., expressions of physically aggressive intentions toward the partner) and verbal IPA articulations (i.e., statements intended to insult or demean the partner) made during “relationship anger” provoking scenarios. Participants were administered versions of the ATSS both with and without trauma cue presentation. Results indicated that trauma cue exposure potentiated the relationship between veterans’ PTSD symptoms and physical IPA articulations, but did not strengthen the significant relationship between PTSD symptoms and verbal IPA articulations. Findings contribute to the literature on veterans’ PTSD symptoms and IPA perpetration by highlighting the influence of traumatic reminders.

Internet aggression in online communities: a contemporary deterrence perspective

AbstractInternet users' activities are critical to the development and success of Web 2.0 systems, such as online communities. Within the community's participation, knowledge sharing, and communications, users may conduct aggressive behaviors that would have a negative impact on that online community. This study investigates factors that affect Chinese users' aggression intention in online communities. Research findings show that online aggression can be inhibited by internal deterrents of face saving and moral beliefs, which may be enhanced through implementation of consequences from an effective community policy and peer pressure among community members. Differences in the effects of the deterrence measures exist between younger and older users. This paper contributes theoretically and empirically to Web 2.0 research and has practical implications for virtual community management.

Vocal repertoire of cooperatively breeding Smooth-billed Anis

Calls are functionally diverse signals that mediate behavior in a wide variety of contexts in both passerines and non-passerines. However, the call-based acoustic communication systems of non-passerines have received less attention from investigators than those of passerines. We examined the vocal repertoire of Smooth-billed Anis (Crotophaga ani), cooperatively breeding cuckoos that live in groups with multiple breeding pairs. We recorded calls from 22 groups over two breeding seasons at the Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge in Puerto Rico. We identified 11 call types and one group vocalization, and used an automated sound measurement program to quantify their acoustic features. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) correctly classified 74.2% of calls based on these features. The vocal repertoire of Smooth-billed Anis is larger than that reported for the three other species in the subfamily Crotophaginae. Smooth-billed Anis have at least two alarm calls, two nest-specific calls, and one nest defense call. We also identified one possible signal of aggressive intent, one possible appeasement signal, and two calls that may communicate identity. The relatively large vocal repertoire of Smooth-billed Anis and association of distinct call types with different functions and contexts supports the main prediction of the social complexity hypothesis, i.e., species with more complex social systems will have more complex communication systems.

It Takes All Kinds in Acoustic Communication: A New Perspective on the Song Overlapping Phenomenon

AbstractOver the last few decades, research into song overlapping produced many – often conflicting – interpretations of its function and culminated in the current debate about the usefulness of this concept. To avoid a deadlock in song overlapping research, we present a new approach to existing evidence and offer several novel hypotheses that might help enhance future experiments. Our analysis offers both a theoretical perspective and specific predictions of each testable hypothesis. We present a detailed analysis of important questions. First, what information does song overlapping convey (is it a signal of aggressive intent or of male quality)? Second, what evolutionary mechanism stabilizes honesty of song overlapping as a signal (is it an index signal, handicap, proximity risk, conventional signal or a modifier)? Additionally, we offer some alternative explanations of the phenomenon (song overlapping as a mask or an incidental phenomenon). We hope to encourage future researchers not only to gather high‐quality experimental data, but also to make more careful interpretations, as we believe that no all‐encompassing explanation of song overlapping will be formulated any time soon. Focused comparative approaches will be necessary, as song overlapping might have different functions in different species.

