The present thesis and series of studies explores the underlying cognitive and neuropsychological processes that underlies propensity for aggressive response in adult men and women, both sober and intoxicated. Previous research demonstrated that poor executive functioning, either pre-existing (idiopathic) or induced by alcohol-intoxication, was associated with heightened aggressive responses. The first study demonstrates that although cognitively impaired when alcohol intoxicated, men with above average pre-alcohol Executive Cognitive Functioning (ECF) do not act aggressively if they are properly motivated to remain non-aggressive, suggesting some ability to use residual executive function. The second study directly compares the aggression-eliciting effects of alcohol in both men and women, an under-investigated issue. Results indicate that aggression levels in the women are not significantly less than those of men, and that alcohol-intoxication is not as predictive a factor in women as in men. The third study, a post-hoc analysis of the second, indicates that like for men, executive function level in women is highly related to propensity for aggressive response, in fact far more predictive than acute alcohol-intoxication. The fourth study was intended to investigate a possible behavioural explanation for the ECF-aggression relationship. Specifically, this study was designed to assess whether the aggression manifested by individuals with poor ECF was rapid or impulsive, i.e. due to a disinhibition process. Contrary to this popular contention, this study demonstrates that when faced with complex, social interactions, low-ECF individuals act aggressively, but only after a somewhat slow period of apparent contemplation. These findings and others conducted by the author are discussed in a speculative model of the ECF-aggression relationship. Means by which to test this model are proposed, as are other theoretical implications of the work.

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Inpatient aggression in mental health settings is a significant concern because it compromises the quality of care provided by health care workers. Nurses are one of the groups most affected by inpatient aggression because they are usually the client's first contact on admission. A number of studies have found that nurses are the most frequently assaulted professional group both inside and outside of the hospital setting, are more frequently assaulted than doctors and most are likely to experience some form of aggression in their career. The causes of inpatient aggression are frequently conceptualised as multidimensional and involving factors internal to the client e.g. age, factors relating to the environment such as inflexible ward routines and factors relating to the quality of the interaction between nursing staff and clients. Research studies suggest that nurses generally respond reactively and rely heavily on physical control strategies rather than on interpersonal strategies in managing inpatient aggression. Contemporary literature suggests that the perceptions nurses hold about aggression and its causes influences their management of the event and that this process is mediated by a number of client, environment and nurse-related variables including age, education, gender, nursing experience, perceptions of aggression and its causes. Although the causes and management of inpatient aggression in nursing is well documented in the United Kingdom and some other West European countries, this is not the case for Africa and in the case of this study, for Botswana. No studies have attempted to find the nurses' perception, perception on the cause, and management of inpatient aggression in Africa and more so in Botswana. Aim: The purpose of the study was to explore how nurses' demographic characteristics, their perceptions of aggression and its causes, influence the management of inpatient aggression by nurses in the main psychiatric institution in Botswana. Method: A descriptive, exploratory non-experimental design was used. Perception of inpatient aggression was captured by a Perception of Aggression Scale (POAS) and the perception on the cause and management of inpatient aggression was collected with Management of Aggression and Violence Attitude Scale (MAVAS).The sample comprised of 71 nurses, 48 of whom were females and 23 males. The mean age of the nurse respondents was 36 years. Of the 71 respondents 50 were registered nurses only while 20 were psychiatric registered nurses. More than two thirds of the respondents had a diploma in nursing, one had a masters degree and the remainder, a degree in nursing. The average nursing and psychiatric nursing experience of the respondents were 12.1 and 6.87 years respectively. ANNOVA test and t-tests were done to find the associations between the nurses' demographic variables, their perception, perception on the cause and management of inpatient aggression. Findings: The respondents In this study perceived inpatient aggression as both negative and positive. There was an overall agreement with the perception of aggression as always negative and as an action of physical violence against a nurse (81.73%). Nurses saw the cause of inpatient aggression as emanating from the internal, external and situational/interactional factors. The use of traditional methods of aggression dominated as shown by a high mean score of 80.5 as compared to interpersonal management with a mean score of 60.5. A statistical difference was found between gender, perception of aggression and perception of aggression and the traditional management of aggression while age, nursing and psychiatric nursing experience were statistically associated with the use of interpersonal management of aggression. Conclusion: The study provided insight into the nurses' perceptions, perceptions on the cause and management of inpatient aggression in a mental institution in Botswana. Nurses in this study hold predominantly negative perceptions of aggression and generally favour traditional management strategies. However, older, more experienced nurses tended to favour interpersonal techniques. Recommendations for nursing practice, education and research to address this issue centre around further and targeted education and training in mental health and specifically, in the comprehensive management of aggression which includes communication skills, use of de-escalation, use of medication and cautious physical restraint. / Thesis (M.N.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Epidemiological and laboratory research supports a relationship between acute alcohol intoxication and aggression. Recent data suggest that alcohol disrupts cognitive abilities associated with frontal lobe function. Moreover, neuropsychological research provides suggestive evidence that frontal lobe dysfunction may predispose an individual to increased aggression. The research recounted in this thesis was conducted to investigate the role of individual differences of cognitive abilities associated with the dorsolateral frontal cortex in aggressive behaviour and to test the hypothesis that alcohol indirectly potentiates aggression by impairing these cognitive abilities. The three experiments included in this thesis demonstrated that: (1) acute alcohol intoxication interferes with the ability to integrate previously acquired knowledge in the formulation of behavioral strategies; (2) individuals grouped according to performance on two neuropsychological tests of cognitive abilities associated with frontal lobe function differ in degree of aggressive response. Specifically, individuals in the lower versus upper performance quartiles became more aggressive when provoked; and (3) individuals in the upper cognitive performance quartile demonstrate significantly greater reductions of unprovoked aggression in response to monetary reward.

