Deborah R. Richardson

Empathy as a cognitive inhibitor of interpersonal aggression

The studies presented in this paper examined empathy, especially perspective taking, as a potential inhibitor of interpersonal aggression. The theoretical rationale for these investigations derived from Zillmanns [(1988): Aggressive Behavior 14: 51–64] cognitive excitation model. Study 1 revealed that dispositional empathy correlates negatively with self-reported aggression and with conflict responses that reflect little concern for the needs of the other party. Empathy also was positively related to constructive responses to interpersonal conflict (i. e., those that do involve concern for the needs of the other party). In Study 2, perspective taking was manipulated with instructions to subjects prior to participation in a reaction-time task designed to measure aggression. When threat was relatively low, subjects who were instructed to take the perspective of the target responded less aggressively than did those who had been instructed to focus on the task. Study 3 examined the effect of dispositional perspective taking on verbal aggression. Threat was manipulated in terms of the combination of provocation and gender of the interactants. As predicted, perspective taking related to aggression inhibition under conditions of moderate threat–for males under low provocation and females under high provocation. These effects were predicted and explained in the context of the cognitive-excitation model.

Social sanction and threat explanations of gender effects on direct and indirect aggression

The present study examined two explanations for gender differences in expression of direct and indirect aggression. The social sanction model suggests that aggressor and target gender effects may be accounted for in terms of social sanctions against behaving aggressively; indirect aggression is the likely outcome of inhibitions against expression of direct aggression. The threat argument suggests that high levels of direct aggression in male-male dyads as well as apparent inhibitions against harming females might be accounted for by the fact that males are more threatening targets than are females. Research participants completed a questionnaire measure of direct and indirect aggression twice, once with reference to their behavior toward a same-gender target and once with reference to their behavior toward an other-gender target. Although most direct aggression was reported by male aggressors toward male targets, gender of target did not relate to indirect aggression. Males reported approximately equal levels of indirect and direct aggression. Although females reported using more indirect than direct aggression, they did not differ from males in their reports of the frequency of use of indirect aggression. These results provided some support for both models of gender effects on human aggression and suggest the appropriateness of a relatively complex model of gender effects on aggression. Aggr. Behav. 25:425–434, 1999.

How do friendship, indirect, and direct aggression relate?

Most studies that report males as more aggressive than females have examined only direct aggression. However, recent research has shown that females may be more indirectly aggressive than males. Lagerspetz et al. [1988: Aggressive Behavior 14:403-414] have suggested that this gender difference in indirect aggression may arise because females have more dense networks than males, providing them with more opportunities for using indirect aggression. The present study examined the relationship between network density and aggression by administering self-report measures of each variable to 148 undergraduates. Males with high-density networks reported more indirect than direct aggression, and less direct aggression than males with low-density networks. Use of direct and indirect aggression by females was not related to network density. Explanations consider possible inhibitory and facilitating effects of network density.

Perceptions of Rape: The Influence of Closeness of Relationship, Intoxication and Sex of Participant

Intoxication of the assailant and/or victim is often mentioned in relation to acquaintance rape. The present study tests how independent observers use this information in their perceptions of acquaintance and stranger rape. One hundred and forty-nine females and 104 males read scenarios depicting a sexual assault and made attributions of responsibility for the rape and evaluated the actors. Victims’ intoxication consistently influenced perceptions of victim culpability as well as respondent evaluation of her. The impact of closeness of relationship was much more complex and less consistent than the effects of victim intoxication.

The relationship between perspective-taking and nonaggressive responding in the face of an attack

Perspective-taking functions as an inhibitor of interpersonal aggression and as a facilitator of prosocial behavior. The present study examined the extent to which perspective-taking enhances nonaggressive responses in a situation in which people typically make aggressive responses. It also examined the relationship between perspective-taking and response to interpersonal con- text. Subjects participated in a reaction-time task in which they could respond either aggressively or nonaggressively in two different interpersonal contexts (i.e., the target either increased or decreased provocation during the interaction). As predicted, perspective-taking was related to the inhibition of aggressive responding and the facilitation of nonaggressive responding. In general, perspective-taking was associated with less aggression, including relatively more positive and fewer negative responses. This was especially the case in the interpersonal context in which the target had increased provocation across the trials of the task.

Measurement of conflict in social relationships

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to examine the applicability of the Rahim (Academy of Management Journal, 26, 368–376, 1983) Organizational Conflict Inventory for the measurement of conflict responses in social relationships. Three samples of subjects completed versions of the ROCI-II specifying different targets (e.g. parent, friend, sibling). Factor analyses revealed that in every case 4-factor solutions were more appropriate than the 5-factor solutions found by Rahim. Suggestions are offered regarding the discrepancy of the findings.