Laboratory Aggression Research Articles

Comparing behavioral measures of aggression in the laboratory: Taylor Aggression Paradigm versus Point-Subtraction Aggression Paradigm.

Aggression refers to a wide range of behaviors with lasting individual and societal consequences. Recurrent, unplanned aggressive behavior is the core diagnostic criterion for intermittent explosive disorder (IED). In this study, we compared two behavioral measures of aggression in the laboratory: the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP) and the Point-Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP). This sample (n = 528) included community participants who met DSM-5 criteria for IED (n = 156), met DSM-5 criteria for a nonaggressive psychiatric disorder (n = 205), or did not meet DSM-5 criteria for any psychiatric disorder (n = 167). All participants completed the TAP, a single-session PSAP, and relevant self-report measures. MANOVA analyses demonstrated differences between IED participants and nonaggressive participants; however, these group differences were no longer significant for the PSAP after including demographic variables. Correlation analyses found that the TAP and PSAP were positively related to one another and the composite variables associated with aggressive behavior (i.e., history of aggression, impulsivity, and propensity to experience anger) and; dependent correlations revealed that past aggression and trait anger were more strongly related to the TAP. Differences in TAP and PSAP outcomes may be partially attributed to operationalizations of aggression and methods of aggression and provocation. Further, as aggressive and nonaggressive participants differed on the PSAP somewhat mirroring the TAP, our results add to growing evidence of the validity of a single-session PSAP; further research is needed to fully establish single-session PSAP as a laboratory aggression task compared to the multi-session PSAP.

Eyes of the beholders: Multi-method relationships between internalizing and externalizing symptom dimensions and aggression risk.

Although aggression occurs across a range of disorders, associations between dimensions of psychopathology and self- and other-directed aggression are not well understood. Investigating associations between psychopathology dimensions and aggression helps further understanding about the etiology of aggression, and ultimately, can inform intervention and prevention strategies. This study adopted a multi-method approach to examine associations between internalizing and externalizing dimensions of psychopathology and self- and other-directed aggression as a function of reporter (participant and informant) and modality of aggression measurement (subjective and objective). Participants were an unselected sample of 151 racially diverse adults recruited from the community. Dimensions of psychopathology were assessed using interview and questionnaire reports from participants and collateral informants, and forms of aggression were measured via subjective reports and an objective, laboratory aggression paradigm. Analyses of participant-reported psychological symptom data consistently linked externalizing symptoms to other-directed aggression, and internalizing symptoms to self-directed aggression. Results across informant and participant reporters replicated prior findings showing a significant interaction between internalizing and externalizing dimensions in predicting intimate partner violence. Most other effects in informant models were nonsignificant. The findings uncover consistency in and replicability of relationships between dimensions of psychopathology and certain manifestations of aggression and highlight the importance of examining multiple forms of aggression in etiological research. Examining aggression through a transdiagnostic lens can help us better understand and intervene upon processes implicated in devasting forms of self- and other-directed aggression.

Linking Sleep and Aggression: Examining the Role of Response Inhibition and Emotional Processing.

Although sleep loss is theorized to increase aggression risk, knowledge regarding the sleep-aggression relationship, or explanatory psychological processes, is limited. This study examined whether recent sleep duration predicted subsequent laboratory aggression, and whether neurocognitive indices of attentional and motor inhibition and negative emotional processing explained the sleep-aggression relationship. Participants (n=141) wore Fitbit Flex devices and kept a sleep diary for three days. Event-related potentials were measured during an Emotional-Linguistic Go/No-Go task, followed by a laboratory aggression paradigm. Results of mixed-model repeated measures ANOVAs linked shorter sleep duration with reduced motor inhibition processing during negative and neutral word blocks, and greater aggression. However, neurocognitive indices did not explain the sleep-aggression link. This is the first evidence that naturally occurring sleep loss predicts increases in laboratory aggression across the task and suggests that shorter sleepers are more vulnerable to rash action in negative and neutral contexts. Implications of these findings for understanding aggression will be discussed.

