Hostile Aggression Research Articles

The Effects of Past Parental and Maternal Rejection in Childhood on Adults' Current Psychological Maladjustments: ACorrelational and Comparative Study

This study investigatedperceived parental and maternal rejection (hostility aggression, indifference/neglect, and undifferentiated rejection), as experienced and remembered by adults, andits relationships totheir current depression, anxiety and stress symptoms.In order to assess adults' perceptions of the degree of parental and maternal rejection received during childhood,asampleof two hundred and ninety-five( n= 295) adults in Kuwait from six Kuwaiti governerates completed the Arabic version of the adultsParental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ)Father &Mother versions, developed by (Rohner,Saaverda, & Granum, 1980)standardized inArabic by Salama (1986a). In addition, theDepression- Anxiety- Stress Scales-42(DASS-42) developed by Lovibond, and Lovibond (1995a) a version modified by, Lovibond, and Laube(2001)standardized in Arabic by,Moussawas used.The results indicated that males recalled their fathers' aggression and hostility and undifferentiated rejection more than females. In addition, perceivedpaternal rejection was found to be more influential than perceived maternal rejection. Moreover, the results indicated that there were low to moderate correlations between adults' currentfeelings of depression, anxiety, and stress with parental maternal rejection. The findings recommend parents to modify their parenting styles to alleviatefuture psychological maladjustmentsin their children. In addition, this study provides some insight into the impact of perceived parental rejection on future psychological maladjustment in children.

The Abbreviated Psychopathy Measure-2: associations with normal-range and maladaptive personality traits

BackgroundThe aim of the study was to validate an updated form of the Abbreviated Psychopathy Measure which is based on the triarchic model of psychopathy. Revisions were made to improve indexing of the triarchic scales. The study focused on examining the relationships between the APM-2 scales with lower-order personality traits associated with psychopathy, as well as with antiso-cial intent, a correlate of antisocial behavior.Participants and procedureA convenience sample of participants (N = 190) was recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Construct validity of the APM-2 scales was examined using Pearson’s r correlation and multiple regression analyses to determine the relationships between APM-2 scales and criterion measures.ResultsThe APM-2 Total score was associated at moderate to high levels with core personality features associated with psychopathy. APM-2 Boldness was associated with both positive adjustment (social potency, emotional stability), and negative adjustment (both dangerous and calculated sensation seeking). APM-2 Meanness was associated with measures of callousness, hostile aggression, and manipulativeness, as well as with a measure of antisocial intent. APM-2 Disinhibition was associated with measures of impulsive, norm violating behavior, negative emotional disposition, and antisocial intent.ConclusionsThe associations between APM-2 scales and personality traits replicated certain key findings reported in the literature regarding psychopathy-relevant traits indexed by the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM). Thus, this study provides a preliminary indication, albeit with a limited range of personality and antisocial behavior variables, that the nomological networks of the APM-2 scales may parallel the nomological networks of the TriPM scales.

Problematic smartphone use in young Swiss men: Its association with problematic substance use and risk factors derived from the pathway model.

Background and aimsThis study aimed to examine associations between risk factors suggested in the pathway model proposed by Billieux et al., demographic and substance use variables, and problematic smartphone use (PSU).MethodsThe analytical sample consisted of 5,096 Swiss men (mean age = 25.5 years, SD = 1.26). Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted with PSU as dependent and the following as independent variables: (a) Billieux’s pathway model variables (depression, social anxiety, ADHD, aggression–hostility, and sensation seeking); (b) substance use variables [alcohol: at-risk risky single-occasion drinking (RSOD); at-risk volume drinking; tobacco use: daily smoking; illicit drug use: more than weekly cannabis use; having used at least one other illicit drug besides cannabis over the preceding 12 months]; and (c) sociodemographic variables (age, language region, and education).ResultsAll pathway-model variables except sensation seeking were significant predictors of PSU, especially symptoms of social anxiety (β = 0.196) and ADHD (β = 0.184). At-risk RSOD was positively (β = 0.071) associated with PSU, whereas both frequent cannabis use (β = −0.060) and daily cigarette smoking (β = −0.035) were negatively associated with PSU. Higher-achieved educational levels and being from the German-speaking part of Switzerland predicted PSU.Discussion and conclusionsThe findings of this study can be used to develop tailored interventional programs that address the co-occurrence of certain risky behaviors (e.g., at-risk RSOD and PSU) and target individuals who might be particularly prone to PSU. Such interventions would need to ensure that addressing one problem (e.g., decreasing PSU) does not lead to some other compensatory behavior (e.g., frequent cigarette smoking).

