The current study obtained teacher and parent ratings of callous unemotional (CU) traits and aggression of 118 low socio economic middle school children at Time 1 and investigated the extent to which these variables individually and combined were able to predict school disruptive behaviours as by rated their teachers in Time 2 using multiple regression. Other Time 2 school variables were also assessed for their ability to add to the predictive model using stepwise hierarchical regression. The results showed both aggression and CU traits were predictive, but that CU traits did not explain additional variance over and above aggression. Two school variables were found to also explain additional variance over and above aggression at a statistically significant level. The first, that subtracted the total number of antisocial peers from total number of prosocial peers, was a stronger predictor than antisocial peers. The second, caregiver’s involvement in assisting their child with school homework, was assumed to represent parental support. Interpretations, limitations and areas for future research are discussed.

Using natural supplementation as a treatment tool for mental health problems is becoming increasingly popular. Several studies using a multinutrient supplement called EMPowerplus (EMP+) have been conducted in humans with disorders such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but no studies have been conducted in animals or humans without disorders. Therefore, to address the gaps in the literature, the aim of this study was to assess the effects of EMP+ in a rat population on anxiety, aggression, and impulsivity which may be present in people who do not have a disorder. To investigate this, 40 male and 40 female rats were fed a diet consisting of 0%, 1.25%, 2.5% or 5% EMP+. They were tested during adolescence (PND 52-53) and again during mid-adulthood (PND 116-117) for anxiety and aggression, and during early adulthood (PND 92-96) and again during late adulthood (PND 127-130) for impulsivity. Due to the impact of the September 4th 2010 7.1 magnitude earthquake, data for some rats had to be excluded from anxiety and aggression analyses, leaving a sample size of 29 males and 34 females. Although there were no treatment main effects for any of the three behaviours, there were significant interaction effects between treatment and sex for measures of anxiety and aggression, showing that each sex reacted differently to the supplement. Male rats became less anxious, while female rats became more anxious. Of the five aggressive behaviours observed, significant interactions were found between treatment and sex for rough paw and allogrooming frequency. There were no significant effects involving treatment for impulsivity, but male rats were more impulsive when they were older (PND 127-130). Overall, the effects of EMP+ on the rats’ anxious, aggressive, and impulsive behaviours were mixed, and it is likely that the 7.1 magnitude earthquake and its subsequent aftershocks played a role in these results.

The present investigation determined how different component-processes of executive functioning (EF) acted as risk factors for intoxicated aggression. Participants were 512 (246 men and 266 women) healthy social drinkers between 21 and 35 years of age. EF was measured using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning – Adult Version (BRIEF-A; Roth, Isquith, & Gioia, 2005) that assesses nine EF components. Following the consumption of either an alcohol or a placebo beverage, participants were tested on a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (Taylor, 1967) in which mild electric shocks were received from, and administered to, a fictitious opponent. Aggressive behavior was operationalized as the shock intensities and durations administered to the fictitious opponent.

Contest outcomes are usually determined by differences in resource holding potential, the social histories of the combatants, and perceptions of resource value. One understudied aspect of gaining an advantage is the residency effect. Prior occupancy of a particular place can affect the knowledge and motivation of the resident. There could be a tactical advantage in knowing the terrain or an increased willingness to fight to maintain control of a familiar area. In this study we evaluated the importance of shelter residency effects relative to size differences between rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) as potential competitors for access to shelter. The intensity of any residency effects was manipulated by altering the number of shelters in the arena. Our results suggest that any residency effect is very weak in this system, and if present may often be masked by the strong and pervasive influence on contest outcome of the relative body sizes of the contestants. We also found that both shelter number and crayfish size asymmetries had strong, independent effects on levels of aggression. Dominance, but not residency status, was a factor in shelter use.