Perceptual defense has been described as a process in which the perceptual recognition of threatening or unacceptable stimuli is inhibited as a function of the emotionality of the stimulus input. In the present study 15 male and 15 female undergraduate students were exposed tachistoscopically to neutral stimulus words and critical stimulus words related to, or associated with, aggression. A 2 x 2 analysis of variance revealed that all subjects required a significantly greater number of trials to correctly identify critical stimulus words as compared to neutral stimulus words. In addition, male subjects demonstrated significantly higher perceptual recognition thresholds than did female subjects. The results support the perceptual defense hypothesis that delayed perceptual recognition will occur as a function of exposure to threatening stimuli. The results do not support, and are antithetical to, the hypothesis that female subjects will demonstrate higher recognition thresholds, upon exposure to stimuli associated with aggression, than will male subjects. In interpreting this result, the effects of sex differences in visual-perceptual abilities, a decrease in socialization pressures towards females, and a convergence of sex based differences in child rearing patterns are discussed.

The present study tests a reinforcement model for sex differences in depression. This study examines Biglan, Rothlind, Hops, and Sherman's (1989) hypothesis that although distressed and aggressive behaviors both induce negative emotions in others, the reactions to these behaviors are different: aggressive behavior prompts hostile reactions, whereas distressed behavior prompts solicitousness and deters aggression. Although the Biglan et al. results (1989) indicated that reactions were not influenced by the sex of the person emitting the behavior, this result may be a consequence of the population used. This study examined the hypothesis that reactions of others are influenced by sex-role stereotypes when interactions among acquaintances are evaluated. Two hundred and eighty eight college students rated videotaped scenarios in terms of their feelings and reactions toward a male or female acquaintance engaging in distressed, aggressive, or neutral behavior. The findings; support the hypothesis proposed by Biglan that distressed and aggressive behaviors both induced negative emotions in others, although they elicited different behavioral reactions. That is, distressed behaviors prompted supportive and comforting reactions, whereas aggressive behaviors elicited more hostile, argumentative, and avoiding reactions. This study provides further support for the negative reinforcement hypothesis that proposes that distressed behavior induces negative feelings in others; however, at the same time it prompts others to be solicitous and caring and to refrain from aggressive behaviors (Biglan et al., 1989). However, contrary to expectations, no sex differences were found in the reactions to distressed and aggressive behavior despite the use of methodology more conducive to examining gender specific responses. At this point, the most parsimonious explanation for the findings is that the effect is real, yet small and not very robust. / Department of Psychological Science