Теоретико-методологічні основи перемоги України в сучасній смисловій війні

Досліджено особливості смислової війни як продовження інформаційної агресії Російської Федерації та розкрито їх відмінності. Сутність смислової війни визначено як прагнення нав’язати вигідні агресору чинники детермінації державної політики та людської діяльності. Зазначено, що об’єктами атак смислової війни є глибинні структури мислення (матриці, патерни, фрейми та установки) з метою сформувати симулякри – змінити реальну картину дійсності на спотворену віртуальну копію-фантом. Обґрунтовано положення, що теоретико-методологічними основами перемоги України в сучасній смисловій війні повинні бути практично забезпечені істинність, розумність та значущість всіх соціальних модернізацій.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ МІКРОПОЛЯ “ВОРОЖІ ВІЙСЬКА” У СТРУКТУРІ АСОЦІАТИВНО-СЕМАНТИЧНОГО ПОЛЯ “ВОРОГ” (на матеріалі дискурсу російсько-української інформаційної війни)

Introduction. The era of information wars requires a great deal of mastery of the word. A wide range of recipient’s emotions that can be evoked by certain lexemes makes language an essential tool in the fight for people’s consciousness while conducting information campaigns that accompany armed conflicts. Purpose – the study of the structure of the associative-semantic field “hostile troops” based on the discourse of the Russian-Ukrainian information war. Methods. Methods of associative linguistic observation (emotional-expressive and figurative-sensual components of the semantics of the studied lexemes), associative-semantic modeling (associative-semantic fields and microfields formation) are being used. Results. As a result of the analysis, the structure of the associative-semantic microfield of the “hostile troops” has been modeled, within which eight groups (ASG) have been allocated. The main groups are: 1) terminolexemes with a component indicating Russia’s involvement in the Donbas conflict (Russian troops, armed forces of the Russian Federation); 2) names with “Putin”, “putinskyi” components that are synonymous with the concept of “Russia” (Putin’s terrorists); 3) metonymic names that associatively indicate the presence of troops of another state (foreigners, invaders); 4) terms without reference to the Russian trace, which are characteristic of the initial stage of the conflict, when the fact of Russian aggression has not yet been recognized by Ukrainian legislation (militants, separatists), etc. Conclusion. Thus, the terminology used by the Ukrainian society is an important mean of waging an information war, and more specifically, repelling not only the armed aggression, but also the information hostile aggression. The study of such names is especially relevant because it enables to form the linguistic identifiers of the war period and to follow the psycholinguistic reactions of the society to the frontline news.

