Research Article

Stepping up the pressure: arousal can be associated with a reduction in male aggression

  1. Andrew Ward1,†,*,
  2. Traci Mann2,‡,§,
  3. Erika H. Westling2,
  4. J. David Creswell3,
  5. Jeffrey P. Ebert1,¶,
  6. Matthew Wallaert1

Article first published online: 17 JUN 2008

DOI: 10.1002/ab.20270

Issue

Aggressive Behavior

Aggressive Behavior

Volume 34, Issue 6, pages 584–592, November/December 2008

Additional Information

How to Cite

Ward, A., Mann, T., Westling, E. H., David Creswell, J., Ebert, J. P. and Wallaert, M. (2008), Stepping up the pressure: arousal can be associated with a reduction in male aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 34: 584–592. doi: 10.1002/ab.20270

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Psychology, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

  2. 2

    Department of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, California

  3. 3

    Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  1. †

    The first two authors share first authorship status on this article; Andrew was just a bit more aggressive than Traci.

  2. ‡

    The first two authors share first authorship status on this article; Andrew was just a bit more aggressive than Traci.

  3. §

    Traci Mann is now at the University of Minnesota.

  4. Jeffrey P. Ebert is now at Harvard University.

*Department of Psychology, Swarthmore College, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 1 OCT 2008
  2. Article first published online: 17 JUN 2008
  3. Manuscript Revised: 14 APR 2008
  4. Manuscript Accepted: 14 APR 2008
  5. Manuscript Received: 16 NOV 2007

Funded by

  • National Institutes of Mental Health. Grant Number: MH63795
  • Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict
  • University of California Council on Research Grant
  • Swarthmore College

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Keywords:

  • aggression;
  • attention;
  • myopia;
  • self-control;
  • self-regulation

Abstract

The attentional myopia model of behavioral control [Mann and Ward, 2007] was tested in an experiment investigating the relationship between physiological arousal and aggression. Drawing on previous work linking arousal and narrowed attentional focus, the model predicts that arousal will lead to behavior that is relatively disinhibited in situations in which promoting pressures to aggress are highly salient. In situations in which inhibitory pressures are more salient, the model predicts behavior that is relatively restrained. In the experiment, 81 male undergraduates delivered noise-blasts against a provoking confederate while experiencing either high or low levels of physiological arousal and, at the same time, being exposed to cues that served either to promote or inhibit aggression. In addition to supporting the predictions of the model, this experiment provided some of the first evidence for enhanced control of aggression under conditions of heightened physiological arousal. Implications for interventions designed to reduce aggression are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 34:584–592, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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