Impulsivity and Perpetration of Intimate Partner Aggression: The Moderating Effects of Negative Affective State and Alcohol

Background: The goal of this study was to test the interactive effects of negative urgency, state negative affect, and alcohol intoxication on intimate partner aggression (IPA) perpetration. Methods: Heavy drinkers who recently perpetrated IPA completed self-report measures of impulsivity, were administered an alcohol or control beverage, and completed a laboratory aggression task. State negative affect was assessed unobtrusively via the Facial Action Coding System. Results: Consistent with our prediction, negative urgency was significantly and positively related to IPA when state negative affect was also high, but this relation was not significant when state negative affect was low. Conclusions: These results have implications for understanding the role of negative affect and impulsivity in IPA perpetration and for understanding trait models of impulsivity in general.

An empirically based power primer for laboratory aggression research.

Recent reviews suggest that, like much of the psychological literature, research studies using laboratory aggression paradigms tend to be underpowered to reliably locate commonly observed effect sizes (e.g., r = ~.10-.20, Cohen's d = ~0.20-0.40). In an effort to counter this trend, we provide a "power primer" that laboratory aggression researchers can use as a resource when planning studies using this methodology. Using simulation-based power analyses and effect size estimates derived from recent literature reviews, we provide sample size recommendations based on type of research question (e.g., main effect vs. two-way vs. three-way interactions) and correlations among predictors. Results highlight the large number of participants that must be recruited to reach acceptable (~80%) power, especially for tests of interactions where the recommended sample sizes far exceed those typically employed in this literature. These discrepancies are so substantial that we urge laboratory aggression researchers to consider a moratorium on tests of three-way interactions. Although our results use estimates from the laboratory aggression literature, we believe they are generalizable to other lines of research using behavioral tasks, as well as psychological science more broadly. We close by offering a series of best practice recommendations and reiterating long-standing calls for attention to statistical power as a basic element of study planning.

Rare morph Lake Malawi mbuna cichlids benefit from reduced aggression from con- and hetero-specifics.

Balancing selection is important for the maintenance of polymorphism as it can prevent either fixation of one morph through directional selection or genetic drift, or speciation by disruptive selection. Polychromatism, the presence of multiple genetically determined colour phenotypes, can be maintained if the fitness of alternative morphs depends on the relative frequency in a population. In aggressive species, negative frequency-dependent antagonism can prevent an increase in the frequency of rare morphs as they would only benefit from increased fitness while they are rare. Heterospecific aggression is common in nature and has the potential to contribute to rare morph advantage. Here we carry out field observations and laboratory aggression experiments with mbuna cichlids from Lake Malawi, to investigate the role of con- and heterospecific aggression in the maintenance of polychromatism and identify benefits to rare morphs which are likely to result from reduced aggression. We hypothesize that rare morph individuals receive less aggression than common morph individuals and therefore have an ecological advantage. Within species we found that males and females bias aggression towards their own morph, adding to the evidence that inherent own-morph aggression biases can contribute to balancing selection. Over-representation of rare morph territory owners may be influenced by two factors; higher tolerance of different morph individuals as neighbours, and the ability of rare morphs to spend more time feeding. Reduced aggression to rare morph individuals by heterospecifics may also contribute to rare morph advantage.

Associations Between Psychopathic Traits and Laboratory-Based Aggression: Moderating Effects of Provocation and Distraction.

There are two distinct combinations of psychopathic traits (primary and secondary) that have been proposed to be a function of unique cognitive-affective deficits. This study sought to use theories of psychopathy to understand the factors that exacerbate (i.e., provocation) and attenuate (i.e., distraction) aggression in individuals high in psychopathic traits in a controlled laboratory task. Male undergraduates, who scored across the range of primary and secondary psychopathic traits, completed the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP; Taylor, 1967) under conditions of low and high provocation. Participants were also randomly assigned to either a distraction condition, in which they completed a distracting concurrent task, or a control condition, in which no such task was completed. Inconsistent with our prediction, results showed that regardless of condition, primary psychopathic traits were positively related to laboratory aggression. Consistent with our hypothesis, a positive association between secondary psychopathic traits and laboratory physical aggression was observed following high provocation among nondistracted participants; this association was significantly reduced among distracted participants. These results clarify the factors that contribute to aggression for individuals high in psychopathic traits and may provide directions for future intervention development.