A wealth of studies have examined the impact of alcohol on violence; however, only a small number have addressed differences elicited by different doses of alcohol. Such studies are seriously limited by mixed findings, small sample sizes, inconsistent alcohol doses and control conditions, a bias toward studying only male participants, and the predominant use of only one particular measure to assess aggression. The present laboratory investigation was designed to elucidate and advance this literature by improving upon these limitations. Participants were 187 (95 men and 92 women) social drinkers. Following the consumption of one of 6 alcohol doses (i.e., 0.0g/kg; 0.125g/kg; 0.25g/kg; 0.5g/kg; 0.75g/kg; and 1.0g/kg), participants were tested on a laboratory task in which electric shocks were received from, and administered to, a fictitious opponent under the guise of a competitive reaction-time task. Aggression was operationalized as the intensity of shocks administered to their opponent. Analyses revealed that higher alcohol doses clearly elicited greater aggression in both genders consistent with a linear non-threshold dose-response model. Our data help to clarify a body of literature that has been afflicted with numerous limitations and will also help in the selection of alcohol doses for researchers conducting future laboratory-based aggression studies.

The purpose of this investigation was twofold. First, to test the hypothesis that irritability and executive functioning (EF), two previously established risk factors for alcohol-related aggression, would interact to conjointly confer multiplicative risk for intoxicated violence that is not observed when testing either variable alone. Second, to test the hypothesis that irritability would mediate the relation between EF and alcohol-related aggression. EF was measured using seven well-established neuropsychological tests. Irritability was measured using the Caprara Irritability Scale-CIS. Participants were 310 male and female social drinkers between the ages of 21 – 35 years old. After consuming an alcohol or placebo beverage, participants were tested on a laboratory aggression task in which electric shock are given to and received from a fictitious opponent under the guise of a competitive reaction time task. Aggression was operationalized as shock intensities administered to the fictitious opponent. Results indicated that irritability successfully mediated the relation between EF and intoxicated aggression for men only. No support was found to suggest that EF and irritability together confer multiplicative risk for intoxicated aggression. Results are discussed within a cognitive neoassociationistic framework for aggressive behavior.

In order to defend against outgroups, males and females respond to outgroup threat with different strategies. Specifically, males have been shown to respond to outgroup threat with increased ingroup solidarity and cooperation which is likely reflective of their ancestral role as warriors. What remains unknown is whether this cooperative warrior mindset among males not only increases ingroup prosociality, but also decreases ingroup aggression. Aggression against ingroup members under outgroup threat would likely disadvantage the ingroup by reducing the ingroup’s collective formidability. Further, prosocial motivations inhibit aggression. As such, I hypothesized that sex and outgroup threat would interact such that males, but not females, would respond to outgroup threat with reduced aggression towards ingroup members. To test this hypothesis, 41 male and 60 female participants were induced to either feel outgroup threat or no threat. All participants were then provoked by an ingroup member and then given a chance to aggress against that individual. Failing to support my hypothesis, outgroup threat did not interact with sex to predict aggression against ingroup members. This interactive effect was not further moderated by personality factors relevant to aggression. I discuss my findings in context of statistical power and the punishment of deviant ingroup members.