Indian Foreign Policy Responds to the U.S. Pivot

Facing an assertive China in the Asia-Pacific, President Barack Obama announced in late 2011 his strategy of pivoting toward the region. India has emerged as an important constituent of this new policy framework. This article argues that the Indian foreign policy response to U.S. has taken the form of strategic hedging.Hedging has made inroads into India's foreign policy for two main reasons. First, during the early years of Obama's presidency, Indian foreign policy elites viewed U.S. outreach to Beijing as grand accommodation. This perception of possible Washington-Beijing rapprochement made India feel both vulnerable and ignored. Therefore, even after the more robust pivot strategy was announced in late 2011, doubts about its credibility continued to pervade Indian perceptions. Concerns that the United States' continuing economic woes and military sequestration will render the pivot unsustainable have only reaffirmed India's reluctance. Reinforcing such skepticism are the multiple crises in the Middle East and Europe that seem to have once again taken the United States' focus away from Asia, as was evident in Obama's speech at West Point in January 2014, where uncertainty about the U.S. commitment to Asia was conspicuous by the absence of any mention of the pivot. In period where the United States is struggling to find resources to support its foreign and military commitments, such distractions are bound to adversely affect the efficiency of the pivot strategy. Second, the Indian sense of vulnerability has also brought to the fore the country's default foreign policy posture of nonalignment. Strategic confusion in U.S. foreign policy has strengthened the hands of those in India who seek greater distance from the United States, thereby renewing debate on the nature and depth of the interactions New Delhi desires with Washington given the challenge posed by rising China. India's hedging vis-a-vis the U.S. pivot is reflection of the unsettled nature of this debate.India's approach to the new U.S. strategy is therefore punctuated by reluctance and caution, aiming to avoid any entrapment in the great-power tussle between Beijing and Washington. This hedging strategy is manifest in three distinct realms. First, India has been recalibrating its strategic closeness with the United States, which is evident in the drift in the U.S.-India defense relationship over the last few years. Second, rather than balancing China through external help, New Delhi has attempted to normalize its relationship with Beijing by making substantive change in ground realities. Third, India has pursued localized form of balancing by increasing defense partnerships with other regional powers.This article is organized as follows:* pp. 92-96 discuss the U.S. pivot and examine India's important role in this strategy, highlighting opportunities for Indian foreign policy.* pp. 96-110 explicate India's hedging strategy by examining the country's stagnating relationship with the United States, attempts at stabilizing relations with China, and efforts to build regional partnerships in the Asia-Pacific.* pp. 111-14 consider the implications of this hedging strategy and chart out scenarios under which India may opt to be more active participant in the U.S. rebalancing strategy.THE PIVOT AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIAThe U.S. Pivot and India's Projected RoleTo arrest China's increasingly assertive behavior in the Asia-Pacific and the perception of the United States' relative decline, in November 2011 President Obama announced the U.S. strategy of pivoting toward Asia. This strategy represented a simultaneous attempt to warn China away from using heavy-handed tactics against its neighbors and provide confidence to other Asia-Pacific countries that want to resist pressure from Beijing now and in the future.1 The pivot, in essence, is primarily an effort to address the regional insecurity engendered by China's rising military power and aggressive intentions. …

Violent audiovisual content and social consequences: The moderating role of aggression in adolescents

AbstractNumerous studies have linked the consumption of violent audiovisual content to the increase of aggressive cognitions and behaviors. This research aims to clarify whether the possible harmful consequences of violent videogames might vary depending on an individual variable such as trait aggressiveness. A correlational study was carried out among 6,130 teenagers (average age of 13.8 years) from two European countries, in which it became evident, by means of multiple regression analyses, that there was a positive correlation between the use of violent videogames and aggressive behavioral intentions. More relevantly, these correlations were greater amongst those subjects with higher scores on the Aggression Scale. Finally, when analyzing the subjective experiences of users of violent videogames, the more aggressive individuals manifested a greater desire to imitate the characters of the interactive content, admitting that they ended up more agitated even when their initial objective was to relieve tension or relax. Practical and theoretical implications (e.g., Catharsis theory) of those results are discussed.

The role of signature whistle matching in bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus

The addressing of individuals with learned signals is inherent to human social interactions. It allows individuals to solicit the attention of a particular social companion or to direct information towards an intended recipient. The ability to address individual conspecifics with learned signals is not limited to humans, however. In songbirds, the selective addressing of individuals is facilitated by song type matching but is very much a signal of aggressive intent. The matching of learned signals is also observed in bottlenose dolphins, which will match one another's highly individualized signature whistle. Copying in dolphins occurs between close associates, which suggests that it is an affiliative signal. It could, however, also serve to manage aggression. We investigated the valence of signature whistle matching by performing interactive playback experiments. We waited until an animal produced its signature whistle and then either played back a synthetic version of its own whistle (match) or a different signature whistle (control). A total of 110 playback experiments were conducted with seven different animals from two managed groups of dolphins. The responses to the playback treatments were significantly different. Animals produced a consistent vocal response to being vocally matched, by returning the match, with no associated signal of aggression and did not respond to control playbacks in the same way. There was also an optimum time interval (<1 s) in which a match was most successful in eliciting a vocal response. Our results show that signature whistle matching is an affiliative signal that allows bottlenose dolphins to address social companions. Furthermore, these matching exchanges are driven by temporal associations, which appear to be essential in allowing animals to direct signals to particular individuals in large communication networks.

The human anger face evolved to enhance cues of strength

Animals typically deploy their morphology during conflict to enhance competitors' assessments of their fighting ability (e.g. bared fangs, piloerection, dewlap inflation). Recent research has shown that humans assess others' fighting ability by monitoring cues of strength, and that the face itself contains such cues. We propose that the muscle movements that constitute the human facial expression of anger were selected because they increased others' assessments of the angry individual's strength, thereby increasing bargaining power. This runs contrary to the traditional theory that the anger face is an arbitrary set of features that evolved simply to signal aggressive intent. To test between these theories, the seven key muscle movements constituting the anger face were systematically manipulated one by one and in the absence of the others. Raters assessed faces containing any one of these muscle movements as physically stronger, supporting the hypothesis that the anger face evolved to enhance cues of strength.

