Ostensible Partner Research Articles

The moderating effect of dispositional fear of retaliation on the relationship between provocation and aggressive behavior

Fear of retaliation plays an integral role in the evolution of provocation into conflict. While previous research has only studied fear of retaliation in the context of a laboratory manipulation or a justification for not detailing transgressions to others, the current research utilized experimental (Study 1) and correlational (Study 2) studies to test the role of dispositional fear of retaliation on aggression. In Study 1, participants were provoked by receiving either positive or negative feedback on an essay they wrote from an ostensible partner and were later given the opportunity to aggress against the partner. Results demonstrated that dispositional fear of retaliation moderated the relationship between provocation and aggression, such that participants who were provoked were more aggressive than non-provoked participants; however, this relationship was nullified for those high on fear of retaliation. In Study 2, participants completed measures to assess the following traits: fear of retaliation, aggression, behavioral inhibition, anxiety, and the Big Five. Results showed that fear of retaliation correlated with physical and verbal aggression, which remained significant while controlling for other trait variables – ruling out alternative hypotheses.

Virtual reality perspective-taking increases cognitive empathy for specific others.

Previous research shows that virtual reality perspective-taking experiences (VRPT) can increase prosocial behavior toward others. We extend this research by exploring whether this effect of VRPT is driven by increased empathy and whether the effect extends to ostensibly real-stakes behavioral games. In a pre-registered laboratory experiment (N = 180), participants interacted with an ostensible partner (a student from the same university as them) on a series of real-stakes economic games after (a) taking the perspective of the partner in a virtual reality, “day-in-the-life” simulation, (b) taking the perspective of a different person in a “day-in-the-life” simulation, or (c) doing a neutral activity in a virtual environment. The VRPT experience successfully increased participants’ subsequent propensity to take the perspective of their partner (a facet of empathy), but only if the partner was the same person whose perspective participants assumed in the virtual reality simulation. Further, this effect of VRPT on perspective-taking was moderated by participants’ reported feeling of immersion in the virtual environment. However, we found no effects of VRPT experience on behavior in the economic games.

Will the real security partner please stand up? Rhetoric and policy support for U.S. security goals in Daniel Ortega's Nicaragua and Porfirio Lobo's Honduras

ABSTRACTLiterature on security partnerships and alliance formation suggests that such partnerships are based on shared interests and performance rather than ideology. However, in Central America, Nicaragua has made greater contributions to the U.S. security agenda than its ostensible partner Honduras. Nicaragua is often portrayed as an antagonist toward the United States in both the rhetoric of its leaders and that of many elites in the United States, while Honduras self-identifies as a key partner and is portrayed as an important regional supporter of U.S. security priorities. Honduras also receives a much greater share of U.S. regional security funding. However, while Honduras provides some symbolic support for the U.S. in areas such as voting in IGOs, Nicaragua has more reliably advanced U.S. security interests, including action against narcotics trafficking, combating human trafficking, and supporting open economies. U.S. policies that prioritize support for Honduras and treat Nicaragua as an antagonist are based on ideology rather than practice and risk undermining the U.S. domestic security agenda.

Piecing together the aggression puzzle: Testing the mediating variables linking early to later aggression

Results from several studies show that early aggression predicts later aggression; however, few studies have examined the mediating mechanisms in these relations. The paucity of research that has tested mediation found that aggressive motives and hostile attributions are important causal processes. This past work is limited by not measuring aggression multiple times throughout the study to test aggression change over time and the variables that mediate such change. The current study had participants (N = 90) interact with a same-sex confederate on a modified version of the Tangram Task-our measure of aggressive behavior-for three trials. At each trial, participants completed a measure of aggressive motivations, assigned tangram puzzles for their partner to solve, were provoked (or not) by their ostensible partner, and then completed an assessment of aggressive attributions regarding their partner's behavior. Results showed that, for provoked participants, the relation between Time 1 aggressive attributions predicted Time 3 aggressive behavior through the following temporal mediated pathway: Time 2 aggressive attributions, Time 2 aggressive behavior, and Time 3 aggressive motivations.

Neuromodulation can reduce aggressive behavior elicited by violent video games.