The Tweet Has Two Faces: Two-Faced Humor, Black Masculinity, and RompHim

The Tweet Has Two Faces:Two-Faced Humor, Black Masculinity, and RompHim Alfred L. Martin Jr. (bio) Beginning in early summer of 2017, the internet was abuzz about the RompHim, a romper designed and intended for men. The incredulity of the prospect of men wearing rompers soon turned comedic as a means to make sense of this new fashion trend. RompHim, like its predecessor the man purse, or "murse," exposed a schism in idea(l)s about the sartorial choices of heterosexual men. RompHim provides an ideal case study to explore humor in the twenty-first century for three reasons. First, it rearticulates the ways humor often works to reassert the hegemonic order. Second, and related, it helps illuminate how offline forms of humor, particularly [End Page 160] those invested in maintaining the status quo, are imported into online spaces. Third, RompHim provides an ideal opportunity to examine the ways humor functions when black masculinity, (homo)sexuality, and fashion collide. With respect to RompHim and Twitter, the rhetorical question became how to articulate displeasure with the RompHim without appearing antagonistic toward it and those who might choose to wear it. Platforms like Twitter allow users to build their online communities by both curating what content they see and who can see their content (depending on settings, one can also control the ability of users to share their tweets). Particularly when discussing humor, this selection bias functions much like the audience for a stand-up comic: those who have "opted in" are considered part of an "insider" crowd, affording the Twitter user the ability to joke freely because she or he is "among friends." This insiderness is particularly important when discussing the kinds of humor that can occur digitally, because it can be disciplinary. Simon Critchley reminds us that humor functions as a "form of cultural insider-knowledge, and might, indeed, be said to function like a linguistic defense mechanism … [that] endows native speakers with a palpable sense of their cultural distinctiveness, or even superiority."1 In this way, humor and jokes adhere to the contours of localized notions of taste and decorum and endow the joke teller with a status "above" those about whom jokes are told. Jokes, then, are hegemonic in that they labor to shore up the boundaries between what is acceptable and what is not. Wylie Sypher suggests that "one of the strongest impulses comedy can discharge from the depths of the social self is our hatred of the 'alien' especially when the stranger who is 'different' stirs any unconscious doubt about our own beliefs."2 In this brief essay, I use RompHim to examine the ways humor and heterosexual masculinities collide to elucidate what I call "two-faced humor." My theorization of two-faced humor builds on Freud's tendentious jokes, which he suggests require three people, "apart from the one who is telling the joke, it needs a second person [archetypally a woman] who is taken as the object of the hostile aggression … and a third person in whom the joke's intention of producing pleasure is fulfilled."3 Concomitantly, the expression "two-faced humor" is rooted in popular vernacular, where referring to someone as "two-faced" means they display duplicitous behavior. Within the context of RompHim, the "first face" might include someone telling a man he looks great in his RompHim. The "second face" emerges when that abject person is imagined as outside of the intended audience for the joke. In this sense, while the person may compliment the wearer of the RompHim, when he is not around, a joke about his RompHim might be deployed, thus demonstrating the "second face." While Freud's triumvirate includes a third person who is responsible for producing the "pleasure" of the joke, two-faced humor is explicit in its operation as a somewhat covert form of humor in that its humor is deployed when the abject person is removed from the situation in which the joke is told. In illuminating the function of two-faced humor [End Page 161] via RompHim, I examine the ways such two-faced humor exposes fragile fault lines around gender roles and fashion. Put another way, both gender roles and gendered fashion...

Aggressive behavior among women with intellectual disabilities receiving institutional long-term care

<p>Introduction. Aggressive behavior is defined as the behavior of such intensity, frequency and duration that it seriously threatens the physical safety of a person/persons or the one which seriously limits their social functioning. The aim of the paper is to determine the intensity and forms of aggression in institutionalized women with intellectual disabilities, in relation to the severity of their intellectual disability, age, as well as the length of stay in the institutional settings. Methods. The sample comprised 115 female examinees receiving institutional long-term care in PI "The Center for People with Disabilities" in Visegrad. The Adult Scale of Hostility and Agression, Reactive/Proactve A-SHARP (Matlock & Aman, 2011) was used for the assessment of aggressive behavior. Results. The results revealed that women with mild intellectual disabilities showed high aggression on all subscales, with the highest scores on the Hostility subscale (26.37 ± 7.37). In the group of examinees aged ≥51 years, there was a statistically significant difference on the Verbal aggression subscale compared to the group of women aged ≤30 years (13.89 ± 9.23 vs. 6.12 ± 9.39; p = 0.025). In the group of examinees who had stayed in the institutional settings for ≥10 years, a display of hostile aggression was more extreme compared to the group of patients with shorter length of stay in the institutional settings (22.49 ±11.22 vs. 17.58 ± 13.14; p = 0.033). Conclusion. Women with mild intellectual disabilities showed the highest level of aggressive behavior on all subscales, whereby the highest scores were recorded on the Hostility subscale. Women aged ≥51 years showed the highest level of verbal aggression, while the examinees who had stayed in the institutional settings for ≥10 years displayed the highest level of hostile aggression towards others.</p>