In this dissertation, I examine two related questions on whether and how tax aggressiveness of firms is associated with shareholder wealth in a new context – mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The first study investigates whether and how the tax aggressiveness of the acquirers and targets affects shareholder wealth. I present the idea of tax aggressiveness transfer whereby the acquirer’s propensity for tax planning applies to its target’s tax function after the change in ownership. I measure the degree of tax aggressiveness transfer using the relative tax aggressiveness of the acquirer and target (i.e., the difference in tax aggressiveness between the two firms). I find that acquisitions of more tax aggressive targets by less tax aggressive acquirers generate significantly lower acquisition gains. I also document weaker evidence that acquisitions of less tax aggressive targets by more tax aggressive acquirers generate higher acquisition gains. That is, the results suggest that the shareholder wealth effects of tax aggressiveness transfer are driven by the value-destroying effect of decreases in tax aggressiveness. Cross-sectional analyses reveal that the acquirer’s governance is a significant determinant of the shareholder wealth effects of tax aggressiveness transfer. Specifically, the results indicate that, when acquirers are well-governed, acquisitions of targets with lower tax aggressiveness by acquirers with higher tax aggressiveness are value-enhancing. Similarly, acquisitions of targets with higher tax aggressiveness by acquirers with lower tax aggressiveness are value-destroying. These findings are robust to various measures of tax aggressiveness. In sum, I find that tax aggressiveness transfer is a significant determinant of value creation or destruction in M&A. The second study is devoted to studying whether and how the target’s participation of tax shelters – an extreme form of tax aggressiveness – matters in acquirer’s valuation of the target firm. Using a novel dataset that identifies targets’ non-participation in tax shelters, I find that the target’s non-sheltering status is associated with a higher takeover premium, indicating that acquirers reward targets for not engaging in tax sheltering. This positive association is stronger for targets that are more opaque and for acquirers that are less tax aggressive. In addition, I find that the target’s non-sheltering status is positively associated with acquirer returns for acquirers that are weakly governed and for targets that are more opaque. Overall, my findings suggest that the target’s non-sheltering status is relevant in acquirers’ valuation of the target, and that the valuation benefits of the target’s non-participation in tax shelters are mainly accrued to the target’s own shareholders rather than to those of the acquiring firm.

Chapter one reviews the literatures on psychological studies of aggression, problems of aggression within the Social Services and the National Health Service, and nurse-patient communication. A number of issues are raised which are addressed by the current research. In chapter two nurses' theories about what defuses and what aggravates aggression are explored. It was found that nurses believe that by remaining calm, gentle and firm they will defuse both physical and verbal aggression. In the case of physical aggression they believe it to be aggravated by being authoritarian, demeaning and defensive, while in the case of verbal aggression they believe it to be aggravated by becoming angry or attempting to deflect it. In chapter three nurses' real-life experiences of what defuses and what aggravates physical and verbal aggression are compared with their theories. The nurses' experiences largely support their theories. It was also found that there are very few methods for dealing effectively with physical aggression, while there are a relatively large number of methods for dealing effectively with verbal aggression. Moreover, those nurses who believe themselves to be more capable of dealing with aggression suffer fewer emotional after-effects than those nurses who do not. Chapter four examines individual differences between nurses and relates these differences to their ability to recover from the emotional aftermath of aggression. It was found that nurses who are highly stressed and who bottle-up their feelings of anger suffer emotionally after aggressive incidents. In contrast, nurses who are assertive, extravert and who exercise interpersonal control are not so distressed by aggressive incidents. In chapter five nurses' attributions are related to their ability to select effective methods of dealing with aggression as well as their ability to recover from it emotionally. It was found that those nurses who have a tendency to blame themselves are both emotionally vulnerable and less capable of selecting effective methods of responding to aggression. In addition, a new method of measuring attribution was developed and tested, and was found to be preferable to the usual method of measuring attribution. Chapter six presents the two-day aggression training programme. The training was designed to incorporate the findings of the current research as well as theoretical issues. The training was carefully evaluated with a control group, pre-post measures of both subjective and objective change, and a seven week follow-up. The aggression training group was no different to the control group before training, but was different on all measures after training. It was concluded that the training model has been shown to make a significant difference to objective skills and subjective evaluations, and that the causal influence of some of the findings described in chapters two to five has been demonstrated. Chapter seven summarises the findings of the research, explores their theoretical and practical implications, and suggests directions for future research.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.