Empirical studies have documented aggression in children as a typical, normal developmental phenomenon, characterized as having the highest levels of aggression between the ages of two and three, and gradually declining by early childhood. However, the escalating levels of aggression by children within the teaching-learning environment, as emphasized by the media, crime statistics and relevant research studies, presents an apparent incongruence. This propelled the need to address aggression as experienced by male learners in school during the Intermediate Phase. Masculinity was an important lens in contextualizing male learners’ experiences of aggression to help explore and describe to what extent, if any, male learners do experience aggression in school during the Intermediate Phase. A qualitative study with a phenomenological approach, within the protocol of ethical procedures and measures of trustworthiness, was conducted to explore and describe male learners’ experience of aggression in school during the Intermediate Phase. Twenty-seven middle-childhood male learners aged 9 to 11 from grades four to six from three primary schools in District D14 in Lenasia participated in the process of phenomenological interviewing in one-on-one semi-structured interviews. An interpretive data analysis by means of Tesch’s open-coding systematic process proffered the following findings: Firstly, Intermediate Phase male learners described aggression using concrete examples of their lived experience and these experiences of aggression translated into verbal and physical aggression as the ‘fight instinct’. In addition, these experiences of aggression indicated male learners’ middle-childhood developmental stage and their experience of aggression as a feeling of anger and a justification of their aggressive behaviour. Secondly, male learners’ experience of aggression in school during the Intermediate Phase formed a cycle of aggression with a focus on the role of school authority in the management of aggression and resolution of conflict, where male learners’ experienced gangs and bullies as provocation for them to behave aggressively in return, and gender identity and gender roles were constructed and interpreted within the framework of the Sex Role Socialisation Theory. Thirdly, Intermediate Phase learners made suggestions in managing their own and others’ aggression in terms of self-regulation, morality and religion. Whilst masculinity is an elusive and ambiguous concept, the manifestation of aggressive behaviours by male learners within the context of the adapted definition of masculinity as a negotiation of ‘cognitive, behavioural, emotionally expressive, psychosocial and sociocultural experience’ indicated that male learners aspire to the ‘way men are’ or are in pursuit of being ‘real men.’ A subtle form of hegemonic masculinity alluding to dominance, power and competiveness was evident in the male learners’ practice of aggression. The findings validate the notion that male learners psychological wellbeing is at risk should the cycle of aggression persist. Hence, the researcher suggests that learners need to be skilled in ameliorating aggression by means of a process of teachers demonstrating and skilling learners in identifying conflict and resolving conflict; a coaching model should be adopted and implemented to train learners to manage aggression; the sensitization of gender roles, namely masculinity; and that counsellors and qualified psychologists be available at schools. Guidelines were described from the themes emanating from male learners’ experience of aggression in school during the Intermediate Phase. A valuable contribution from the research study was that learners had the platform to be heard and that some found the interview process interesting. / Thesis ((MEd (Learner support))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Empirical studies have documented aggression in children as a typical, normal developmental phenomenon, characterized as having the highest levels of aggression between the ages of two and three, and gradually declining by early childhood. However, the escalating levels of aggression by children within the teaching-learning environment, as emphasized by the media, crime statistics and relevant research studies, presents an apparent incongruence. This propelled the need to address aggression as experienced by male learners in school during the Intermediate Phase. Masculinity was an important lens in contextualizing male learners’ experiences of aggression to help explore and describe to what extent, if any, male learners do experience aggression in school during the Intermediate Phase. A qualitative study with a phenomenological approach, within the protocol of ethical procedures and measures of trustworthiness, was conducted to explore and describe male learners’ experience of aggression in school during the Intermediate Phase. Twenty-seven middle-childhood male learners aged 9 to 11 from grades four to six from three primary schools in District D14 in Lenasia participated in the process of phenomenological interviewing in one-on-one semi-structured interviews. An interpretive data analysis by means of Tesch’s open-coding systematic process proffered the following findings: Firstly, Intermediate Phase male learners described aggression using concrete examples of their lived experience and these