Facing the enemy: Spontaneous facial reactions towards suffering opponents.

The suffering of an opponent is an important social affective cue that modulates how aggressive interactions progress. To investigate the affective consequences of opponent suffering on a revenge seeking individual, two experiments (total N=82) recorded facial muscle activity while participants observed the reaction of a provoking opponent to a (retaliatory) sound punishment in a laboratory aggression task. Opponents reacted via prerecorded videos either with facial displays of pain, sadness, or neutrality. Results indicate that participants enjoyed seeing the provocateur suffer: indexed by a coordinated muscle response featuring an increase in zygomaticus major (and orbicularis oculi muscle) activation accompanied by a decrease in corrugator supercilii activation. This positive facial reaction was only shown while a provoking opponent expressed pain. Expressions of sadness, and administration of sound blasts to nonprovoking opponents, did not modulate facial activity. Overall, the results suggest that revenge-seeking individuals enjoy observing the offender suffer, which could represent schadenfreude or satisfaction of having succeeded in the retaliation goal.

Measurement Invariance and Item Response Theory Analysis of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm.

The Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP) is a widely used laboratory aggression task, yet item response theory analyses of this task are nonexistent. To estimate these aspects of the TAP, we combined data from nine laboratory studies that employed the 25-trial version of the TAP (combined N = 1,856). One- and four-factor solutions for the TAP data exhibited evidence of measurement invariance across gender (men vs. women) and experimental provocation (negative vs. positive social feedback), as well as negligible instances of differential item functioning. As such, psychometric properties of the TAP were invariant across binary representations of gender and experimental provocation. Furthermore, trials following low and high provocation were the least informative and those following moderate provocation were the most informative. Scoring approaches to the TAP may benefit from giving greater weight to trials following moderate provocation. Overall, we find great utility in applying item response theory approaches to behavioral laboratory tasks.

Facet-level analysis of the relations between personality and laboratory aggression.

Multiple reviews and meta-analyses have identified the low pole of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) Agreeableness (also called Antagonism) as the primary domain-level personality correlates of aggression across self-report and behavioral methodologies. In the current study, we expand on this literature by investigating the relations between FFM facets and aggressive behavior as measured by laboratory competitive reaction time tasks (CRTTs). Across three samples (total N = 639), we conducted weighted mean analyses, multiple regression analyses, and dominance analyses to determine which FFM facets were the strongest predictors of aggression within and across domains. These analyses suggested that facets of Agreeableness were among the strongest consistent predictors of CRTT aggression, including Sympathy (r = -.21) and Cooperation (r = -.14), but facets from other FFM domains also yielded meaningful relations (e.g., Anger from Neuroticism; r = .17). We conclude by discussing these results in the context of controversies surrounding laboratory aggression paradigms and emphasizing the importance of considering small effect sizes in the prediction of societally harmful behavior like aggression.

Laboratory aggression and personality traits: A meta-analytic review.

Laboratory aggression and personality traits: A meta-analytic review.

Beyond the aggregate score: Using multilevel modeling to examine trajectories of laboratory-measured aggression.

Aggression is often measured in the laboratory as an iterative "tit-for-tat" sequence, in which two aggressors repeatedly inflict retaliatory harm upon each other. Aggression researchers typically quantify aggression by aggregating across participants' aggressive behavior on such iterative encounters. However, this "aggregate approach" cannot capture trajectories of aggression across the iterative encounters and needlessly eliminates rich information in the form of within-participant variability. As an alternative approach, I used multilevel modeling (MLM) to examine the slope of aggression across the 25-trial Taylor Aggression Paradigm as a function of trait physical aggression and experimental provocation. Across two preregistered studies (combined N = 392), participants exhibited a modest decline in aggression. This decline reflected a reciprocal strategy, in which participants responded to an initially-provocative opponent with greater aggression that then decreased over time to match their opponent's declining levels of aggression. Against predictions, trait physical aggression and experimental provocation did not affect participants' overall trajectories of aggression. Yet, exploratory analyses suggested that the participants' tendency to reciprocate their opponent's aggression with more aggression was greater at higher levels of trait physical aggression and attenuated among participants who had already been experimentally provoked by their opponent. These findings (a) illustrate several advantages of an MLM approach as compared with an aggregate approach to iterative laboratory aggression paradigms; (b) demonstrate that the magnifying effects of trait aggression and experimental provocation on laboratory aggression are stable over brief time-frames; and (c) suggest that modeling the opponent's behavior on such tasks reveals important information.