Research has shown that exposure to violent media increases aggression. However, the neural underpinnings of violent-media-related aggression are poorly understood. Additionally, few experiments have tested hypotheses concerning how to reduce violent-media-related aggression. In this experiment, we focused on a brain area involved in the regulation of aggressive impulses-the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC). We tested the hypothesis that brain polarization through anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over rVLPFC reduces aggression related to violent video games. Participants (N = 79) were randomly assigned to play a violent or a nonviolent video game while receiving anodal or sham stimulation. Afterward, participants aggressed against an ostensible partner using the Taylor aggression paradigm (Taylor Journal of Personality, 35, 297-310, 1967), which measures both unprovoked and provoked aggression. Among those who received sham stimulation, unprovoked aggression was significantly higher for violent-game players than for nonviolent-game players. Among those who received anodal stimulation, unprovoked aggression did not differ for violent- and nonviolent-game players. Thus, anodal stimulation reduced unprovoked aggression in violent-game players. No significant effects were found for provoked aggression, suggesting tit-for-tat responding. This experiment sheds light on one possible neural underpinning of violent-media-related aggression-the rVLPFC, a brain area involved in regulating negative feelings and aggressive impulses.

Self-Resemblance and Social Rejection.

Humans perceive and treat self-resembling others in ways that suggest that self-resemblance is a cue of kinship. However, we know little about how individuals respond to treatment by self-resembling others. Here we approach this problem by connecting facial self-resemblance to social rejection. Given that individuals should expect to cooperate with kin, we hypothesized that (1) social inclusion by perceived kin should elicit lesser feelings of rejection and (2) social exclusion by perceived kin should elicit greater feelings of rejection relative to inclusion or exclusion, respectively, by nonkin. To test these hypotheses, we recruited 90 participants to play two games of Cyberball, a virtual ball-tossing game, with separate pairs of ostensible partners. In one game, the ostensible partners were programed to fully include the participants in group play and, in the other game, they were programed to exclude the participants after a few rounds; the order of inclusion and exclusion was counterbalanced across participants. Partner faces were digitally manipulated to be either self- or nonself-resembling, and these conditions were also counterbalanced. Rejection feelings differed significantly as a function of self-resemblance between the inclusion and exclusion conditions, but only for participants who experienced inclusion first. Moreover, for these individuals, inclusion by self-resembling partners led to significantly lesser feelings of rejection than did inclusion by nonself-resembling partners. To explain this effect, we explore potential mechanisms of kin recognition and social rejection. Although nuanced, our results suggest that perceptions of kinship can moderate psychological responses to the actions of others.

Ego‐depletion and aggressive behavior

Multiple theoretical frameworks postulate that ego-depletion can influence aggressive behavior. Our experimental study assessed whether ego-depletion is related to aggressive behavioral change and whether provocation moderated this effect. Aggression was measured by asking participants to take raffle tickets from an ostensible partner. First, participants were randomly assigned to either high or low ego-depletion (by having them memorize a short or long number throughout the entire study) prior to engaging in the first ticket exchange. Participants were then either provoked (or not) by having their "partner" take more or fewer tickets than the partner originally requested. The ticket exchange occurred three times to assess behavioral change. Results showed that aggression was highest for ego depleted participants who were provoked. Implications are discussed in terms of the General Aggression Model and the Strength Model of Self-Control. Aggr. Behav. 42:533-541, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Fostering selflessness through I-sharing

Although previous research has shown that perceived objective similarity (Me-sharing) and perceived subjective similarity (I-sharing) both increase liking for strangers, perceived subjective similarity may have a unique effect on selflessness. Study 1 addressed this possibility by focusing on whether I-sharing (but not Me-sharing) promotes greater willingness to share a desired good. After interacting with three ostensible partners (an I-sharer, a Me-sharer, and a Not Similar Other), participants indicated their liking for each of these partners and distributed a desired good between themselves and each partner. Although participants reported higher liking for both the I-sharer and the Me-sharer than for the dissimilar other, when it came to the allocation of the desired good, they showed generosity only to the I-sharer. Study 2 addressed questions lingering from Study 1 by manipulating I-sharing and Me-sharing in a between participants design, by equalizing the importance of the I-sharing and Me-sharing dimensions, and by looking at a separate indicator of selflessness (i.e., helping intentions). Results conceptually replicated those of Study 1, with participants reporting significantly higher helping intentions when they I-shared with their partner than when they Me-shared with their partner (even though participants reported equivalent levels of liking in both partner conditions). Taken, together these findings suggest that subjective similarity contributes uniquely to a person's ability to behave selflessly.