Reaching for ripeness: promoting negotiation through unilateral conciliatory action

PurposeWhile the process of negotiation has been studied extensively, little research has been done on the factors that lead parties to the negotiation table. In light of this, the purpose of this paper is to examine effects of unilateral conciliatory initiatives (UCIs) (actions) on the willingness and preparedness of parties to negotiate.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a separate-sample posttest, 2 × 3 factorial design. Subjects were placed into simulated intractable resource- and identity-based conflicts. Groups then received UCIs (in the form of economic aid and apology) intended to benefit the other and contribute to a high commitment to de-escalation (ripeness). Ripeness was measured by increased empathy; and decreased distrust, escalatory behaviors (operationalized as aggression and autistic hostility), anger, win-lose/competitive orientation and negative attributions.FindingsUCIs were shown to impact both the state and the process of ripeness. Apology facilitated ripeness in an identity conflict and positively impacted five of the six resistance areas in a resource conflict. Economic aid likewise affected ripeness in an identity conflict but did not impact a resource conflict better than an apology. The offer of an apology affected empathy in both conflict types but economic aid did not do so in a resource conflict. It was also observed that an identity-based conflict produced less trust and increased negative attributions than did a resource conflict.Originality/valueThis suggests that identity and resource conflicts activate some resistance areas differently. It also reveals that similar interventions may be effective in both conflicts but that each UCI affects particular resistance areas differently. The findings suggest that there should be an increased emphasis on apology by conflict resolution practitioners. The practical and theoretical implications of apologies and resource sharing in de-escalation are discussed, to facilitate their appropriate use in resolution strategies that reduce tensions within conflict.

Can Self-Persuasion Reduce Hostile Attribution Bias in Young Children?

Two experiments tested an intervention approach to reduce young children’s hostile attribution bias and aggression: self-persuasion. Children with high levels of hostile attribution bias recorded a video-message advocating to peers why story characters who caused a negative outcome may have had nonhostile intentions (self-persuasion condition), or they simply described the stories (control condition). Before and after the manipulation, hostile attribution bias was assessed using vignettes of ambiguous provocations. Study 1 (n = 83, age 4–8) showed that self-persuasion reduced children’s hostile attribution bias. Study 2 (n = 121, age 6–9) replicated this finding, and further showed that self-persuasion was equally effective at reducing hostile attribution bias as was persuasion by others (i.e., listening to an experimenter advocating for nonhostile intentions). Effects on aggressive behavior, however, were small and only significant for one out of four effects tested. This research provides the first evidence that self-persuasion may be an effective approach to reduce hostile attribution bias in young children.

A Scrutiny on the Aggression Levels of the Students of Sports, Vocational, and Anatolian High Schools

The objective has been set through this study to present and compare the aggression levels in three different High School types. The population of the study was constituted by the High School students in the province of Konya and its sampling group by the 226 male and 190 female students studying at Vocational High Schools, Anatolian High Schools, and Sports High Schools. In the study, demographic personal information form was used in the collection of personal information and Buss-Perry Aggression Scale (BPAS), which was developed by Buss and Perry (1992), whose the validity and reliability study in its Turkish form was performed by Demirtas-Mardan (2013), was used for determining the aggression levels. In terms of the anger dimension depending on the gender factor, no statistical change was observed, while it was determined that the average values for the male students in the physical aggression, hostility, and verbal aggression dimensions were higher than the female students and such changes were statistically significant (P<0.05). It can be said on the basis of the findings of this study that the aggression values of the Secondary Education students did not vary in line with the sportive activities and that the male students have more sense of aggression than female students.

