Hostile attribution of intent (HAI) is a social information processing pattern that reflects a distorted interpretation of ambiguous social situations as overly negative, personal, and aggressive, leading to further aggression. Previous research has documented the existence of HAI in connection with relational aggression among adolescent girls, but little is known about the role of HAI and physical aggression in this population. This qualitative study explored the experiences of adolescent girls involved in physical fights with another girl in order to determine the types of provocation that led to physical aggression. Participants were 11 girls, ages 15 to 17 years, and 7 parent participants of the girls. School disciplinary records were used to identify participants for the study. All girls who had a disciplinary record for engaging in a physical fight with another female student were invited to participate. A semi-structured interview was conducted, and the parents were given a single-question survey related to socioeconomic status. Data were analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research as described by Hill, Thompson, and Williams (1997). The study participants reported that relational provocations, such as “talking mess” and “mean mugging,” led to physical aggression. They also noted that the type of help offered by adults to reduce conflict was not effective. Many participants reported receiving messages from adults implying it was acceptable to fight, provided that the participant won the fight. Finally, participants reported that disrespect is an acceptable and expected reason to get into a physical fight. / text

Inpatient aggression has been increasingly problematic in psychiatric facilities across the United States and around the world. Psychological assessment measures, such as the Rorschach Inkblot Method, are often used in psychiatric facilities to clarify a patient's diagnostic issues and assist in treatment planning. An assessment measure that could provide information about the type, intensity, and direction of a patient's aggressive impulses would therefore be clinically useful. The current method for scoring aggression on the Rorschach provides limited information about a patient's aggressive drives; Gacono & Meloy have proposed a broader system for scoring Rorschach aggressive content. Thus far, research on this new aggression scoring system has neglected to examine patients with Axis I disorders. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the differences between the types and frequencies of these newer aggression variables, as well as the utility of these scores in predicting aggression in an inpatient sample of depressed and paranoid patients. This sample was chosen based on psychoanalytic conceptualization of aggressive dynamics in these patients. Results of Poisson and negative binomial regressions indicated that there were no differences between the depressed and paranoid groups in terms of the types or frequencies of Rorschach aggressive content. Kruskal-Wallis tests indicated that there were some differences between the groups in terms of the type and severity of behavioral manifestations of aggression. Finally, a logistic binomial regression showed that Rorschach variables did not add significantly to the prediction of the presence of aggressive behavior in this population. Clinical implications, limitations of the study, and directions for future research are examined. / text

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that acute alcohol consumption facilitates aggression through the reduction of adaptive anxiety/fear responses to danger/threat. Participants were 80 healthy male social drinkers between 21 and 33 years of age. They were randomly assigned to one of four groups: 1) Alcohol/anxiety induction (n=20), 2) Placebo/anxiety induction (n=20), 3) Alcohol only (n=20), and 4) Placebo only (n=20). Anxiety was induced by informing participants that they had to deliver a speech about what they liked and disliked about their body in front of a video camera. A modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (Taylor, 1967) was used to measure aggressive behavior in a situation where electric shocks were administered to, and received from, a fictitious opponent during a supposed competitive reaction-time task. Results indicated that the anxiety induction was successful in reducing aggression for participants who received alcohol. Results are discussed within the context of a number of theories specifying anxiety as a possible mediator of the alcohol aggression relation.

Despite the detrimental effects of aggression, Reality Television is replete with portrayals of female direct and indirect aggression for the sake of entertainment. Direct, physical and verbal aggression may be easy to identify but indirect aggression can be circuitous and subtle such as gossiping and exclusion from the group. Victims of indirect aggression can experience long-term psychological repercussions such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and self-abusive behaviour. Exposure to indirect relational aggression on Reality Television has also been shown to increase physical aggression in its viewers. Combining three theoretical frameworks this study draws on social cognitive theory, cultivation theory as well as feminist frameworks. Female adults were recruited to participate in semi-structured interviews discussing their perceptions and influence of Reality Television clips portraying female aggression.

In recent years superhero movies have skyrocketed in popularity, bringing with them plots and characters that tend to exhibit high levels of aggression. As social learners, humans often learn from what they observe, and especially emulate characters they admire – including fictional superheroes and villains. Consequently, this study content analyzed non-physical aggressions (verbal aggression, relational aggression, and violent ideation) in the top 25 highest grossing superhero movies between 2005 and 2015. Results found an average of 171.8 acts of non-physical aggression per movie. Females in these movies were also significantly more likely to engage in verbal and relational aggressions, which contributes to gender stereotypes about aggression. Unfortunately, due to a failure in intercoder reliability testing, these results are unreliable.