When do normative beliefs about aggression predict aggressive behavior? An application of I3 theory.

I(3) theory assumes that aggressive behavior is dependent on three orthogonal processes (i.e., Instigator, Impellance, and Inhibition). Previous studies showed that Impellance (trait aggressiveness, retaliation tendencies) better predicted aggression when Instigator was strong and Inhibition was weak. In the current study, we predicted that another Impellance (i.e., normative beliefs about aggression) might predict aggression when Instigator was absent and Inhibition was high (i.e., the perfect calm proposition). In two experiments, participants first completed the normative beliefs about aggression questionnaire. Two weeks later, participants' self-control resources were manipulated either using the Stroop task (study 1, N = 148) or through an "e-crossing" task (study 2, N = 180). Afterwards, with or without being provoked, participants played a game with an ostensible partner where they had a chance to aggress against them. Study 1 found that normative beliefs about aggression negatively and significantly predicted aggressive behavior only when provocation was absent and self-control resources were not depleted. In Study 2, normative beliefs about aggression negatively predicted aggressive behavior at marginal significance level only in the "no-provocation and no-depletion" condition. In conclusion, the current study provides partial support for the perfect calm proposition and I(3) theory.

What We Talk About Matters: Content Moderates Cognitive Depletion in Interracial Interactions

ABSTRACTThe antecedents and consequences of intergroup interactions have been well studied, but interaction content—what partners actually talk about—has not. In the experiment we report here, interaction content moderated well-documented self-regulation effects (i.e., cognitive depletion) among White participants interacting with a Black partner. Specifically, White individuals participated in a video email interaction with an ostensible Black or White partner who broached topics systematically varying in intimacy. Greater cognitive depletion was evident after interacting with a Black partner relative to a White partner, but only after discussing more intimate topics. When conversation topics aligned with Whites’ preferences to avoid intimacy in interracial interactions, depletion effects were reduced. Thus, interaction content, which has been largely ignored in intergroup interaction research, has important implications for intergroup interaction.

Overpowering Restriction: Power Reduces Restriction Among Self-Critical Perfectionists

Research finds that self-oriented perfectionism is a risk-factor for disordered eating. Failing to achieve extreme standards leads perfectionists to feel a lack of personal control. To regain a sense of control, some self-oriented perfectionists turn to dietary restriction. The present study used experimental methods to test the hypothesis that power, operationalized as situational resource control, might increase consumption among those high in self-oriented perfectionism. Ninetysix women (who met at least one criterion for anorexia nervosa), completed a lab study in which they were randomly assigned to either a power or control condition. In the power condition, participants expected to have power over an ostensible partner. In the control condition, participants expected to work as equals. Under the guise of a taste-test cover story, participants then had the opportunity to consume a liquid test meal, which was weighed and served as the study's central dependent measure. Individual differences in perfectionism were measured with self-report questionnaires. Consistent with hypotheses, among those high in self-oriented perfectionism, situational power increased caloric consumption. These results suggest that the psychological experience of power may be a protective factor for those at-risk for developing maladaptive patterns of eating.

The development of online cross-group relationships among university students

With our social lives increasingly experienced online, it is critical to understand online relationship development. The current study examined the outcomes of disclosing stigmatized group membership (i.e., being gay or lesbian) earlier (vs. later) in a developing online relationship. Heterosexuals ( n = 214) engaged in an experimentally controlled closeness-inducing online interaction with an ostensible partner, learning that he/she was gay/lesbian either before (i.e., earlier) or after (i.e., later) the interaction. Earlier (vs. later) discovery led to a subjectively more positive contact experience, which predicted heightened bond with the partner, itself predicting more positive attitudes toward the partner. Outcomes were uninfluenced by pretest biases and authoritarianism, suggesting the general benefits of disclosing gay/lesbian identity earlier (vs. later) in online relationships.

Effects of playing a violent video game as male versus female avatar on subsequent aggression in male and female players.