Coaching efficacy, moral disengagement, and responses to hostile aggression among high school coaches

This mixed-methods study examined the association between high school sport coaches’ moral disengagement and their perceived coaching efficacy, and began to explore coaches’ justifications of and consequences for the hostile aggression exhibited by their athletes. High school coaches in the United States ( N = 449) completed online surveys that included the Moral Disengagement in Sport Scale, Coaching Efficacy Scale II-High School Teams, and questions regarding their beliefs about and responses to athlete’s hostile aggressive behaviors. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine the association between coaches’ moral disengagement and their perceived coaching efficacy, and multiple analysis of variance explored differences in moral disengagement and coaching efficacy based on coaches’ justifications for athletes’ hostile aggression. Qualitative analyses involved coding coaches’ responses to questions of when they believed hostile aggression displayed by athletes was justified, and their typical responses to athletes’ hostile aggression. Results suggested that coaches’ moral disengagement was a negative predictor of their total perceived coaching efficacy, as well as specific aspects of their perceived coaching efficacy. Further, a majority of coaches indicated that hostile aggression was never acceptable or justified. Based on these results, differences in moral disengagement were found between coaches who did and did not justify athlete hostile aggression. The most common consequences for hostile aggression involved reduced playing time and additional physical conditioning. The current findings highlight the significance of coaches’ moral disengagement as it relates to their coaching, supporting a need for greater coaching education around coaching philosophies and approaches to disciplining athletes.

Positivity Ratio Links Self-control Skills to Physical Aggression and Happiness in Young Palestinians Living in Gaza

The study examined a potential underlying mechanism through which self-control skills (SCSs) may predict more happiness on the one hand and less hostility, anger and peer aggression on the other hand in an understudied sample of 744 Palestinian youngsters (Grades 8–12) from the Gaza Strip, a military conflict area. The hypothesized model was confirmed: self-reported SCS linked with happiness through positivity ratio as a mediator; SCS linked with physical aggression through the association of positivity ratio with hostility, and anger; and anger mediated the link between hostility and physical aggression. Additional analyses showed that girls scored higher than boys in SCS and boys scored higher than girls on positivity ratio, happiness, hostility, anger, and physical aggression. The study highlights the importance of imparting SCS to increase positivity ratio, so that, despite exposure to extreme adversity, youngsters in Gaza and elsewhere may experience not only less aggression but also more happiness.

Hostile Attribution Bias as a Mediator of the Relationships of Psychopathy and Narcissism With Aggression.

Hostile attribution bias (HAB), the tendency to perceive hostility in ambiguous situations, has been linked to aggressive outcomes, such as reactive aggression. HAB has been connected to personality types involving hostile beliefs and reactive aggression, including narcissism and psychopathy. Specifically, secondary psychopathy is associated with HAB and reactive aggression. Despite research and theory connecting these constructs, few studies have examined if HAB mediates the relationships among psychopathy, narcissism, and aggression. The current study explores this possible mediation in an urban college sample. Narcissism was associated with aggression but not hostile aggression or HAB. Reactive aggression and HAB were both associated with psychopathy, but there were no mediation relationships. The associations with aggression may be, therefore, due to underlying traits of secondary psychopathy rather than the hostile attributions to which the traits contribute; consequently, treatments focused on reducing aggressive responses by correcting interpretations of social situations may not be successful.

Sibling Hostility and Externalized Symptoms of Psychological Distress

ABSTRACTSibling verbal and physical abuse has been underrepresented in childhood maltreatment research as a potential contributor to lifetime aggression. This study investigated associations between sibling hostility (physical abuse, threats of violence, heated verbal conflict) and conduct disorder symptoms, trait hostility, and lifetime aggression after control for variance attributable to physical and sexual abuse, exposure to domestic violence, and peer bullying. Over 20% of the respondents from this university sample (N = 1,331) recalled high levels of sibling hostility from the ages of 5 to 16. The frequency of these acts served as a significant predictor in regression models for all of the criterion measures among the women. Relationships between sibling hostility and these externalized symptom indicators were more limited among the men. Acts of sibling hostility as infrequent as once a year were associated in the total sample with higher conduct disorder symptoms, reactive aggression, lifetime acts of physical aggression, and Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire subscale scores. These findings suggested that even low frequencies of sibling abuse may have a deleterious impact on temper management. Sibling hostility warrants systematic attention in the childhood maltreatment literature.

The Theory and Art of Child Psychotherapy: A Corrective Developmental Approach.