Aggressive displays by male House Wrens are composed of multiple components that predict attack

Aggressive signals should predict whether the sender of the signal will attack the receiver, yet this criterion has been little studied. We conducted experiments with male House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) in north-central Illinois in 2009 to test the hypothesis that rates of song delivery and wing-quivering (putative aggressive signals) signal aggressive intent. We simulated a conspecific territorial intrusion by combining playback of male song with a male taxidermic mount, predicting that these signals would be related to a male's likelihood of attacking a conspecific. All males (N = 37) sang in response to the intrusion. Males attacking the mount sang at significantly higher rates and performed significantly more wing quivers than males that did not attack. In addition, all males that attacked the mount performed wing quivers (9/9), whereas only 53.6% (15/28) of males that did not attack did so (P = 0.011). Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that both song and wing quivering indicate a signaler's aggressive intent and that these signals are likely components of a multi-component, hierarchical display. Los despliegues agresivos de la Ratona Común están compuestos por múltiples componentes que predicen el ataque Las señales de agresividad deberían predecir si el emisor de la señal atacará al receptor, aún así este criterio ha sido poco estudiado. Realizamos experimentos en la Ratona Común (Troglodytes aedon) en el centro norte de Illinois en 2009 a fin de poner a prueba la hipótesis de que la tasa de emisión del canto y de temblor de alas (señales putativas de agresividad) señalizan la intención agresiva. Simulamos la intrusión territorial de un conespecífico al combinar playback de un macho con un ejemplar taxidermizado, prediciendo que estas señales estarían relacionadas a la probabilidad de un macho de atacar a un conespecífico. Todos los macho (N = 37) cantaron en respuesta a la intrusión. Los machos que atacaron el ejemplar taxidermizado realizaron más temblores de alas que los machos que no atacaron. Adicionalmente, todos los machos que atacaron realizaron temblores de alas (9/9), mientras que solo el 53.6% (15/28) de los machos que no atacaron lo realizó. Nuestros resultados son consistentes con la hipótesis que tanto el canto como el temblor de alas indican la intención agresiva del emisor, y que estas señales probablemente sean componentes de un despliegue jerárquico y de múltiples componentes.

Power Plays

Both transient and stable facial cues have evolved as essential features of social communication in humans. Accumulating research links actual and perceived aggression to a higher ratio between the height and bizygomatic width of a person’s face (facial width-to-height ratio [WHR]) and shows that digitally increasing this ratio can alter apparent aggressiveness. We present evidence that facial behaviors associated with anger—the state most closely associated with aggressive intentions—also increase facial WHR, mimicking the facial morphology of aggressive individuals. In Study 1, individuals induced to appear aggressive naturally increased their facial WHR using anger-related facial behaviors. In Study 2, we found that validated anger expressions increased facial WHR and that this change predicts increased attributions of aggressiveness. We also found statistical suggestions that anger-related facial behaviors may serve as cues that overrepresent the expresser’s aggressiveness. Our findings suggest that facial behaviors associated with anger may have emerged to facilitate aggressive encounters.

Viewing Vehicular Violence through a Wide Angle Lens: Contributing Factors and a Proposed Framework

Although vehicular violence is prevalent in North America, it is difficult to document because it is typically recorded as a violent act, without reference to the use of a vehicle, or as an “accident” or a traffic violation. It occurs anywhere in the motor vehicle transportation system when the vehicle is intentionally used as a weapon; as the supporting environment for violent acts; or as a platform for creating suffering, injury, or death. Vehicular violence can be directed outward, as, for example, in a carjacking or physical assault; or inward, as in deliberately crashing a vehicle in a suicide act. Common targets of vehicular violence include police officers and transportation workers like taxi drivers. Vehicles are also used as platforms for sexual assault or drive-by shootings. Social, psychological, and traffic-specific conditions contribute to vehicular violence; for example, competition for the roadway, stress, depression, anger, rage, vengefulness, and alcohol consumption. In the present article, a proposed framework for viewing vehicular violence is presented with three zones of immediacy – the mediate (tangential use of the vehicle in the violent act), intermediate (where the vehicle is used to facilitate the violence), and immediate (where the vehicle is the actual weapon). These zones reflect a continuum that reflects the proximity of the vehicle to the aggressive intent.

Market signals: web site investment and physical store existence

Purpose – Reputational beliefs influence online purchase intentions but are difficult to establish in settings in which counterfeit products are common, especially in emerging economies. Drawing upon signalling theory, this work decomposes reputational beliefs into: an ability belief, as represented by web site investment, and a truthfulness belief, as signalled by a statement about the existence of a physical store, and investigates their differential effects on online purchase intentions. This work aims to further investigate the moderating effects of searchers' personality type on the relationships between reputational beliefs and online purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach – Three experiments using various samples (students versus non-students) and products (cell phone versus camera) were conducted. Findings – The results reveal that two significant market signals, web site investment and a statement about physical store existence, influence reputation beliefs, and, thus online purchase intentions. Moreover, aggressive searchers' online purchase intentions depend on their ability belief rather than their truthfulness belief, whereas non-aggressive searchers' intentions rely on their truthfulness belief rather than their ability belief. Originality/value – This work provides new theoretical insights into factors influencing consumers' online purchase decision making by decomposing reputational beliefs and incorporating the moderating effect of personality type. It contributes to signaling literature by examining the effects of two market signals – web site investment and statement about the existence of a physical store – on two major components of reputational beliefs and online purchase intentions. This article is the first to empirically test the effects of reputational beliefs from the perspective of end-users in an online context.