Bakgrund: Aggression mot vårdare är ett bestående problem inom vården. Vid vård- ochomsorgboende har var femte vårdare utsatts för hot och våld av brukarna. En vanlig orsaktill aggressivt beteende är en bakomliggande kognitiv svikt, vilket är vanligt förekommandeinom äldrevården. Syfte: Studiens syfte var att belysa vårdares erfarenhet att vårda aggressiva brukare ochhur det påverkar bemötandet. Metod: En sekundäranalys genomfördes baserat på semistrukturerade interjuver med 20vuxna kvinnor, anställda på sjukhem som varit exponerade för en våldsam situation. Enkvalitativ innehållsanalys med en induktiv ansats nyttjades. Resultat: Analysen av intervjuerna resulterade i fyra huvudkategorier: Försöka hanteravåldet, Bli ursäktande, Resignera och Vända sig till arbetsgruppen. Resultatet visade attvårdarna skapade egna uppfattningar om brukarnas beteenden och spred dessa tillarbetsgruppen. Dessa uppfattningar lede till formulerandet av avdelningsnormer kring hurspecifika brukare skulle hanteras och bemötas. Vårdarna hade vant sig med brukarnasaggression, således hade våldet normaliserats. Konklusion: Betydelsen av att kontinuerligt exponeras för aggressivt beteende kanpotentiellt leda till att vårdarna utvecklar compassion fatigue till brukaren och yrket samtnegligerar brukarnas psykosociala behov. När dessa interjuver genomfördes varpersoncentread vård inte den vedertagna normen, men ur ett historiskt perspektiv kan detmöjligen skådas en framväxt av detta tankesätt. / Background: Aggression against caregivers is a persistent problem within the healthcare. Especially regarding care and nursing homes, with one out five employees having beenexposed to threats and violence from residents. A common underlaying cause foraggressive behaviour is the presence of cognitive impairment, commonly present innursing homes. Aim: of the study was to illustrate caregivers experience to care foraggressive residents and how it effects encounters. Method: A secondary analysis was conducted based upon semi structured interviews with20 adult women, employed at a nursing home and having been exposed to a violentsituation. A qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach was used. Results: Analysis of the interviews produced four main categories: Attempting to managethe violence, Excusing, Compile and Discussion with colleagues. It was found thatcaregivers possessed interpersonal perceptions about residents, which were shared amongand between colleagues. In turn this led to formation of norms and conducts concerningcertain residents. Caregivers had grown accustomed to the aggressive behaviour, thusnormalizing the violence. Conclusion: The effect of prolonged exposure to aggressive behaviour could potentiallyresult in development of compassion fatigue and neglect towards residents.Retrospectively the historic emergence of person-centred care could possibly be observedin the data.

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Conceptualizations of anger have suffered from a lack of research investigating the temporal dynamics of anger episodes. Furthermore, though some studies have provided valuable insights into the time course of anger, no study to date has utilized a standardized laboratory paradigm designed to mimic an interpersonal provocation. The purpose of this study was to characterize the time course of the affective, physiological, and behavioral components of anger in response to a standardized provocation. Our second aim was to assess potential effects of trait anger, trait aggression, trait hostility, and emotion regulation deficits on the time course of the different components of anger. Participants (n = 82) engaged in the Modified Taylor Aggression Paradigm (MTAP), a laboratory measure of anger/aggression in which provocation is manipulated by varying electric shocks selected for the participant by an (unbeknownst to the participant) fictitious opponent. This study utilized a modified version of the classic TAP that simulated an acute interpersonal provocation that one might encounter in the “real world.” Subjective anger, physiological arousal (as evidenced by heart rate [HR], galvanic skin response [GSR], and high-frequency heart rate variability [HF HRV]), and the behavioral expression of anger (aggression) were measured throughout the task before, during and after provocation. Consistent with previous research, results showed that the rise time to peak levels of most outcome variables was significantly faster than the return time from peak back to baseline. Additionally, results showed that the majority of the time course variables were not correlated with one another providing evidence for the idea that different components of anger have independent time courses. Contrary to our hypotheses, trait variables were largely unrelated to time course variables. The current study provides further evidence for the relationship between the rise time and return time in the time course of subjective, physiological and behavioral manifestations of anger using a standardized and ecologically valid provocation task. / Psychology