The history of child psychotherapy is sketched from the psychoanalytic pioneers Anna Freud and Melanie Klein to the popular "nondirective" approach of Virginia Axline. The author's approach to child psychotherapy, based on contemporary psychoanalytic theories, allows the therapist to play any parental role that helps to repair developmental deficiencies and conflicts. These include nurturing, supporting, mirroring, role modeling, challenging, and limit setting. Following Winnicott, psychotherapy is conceived as a play space in which therapist and child are both spontaneous. The value of interpretation and insight in child therapy is discussed. There follows a more detailed discussion of three major problem areas in child psychotherapy: handling anger and hostile aggression; handling issues related to sexuality; and handling narcissistic issues of inferiority and shame.

PB 4 Neural correlates of intent attribution and laughter processing in children and adolescents

Introduction The attribution of intent during social interaction is a cornerstone of the social adjustment process ( Crick and Dodge, 1994 ). In particular, the tendency to attribute hostile intent has consistently been associated with and argued to play a role in the development and maintenance of aggressive behavior in childhood and adolescence ( Dodge, 2006 ). However, little is known about the neural correlates of hostile intent attributions ( Erdley et al., 2010 ). We used fMRI and behavioral measures to investigate intent attributions and attention biases for hostile social stimuli using social laughter processing in children and adolescents under consideration of gender and age effects. Methods 35 girls and 28 boys in three age groups (9–12, 13–15 and 16–18y; mean 15.3, SD 2.39) without current psychiatric diagnoses rated 1.5s audiovisual laugh sequences in a 3T MRI scanner. 20 friendly, 20 tickling and 20 taunting sequences ( Szameitat et al., 2009 ) were rated as friendly or taunting on a four-point scale. Rating, reaction time (RT) and attention bias (RT friendly – RT taunting laughter) differences were calculated with three 2 (gender) × 3 (age group) × 3 (laughter type) mixed model ANOVAs. Participants with excessive movement or spurious responding were removed from analysis. Neural responses were calculated in SPM8 in a whole brain analysis of the BOLD response to each laughter type and the correlations to hostile intent rating, physical aggression ( Buss and Perry, 1992 ) and callous unemotional traits ( Frick, 2003 ). Results A significant main effect of laughter type ( F = 100.62, p F = 2.829, p = .068) and the main effect of age on attention bias ( F = 2.634, p = .083) approached significance, with younger participants showing attention bias to taunting and older participants to friendly laughter. Callousness and physical aggression correlated with hostile ratings of friendly ( r = .288, p r = .315, p r = −.404, p A broad network showed increased BOLD response during laughter processing, including bilateral medial and superior temporal gyri (MTG, STG), inferior and medial frontal gyri (IFG, MFG), caudate nuclei and left superior parietal lobe (whole brain FWE p Conclusions The current study found an extended neural network involved in laughter processing in children and adolescents, similar to that found in adults ( Szameitat et al., 2010 ). In addition, attribution of hostile intent in laughter was found to associate with changes in BOLD signal strength across these processing areas. This association strength was modulated by youth’s aggressive behavior and callous personality traits.

Effect of personality traits, age and sex on aggressive driving: Psychometric adaptation of the Driver Aggression Indicators Scale in China

This study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Driver Aggression Indicators Scale (DAIS), which measures aggressive driving behaviors. Besides, demographic variables (sex and age) and the big five personality traits were examined as potential impact factors of aggressive driving. A total of 422 participants completed the DAIS, Big Five Personality Inventory (BFPI), and the socio-demographic scale. First, psychometric results confirmed that the DAIS had a stable two-factor structure and acceptable internal consistency. Then, agreeableness and conscientiousness were negatively correlated with hostile aggression and revenge committed by the drivers themselves, while neuroticism was positively correlated with aggressive driving committed by the drivers themselves. Meanwhile, more agreeable drivers may perceive less hostile aggression and revenge. More neurotic drivers may perceive more aggressive warning. Finally, the effects of age and sex on aggressive driving were not same as most studies. We found that older age group perceived and committed more hostile acts of aggression and revenge than younger age groups. Female drivers of 49–60 years perceived more aggressive warnings committed by other drivers.