Lifetime Acts of Violence Assessment (LAVA) predictors of laboratory aggression.

While self-report data warrants interpretive caution in applied settings, these indices serve an important role in exploratory research. The Lifetime Assessment of Violent Acts (LAVA) inventory is a brief, reliable, face-valid questionnaire for estimating the frequency, triggers, and consequences (including injuries to others) of prior acts of aggression. The LAVA also identifies the situational contexts in which prior violence was triggered and provides a basis for risk classifications based on past reactive, intimate partner, alcohol-related, and/or weapon-related violence. Scores on the LAVA indices have been linked to a range of developmental and maladjustment indicators. Associations were found between lab-provoked (Taylor Aggression Paradigm) responding and both dimensional and risk classification scores in this sample (N = 92) of college men. Participants "competed" with a fictional opponent using electric shock as a retaliatory measure for perceived provocation. The total LAVA dimensional score predicted mean shock intensity ( d = .87), baseline responding ( d = 0.90), and past sexual aggression ( d = 1.01). Shock intensities in response to high provocation were predicted ( M d = 0.57) by all but one LAVA index. Participants who reported inflicting one or more injuries on another showed more intense escalations of aggression ( d = 0.46) in response to provocation than normative counterparts. Prior injuries to another ( RR = 2.71), reactive acts of aggression ( RR = 3.73), or intimate-partner violence ( RR = 4.19) elevated the risk of one or more prior acts of self-reported sexual aggression. The limitations and potential value of self-report data were discussed in regard to aggression research.

The competitive reaction time task: The development and scientific utility of a flexible laboratory aggression paradigm.

Laboratory measures play an important role in the study of aggression because they allow researchers to make causal inferences. However, these measures have also been criticized. In particular, the competitive reaction time task (CRTT) has been criticized for allowing aggression to be operationalized in multiple ways, leaving it susceptible to "p-hacking." This article describes the development of the CRTT and the ways in which its paradigm flexibility and analytic flexibility allows it to test a wide range of hypotheses and research questions. This flexibility gives the CRTT significant scientific utility, but as with any research paradigm, comeswith the obligation that it has to be used with integrity. Although safeguards exist and there is little evidence of misuse, study preregistration can increase confidence in CRTT findings. The importance of findings such as those of Hyatt et al. (in press), which provide further evidence for the validity of the CRTT, are also noted.

Analytic flexibility in laboratory aggression paradigms: Relations with personality traits vary (slightly) by operationalization of aggression.

Competitive reaction time tasks (CRTTs) have been used widely in social science research, but recent criticism has been directed at the flexible quantification strategies used with this methodology. A recent review suggests that over 150 different quantification strategies have been used in this literature, and there is evidence to suggest that different operationalizations can affect the results and interpretations of experiments using CRTTs. In the current investigation, we reanalyze data from four existing samples from two different sites (total N = 600) to examine how the relations between a range of personality traits and aggression vary based on how aggression is operationalized. Our results suggest that there is a modest degree of heterogeneity in effect size and direction for these relations, and that effect size and direction were most consistent for traits more generally related to lab aggression (e.g., psychopathy, low Five-Factor Model agreeableness). In addition, profile matching analyses suggest that different operationalizations yield empirical correlates that are quite similar to one another, even when quantifying absolute rather than relative similarity. These results were consistent across site, methodology, and type of sample, suggesting that these issues are likely generalizable across most labs using CRTTs. We conclude with suggestions for future directions, particularly emphasizing the need for adequately-powered samples, and for researchers to preregister a plan for how CRTT data will be analyzed.

Breaking the link: Distraction from emotional cues reduces the association between trait disinhibition and reactive physical aggression.