Previous research has shown that violent video games can increase aggression in players immediately after they play. The present research examines the effects of one subtle cue within violent video games that might moderate these effects-whether the avatar is male or female. One common stereotype is that males are more aggressive than females. Thus, playing a violent video game as a male avatar, compared to a female avatar, should be more likely to prime aggressive thoughts and inclinations in players and lead to more aggressive behavior afterwards. Male and female university students (N = 242) were randomly assigned to play a violent video game as a male or female avatar. After gameplay, participants gave an ostensible partner who hated spicy food hot sauce to eat. The amount of hot sauce given was used to measure aggression. Consistent with priming theory, results showed that both male and female participants who played a violent game as a male avatar behaved more aggressively afterwards than those who played as female avatar. The priming effects of the male avatar were somewhat stronger for male participants than for female participants, suggesting that male participants identified more with the male avatar than did the female participants. These results are particularly noteworthy because they are consistent with another recent experiment showing that playing a violent game as an avatar with a different stereotypically aggressive attribute (black skin color) stimulates more aggression than playing as an avatar without the stereotypically aggressive attribute (Yang et al., 2014, Social Psychological and Personality Science).

Attitude Certainty and Conflict Style: Divergent Effects of Correctness and Clarity.

Little research has examined the properties of people's attitudes that predict how they will respond to conflict with others whose opinions differ. We propose that one aspect of attitude certainty-attitude correctness, or the perception that one's attitude is the "right" attitude to have-will predict more competitive conflict styles. This hypothesis was tested across five data sets comprising four studies. In Studies 1a and 1b, perceptions of attitude correctness (but not another form of attitude certainty, attitude clarity) predicted participants' tendencies to send competitive messages to an ostensible partner who held the opposite opinion. In Studies 2 to 4, manipulations of attitude correctness, but not attitude clarity (Study 3), also increased competitiveness in conflict, and perceived correctness mediated the effect of the correctness manipulation on conflict style (Study 4). The present research has implications for both the predictors of conflict style and the consequences of different forms of attitude certainty.

Rebalancing US Military Power

ABSTRACT: For all the attention paid to partnering, too little goes into what partnering might mean from ostensible partners' points of view. In the 21st century, sensitivities and sensibilities matter. So do economic realities. The US military should make better strategic use of military advisors to help foreign security services professionalize--something the United States can only do if foreign militaries are willing to engage in civic action themselves. ********** In the wake of resurgent terrorism, withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan, and massive budget cuts, defense intellectuals and members of the military alike increasingly discuss the need to shape, partner, and advise foreign (1) Or, as LTG Charles Cleveland and LTC Stuart Fails write, land forces should look to develop a global landpower network. This network would consist of allies, expeditionary global and regional partners, and host-nation forces. (2) The goal? To secure US national interests indirectly, inexpensively, and without putting large numbers of boots on the ground. White House, too, underscores security sector assistance. Its aim is to: * Help partner nations build the sustainable capacity to address common security challenges. * Promote partner support for US interests. * Promote universal values. * Strengthen collective security and multinational defense arrangements and organizations. (3) However, there are at least four flaws in our collective approach. First, its prescriptions are all about us and US-centric needs, thereby taking for granted others' needs. Second, the list reflects little understanding of what partnering might mean to America's ostensible partners---in fact, it reveals just the opposite. Third, it suggests the United States will continue to pursue the same old strategies that have already served it so poorly. Finally, it diverts the United States from what should be its main goal abroad: other countries' development of their own incorruptible, apolitical security services--a goal that is an either-or (it can or cannot be done) proposition, and not something, as many suppose, that takes decades to achieve. Because some interagency stakeholders object to the word professionalize--in their view it is demeaning and insulting to suggest other forces are not already professional--in this article, the term professional refers to incorruptible, apolitical security services. (4) The argument is that when security services are incorruptible, states hold together. India is an example. Few countries contain more sectarian divides, or have had to wrestle with a greater variety of insurgency. Yet, India's armed forces have remained apolitical and professional. This is not just a legacy of British imperialism, since other South Asian countries were woven from the same cloth. Rather, India remains a vibrant pluralist democracy thanks to, among other things, the armed forces' commitment to behaving apolitically and according to meritocratic principles. (5) In contrast, regimes in many countries are not just corrupt, but rulers send members of the security services to do their coercing and compelling for them. Unfortunately, all it takes is the collusion of some high-ranking members of the army, police, gendarmerie, or other security services for leaders to engage in venal behavior. Or, to put none too fine a point on it, whenever people in uniform do politicians' personal bidding and act as their willing muscle, they subvert the state. On the other hand, when members of the security services refuse to engage in intimidation or coercion on behalf of politicians, and refuse to behave like thugs, those in power find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to compel people against their will. Security services that protect rather than undermine the state's integrity are not just vital to a country's stability, but apolitical, incorruptible armed forces are also essential to protecting those other two institutions that help guarantee responsible, responsive governance: the judiciary and the media. …