experiences of aggression translated into verbal and physical aggression as the ‘fight instinct’. In addition, these experiences of aggression indicated male learners’ middle-childhood developmental stage and their experience of aggression as a feeling of anger and a justification of their aggressive behaviour. Secondly, male learners’ experience of aggression in school during the Intermediate Phase formed a cycle of aggression with a focus on the role of school authority in the management of aggression and resolution of conflict, where male learners’ experienced gangs and bullies as provocation for them to behave aggressively in return, and gender identity and gender roles were constructed and interpreted within the framework of the Sex Role Socialisation Theory. Thirdly, Intermediate Phase learners made suggestions in managing their own and others’ aggression in terms of self-regulation, morality and religion. Whilst masculinity is an elusive and ambiguous concept, the manifestation of aggressive behaviours by male learners within the context of the adapted definition of masculinity as a negotiation of ‘cognitive, behavioural, emotionally expressive, psychosocial and sociocultural experience’ indicated that male learners aspire to the ‘way men are’ or are in pursuit of being ‘real men.’ A subtle form of hegemonic masculinity alluding to dominance, power and competiveness was evident in the male learners’ practice of aggression. The findings validate the notion that male learners psychological wellbeing is at risk should the cycle of aggression persist. Hence, the researcher suggests that learners need to be skilled in ameliorating aggression by means of a process of teachers demonstrating and skilling learners in identifying conflict and resolving conflict; a coaching model should be adopted and implemented to train learners to manage aggression; the sensitization of gender roles, namely masculinity; and that counsellors and qualified psychologists be available at schools. Guidelines were described from the themes emanating from male learners’ experience of aggression in school during the Intermediate Phase. A valuable contribution from the research study was that learners had the platform to be heard and that some found the interview process interesting. / Thesis ((MEd (Learner support))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Šių laikų informacinės erdvės plitimas (ir plėtimas) tapo nemenku iššūkiu ne tik tarpusavio komunikacijos prasme, bet paliečia giluminius tikėjimo klodus bei kitaip veikia gerokai gilesnius žmogaus asmenybės darinius. Virtualumas, kaip neregimos esamybės atitikmuo, po truputį, bet užtikrintai braunasi žmogaus (pa)sąmonėn ir keičia patį žmogų su visa jo vertybių sistema neišskiriant tikėjimo reikalų. Tokiame kontekste yra itin svarbu atlikti tyrimus, kuriais remiantis būtų galima identifikuoti esmines iš virtualybės sklindančias prieš tikėjimą nukreiptas agresijos formas. Tačiau tyrimų atlikimas yra neatsiejamas nuo būtinybės identifikuoti „atramos taškus“. Tuo tikslu teorinėje darbo dalyje yra aptariami Bažnyčios išleisti dokumentai, kurie siejasi su visuomenės komunikavimo priemonėmis, ir išgryninami etiniai jų principai. Remiantis Bažnyčios Magisteriumo dokumentais, visose žiniasklaidos srityse, žanruose, rūšyse galioja pagrindinis etinis principas: žmogus ir bendruomenė yra visuomenės komunikavimo priemonių naudojimo tikslas ir matas. Komunikacija privalo tarnauti visapusiškam žmogaus vystymuisi ir gėriui. Ištyrus esmines verbalinės agresijos kryptis pagal poveikį tikintiems daroma išvada, kad verbalinė agresija dažniausiai pasireiškia netiesioginiu būdu, agresyvaus teksto autoriui aprašinėjant „herojų“. Dažniausiai juo tampa dvasiškis. Verbalinės agresijos poveikio stiprumas priklauso nuo akceptuotojo nuostatų, tačiau stebimas įdomus fenomenas: dažniausiai agresyvių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The spread (and expansion) of today’s information space has become a major challenge not only in terms of mutual communication. It also touches deep layers of faith and has other impacts on much deeper formations of human personality. Virtuality, as equivalent to unseen existence, slowly, but surely intrudes into human consciousness and changes a human being and his whole value system, including faith matters. In this context, studies are necessary, on the basis of which the main forms of aggression that arise from virtuality and are directed against faith could be identified. However, the performance of studies is inseparable from the necessity to identify “reference points”. Thus, the theoretical part of the paper focuses on the documents released by the Church, which are related with public communication measures, and distinguishes their ethical principles. According to the documents of the Magisterium of the Church, the main ethical principle prevails in all fields, genres and kinds of media: a human being and society is the objective and a measure of the use of public communication measures. Communication must serve a thorough human development and goodness. The research of the main trends of verbal aggression by impact on the congregation permits to make the following conclusion: verbal aggression is generally expressed indirectly by describing a “hero” by aggressive text author. Usually a churchman becomes a target. The intenseness of the impact of verbal... [to full text]