Research has implicated biased attention allocation toward emotional cues as a proximal mechanism in the association between trait disinhibition and physical aggression. The current study tested this putative cognitive mechanism by incentivizing a shift of attention from a provoking stimulus to a neutral stimulus during a laboratory aggression paradigm. Participants were 119 undergraduate men. They completed a questionnaire that assessed trait disinhibition, were randomly assigned to a distraction or no-distraction control condition, and completed a shock-based aggression task in which they received low and high provocation from a fictitious opponent. A significant positive association between trait disinhibition and physical aggression was found among non-distracted participants exposed to high, but not low, provocation. Distraction from provoking cues significantly attenuated this association. This study is among the first to provide experimental evidence of (a) the positive relation between trait disinhibition and laboratory-based physical aggression, and (b) a potential method for attenuating this association.

The relation between narcissism and laboratory aggression is not contingent on environmental cues of competition.

Narcissism has been robustly linked to self-report and lab-based measures of aggression. However, less is known about the role that a competitive context may play in the relations found between narcissism and aggression as measured in behavioral paradigms. In circumstances of competition, narcissistic individuals may be particularly attuned to external indicators of status and use aggression as a way of asserting power and a motivation to "win," rather than to do harm. The goal of the present study was to test the role of competition in understanding the relation between narcissism and related traits (i.e., psychopathy) and aggression by manipulating cues of competition. First, participants (N = 220) completed questionnaires to assess levels of trait narcissism and associated variables (e.g., psychopathy, five-factor model traits, and self-esteem). In a separate session, participants were randomly assigned to interact with an ostensible confederate under the guise of either a competitive or noncompetitive interaction, and then were given the opportunity to administer electric shocks to their partner. Results suggest that the antagonistic and grandiose features of narcissism were significantly related to aggression in both conditions, as was the antagonism factor of psychopathy and (low) Agreeableness dimension of the five-factor model. However, tests of moderation found no significant interaction effects between narcissism and condition in the hypothesized direction (and a few in the opposite direction such that narcissism was more strongly related in the noncompetition condition). Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of antagonism in predicting antisocial outcomes such as aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Validating a Standardized Approach to the Taylor Aggression Paradigm

The Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP) is a frequently used laboratory measure of aggression. However, the flexibility inherent in its implementation and analysis can undermine its validity. To test whether the TAP is a valid aggression measure irrespective of this flexibility, we conducted two preregistered studies (Study 1 n = 177, Study 2 n = 167) of a standardized version of the TAP. Across both studies, TAP scores showed agreement with other laboratory aggression measures, were magnified by an experimental provocation manipulation, and were associated with traits typically linked to aggressive behavior. Mixed evidence was found for the external and discriminant validity of the task. Individual responses largely loaded onto a single component, suggesting that the aggregate scoring approach accurately represents the underlying data structure. These results provide preliminary support for the internal validity of this TAP approach and highlight the utility of preregistration in psychometric research.

Supplemental Material for The Relation Between Narcissism and Laboratory Aggression Is Not Contingent on Environmental Cues of Competition

Supplemental Material for The Relation Between Narcissism and Laboratory Aggression Is Not Contingent on Environmental Cues of Competition

Predicting Past and Future Dating Violence From Implicit and Explicit Violence Attitudes: An Experimental Manipulation of Provocation in Close Relationships

This study examined implicit and explicit attitudes toward the use of violence and their capacity to predict past and future partner-directed aggression in a college dating sample. Implicit and explicit intimate partner violence (IPV) attitudes were measured and compared based on how well they identified self-reported past IPV and predicted expressed aggressive intent following a simulated dating scenario. Male and female participants (N = 106) completed self-report measures of IPV perpetration history and dating violence attitudes as well as an implicit association measure of violence attitudes. Participants were then randomly assigned to a simulated jealousy or neutral relationship scenario and subsequently indicated their desire to perpetrate physical aggression in response to it. The results indicated that implicit, but not explicit, violence attitudes predicted past-year physical IPV perpetration. Although implicit violence attitudes predicted laboratory aggression regardless of relationship provocation cues, the explicit violence attitudes only predicted aggression when relationship provocation was salient. These findings provide further evidence regarding the utility of an implicit attitudes measure in IPV risk assessment, suggest the need for additional research regarding their integration with self-report measures for predicting violence-related behavior, and have implications for investigations aimed at disrupting problematic violence attitudes.