Contact sport participation predicts instrumental aggression, not hostile aggression, within competition: quasi-experimental evidence

PurposeFindings are mixed with regard to the link between contact sport participation and aggression. One possibility is that contact sport participation may be associated with instrumental aggression but not hostile aggression. The purpose of this paper is to employ a quasi-experimental design to investigate the prediction that young men who regularly participated in contact sports during high school, compared to those who did not, exhibit a greater disposition toward aggression in response to a non-provoking situation (instrumental aggression) and no dispositional difference in response to a provoking situation (hostile aggression).Design/methodology/approachThe Taylor Aggression Paradigm was used to manipulate three levels of provocation (no provocation, low provocation, high provocation) and observe aggressive behavior in participants who varied in contact sport participants (yes, no).FindingsResults indicated a significant two-way interaction between provocation level and contact sport participation such that contact sport participation positively predicted aggression before provocation was initiated (instrumental aggression), not after (hostile aggression).Originality/valueThis is one of only a limited number of studies to examine the link between contact sport participation and aggression at varying levels of provocation. Findings suggest the form of aggression associated with contact sport participation is predominately instrumental.

Association between oxytocin and receptor genetic polymorphisms and aggression in a northern Chinese Han population with alcohol dependence

ObjectiveAlcohol dependence (AD) is a common chronic brain disorder precipitated by complex interactions between biological, genetic, and environmental risk factors. Aggression often occurs in the context of AD. Previous studies have shown that Oxytocin (OXT) and OXT receptor (OXTR) are involved in the regulation of aggression. The present study investigated whether variations and interactions of OXT and OXTR genes were associated with AD-related aggression in a genetically homogeneous northern Chinese Han population. MethodsThree hundred and twenty-four male AD patients and 510 male healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. A Chinese version of the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire was used as a subjective measurement of aggressive behavior. Three variations, rs2254298, rs53576, and rs6133010 were genotyped using TaqMan and ligase detection reaction for all subjects. Generalized Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction was used to detect interactions between genetic attributes and environmental attributes. ResultsThe frequencies of alleles and genotypes of rs6133010 were significantly different between AD patients and HCs (p<0.001). In HCs, the effect of genotype GG of rs53576 on hostility aggression was significantly stronger than that of genotype AA and AG (p=0.001 and p=0.004, respectively), and the subjects with the interaction combination of rs6133010AA×rs2254298GG×rs53576AG exhibited significant effect on physical aggression (p=0.0107). ConclusionThe present study found that rs6133010 in the OXT gene is associated with AD in the northern Chinese Han population. The polymorphisms of OXT/R may play a key role in the susceptibility of AD-related aggression.

Anger, Emotional Expressivity and Psychological Well-Being in Sports Players

The objective of the present study is to observe whether there is a difference between boys and girls engaged in Instrumental Aggression Sports and those engaged in Hostile Aggression Sports with respect to anger, emotional expressivity and psychological well-being and to observe whether there is a relationship between these variables. A non-probability purposive sampling method was used to select a sample of 160 sports players, among whom 80 (40 boys and 40 girls) were engaged in instrumental aggression sports and 80 (40 boys and 40 girls) were engaged in hostile aggression sports. The Multidimensional Anger Inventory (Siegel, 1986), Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire (Gross, &amp; John, 1998) and Psychological Well Being Scale (Ryff&amp; Keyes, 1995) were administered to the participants. The results showed significant gender differences with respect to the dimension of anger arousal (p&lt;0.05). However, no significant differences were found between the sport players engaged in instrumental aggression and those engaged in hostile aggression with respect to anger, emotional expressivity, and psychological well-being. The results also reveal that anger was positively correlated with emotional expressivity and negatively correlated with psychological well-being in both the groups (p&lt;0.05). Additionally, emotional expressivity was negatively correlated with psychological well-being in sports players engaged in instrumental aggression sports and hostile aggression sports (p&lt;0.05). The present study brings to light the toxic effects of anger and how we can learn to process emotions to augment effective functioning and psychological well-being.