Interactive Effect of Moral Disengagement and Violent Video Games on Self-Control, Cheating, and Aggression

Violent video games glorify and reward immoral behaviors (e.g., murder, assault, rape, robbery, arson, motor vehicle theft). Based on the moral disengagement theory, we predicted that violent games would increase multiple immoral behaviors (i.e., lack of self-control, cheating, aggression), especially for people high in moral disengagement. High school students (N = 172) who had completed a measure of moral disengagement were randomly assigned to play one of the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) violent video games, or a nonviolent game. Self-control was measured using the weight of uneaten chocolates (i.e., M&M’s) in a bowl by the computer. After gameplay, participants could cheat on a test to win raffle tickets for attractive prizes (e.g., iPad). Aggression was measured using a competitive task in which participants could give an ostensible partner unpleasant noise blasts through headphones. Results showed that violent video games decreased self-control and increased cheating and aggression, especially for people high in moral disengagement.

Effects of Conversation Partners’ Gender-Language Consistency on References to Emotion, Tentative Language, and Gender Salience

The study examined how a conversation partner’s gender and gender-language consistency influence communicators’ gender-based language (i.e., references to emotion and tentativeness) and gender identity salience. In an email exchange, an experiment manipulated an ostensible conversation partner’s gender and use of references to emotion in ways stereotypically consistent or inconsistent with the partner’s gender. The conversation partner’s gender and gender-language consistency affected communicators’ references to emotion in ways that generally confirmed hypotheses. Participants’ references to emotion were congruent with the conversation partner’s use of references to emotion regardless of participants’ own gender. Results pertaining to tentative language and gender salience demonstrated no substantive differences.

Are People More Aggressive When They Are Worse Off or Better Off Than Others?

Who is more likely to behave aggressively? Is it someone outperformed by others or is it someone who outperformed others? For safety reasons, it is important to know the answer to this question. In Studies 1 and 2, participants were told that they did worse or better than an ostensible partner on a first task. Then they aggressed against this partner on a second task using loud, painful noise blasts. Results showed that participants aggressed more against someone they outperformed (the loser) than against someone who outperformed them (the winner). However, these results do not indicate whether participants were especially aggressive against someone they outperformed, or whether they were especially nonaggressive against someone who outperformed them. Study 3 included a control group and showed it was the former. These studies suggest that one should pay particular attention to winners rather than losers, because winners tend to aggress against losers.

Failure to consider future consequences increases the effects of alcohol on aggression

The failure to consider the future consequences of one's behavior is a major risk factor for aggression. Aggressive people tend to act first, and think later. Some people focus on the “here and now” rather than on the future, a tendency measured by the Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC) scale (Strathman, Gleicher, Boninger, & Edwards, 1994). Alcohol intoxication is a neuro-biological variable that produces similar effects. Participants in the present experiment completed the CFC scale and then consumed either an alcohol or a placebo beverage. Next, they competed against a same-sex ostensible partner on an interpersonally adversarial competitive task in which the winner could administer electric shocks to the loser (the aggression measure). As expected, aggression was highest in intoxicated persons with low CFC scores. Being unconcerned about the future consequences of one's actions, in conjunction with acute alcohol intoxication, combines in a pernicious manner to increase aggression.

When partner caring leads to sharing: Partner responsiveness increases expressivity, but only for individuals with low self-esteem

Two studies examined whether perceiving a partner as responsive leads people to be more expressive with that partner, and whether the effects of perceived partner responsiveness on expressivity are moderated by self-esteem. In Study 1, female undergraduates with high or low self-esteem disclosed to a fictitious partner about a sad event. Participants either received an understanding, caring, and validating written response from their ostensible partner or did not receive a response. In Study 2, participants wrote an email, supposedly to another participant, about a sad event and received either a highly responsive or a non-responsive email response. In both studies, partner responsiveness increased expressivity among individuals with low self-esteem but not among individuals with high self-esteem. These results provide the first experimental evidence for Reis and Shaver's (1988) theorizing about responsiveness and self-disclosure.