Seymour Feshbach

Testing hypotheses regarding rape: Exposure to sexual violence, sex differences, and the “normality” of rapists

Abstract Three hypotheses on the subject of rape were addressed empirically. The first concerns the effects of exposure to sexual violence on reactions to rape. Males and females were first exposed to either a sadomasochistic or a nonviolent version of the same sexual passage and then to a portrayal of rape. Responses to the rape showed interactions between gender and previous exposure: In comparison to males who had read the nonviolent version, males exposed to the sadomasochistic story were more sexually aroused to the rape depiction and more punitive toward the rapist whereas females evidenced differences in the opposite direction. Simple effects analyses for each gender, however, yielded significant differences for the punitiveness measure only and for males only. In addressing the second hypothesis, gender differences were found in the perception of rape. Third, the assertion that rape may be an extension of normal sexual patterns was explored. Subjects were found to believe that a high percentage of men would rape if assured of not being punished and that a substantial percentage of women would enjoy being victimized. While both genders shared these beliefs, very few women believed that they personally would derive pleasure from victimization. Surprisingly, more than half of the males indicated some likelihood that they themselves would rape if assured of not being punished. The association between this self-report and general attitudes toward rape revealed a pattern that bears striking similarity to the callous attitudes often held by convicted rapists.

Early Identification of Children with High Risk of Reading Failure

Two alternative models for identifying kindergarten age children with a high risk of becoming reading failures are compared. One model places primary emphasis on psychometric test procedures assessing linguistic and perceptualmotor skills related to reading readiness. The alternative strategy is based upon the kindergarten teachers evaluation of the childs skills and behavior, with particular emphasis on the discrepancy between a childs specific competencies and those required for success in a particular first grade classroom. Significant and encouraging correlations were obtained between the various measures taken in kindergarten and reading achievement test scores obtained at the end of first grade.

Nationalism, Patriotism, and Aggression

Human aggression entails a complex set of behaviors that vary markedly in structure, content, context, and consequences. An angry feeling, a thought of revenge, jostling and “horse-play,” teasing and derogation, fighting over a contested object, bullying and sadistic actions, murder, and the killing of others in the context of a revolutionary struggle or a conflict between nations, are all considered to be acts of aggression. They are grouped together because they have in common the intent to or actions that have the consequence of inflicting injury and harm to others. A major question that students of human aggression must address regards the functional similarities and differences between these diverse forms of aggression; that is, to what extent they arise from similar antecedents and have similar objectives or goals. A particular question which has been the subject of a number of inquiries that I have carried out in recent years is the relationship between individual differences in aggressive disposition and individual differences in readiness to support military ventures.

The catharsis hypothesis, aggressive drive, and the reduction of aggression

The import of the concept of aggressive drive for the construct of catharsis, particularly the trend toward alternatives to drive concepts, is considered. Three conceptions of catharsis are distinguished—the Dramatic model, the Clinical model and the Experimental model. The Dramatic and Clinical models are seen to focus on affective engagement and change, while differing in the vicarious nature of the cathartic experience, in the degree of cognitive representation entailed, and in the nature of the interpersonal context. The Experimental model is seen to be addressed to the more general problem of aggression reduction through aggressive acts. The Dramatic and Clinical models of catharsis are viewed as more specific and germane, and the hypothesis is proposed that catharsis obtains in the case of inhibited rather than persistent or unresolved affect.

Individual aggression, national attachment, and the search for peace: Psychological perspectives

The primary question addressed is the role of affect related factors, particularly values, as possible mediators of individual differences in attitudes towards nuclear armament-disarmament issues. One such factor is value placed on children, those individuals who have greater affection for children or who are more supportive of devoting national resources toward meeting childrens needs being more supportive of nuclear disarmament and a nuclear test moratorium. This relationship was found in a well-educated group of adults with a special interest in foreign affairs as well as in college student populations. A significant and strong relationship between the value placed on war as an instrument of foreign policy and a pronuclear armament stance was also found in each of these two samples. Measures of individual aggression, however, were minimally and inconsistently related to the attitude towards nuclear armament-disarmament and the attitude towards war measures. The possible role of patriotic and nationalistic values was also explored. Patriotism or love of and pride in ones country was shown to be functionally distinct from nationalism or the view that ones country is superior to and should be more powerful than other nations. Patriotism but not nationalism was found to be positively correlated with early paternal sattachment while nationalism but not patriotism, was found to be significantly related to pronuclear armament views. The findings from this series of studies indicate that the analysis of individual differences in nuclear armament-disarmament policy attitudes has heuristic usefulness and may be useful for social policy in this area.

Predicting Reading Failure: Beyond the Readiness Model:

The limited success of investigations directed toward predicting reading failure is discussed. The relative lack of success is attributed to the apparent reliance on a reading readiness model and on procedures which do not assess the impact of the many variables shaping school success and failure. The position espoused here is that a youngsters success or failure in school is most fruitfully seen as a function of the interaction between his strengths, weaknesses, and limitations and the specific classroom situational factors he encounters. A formal hypothesis suggested by this interactional model is offered, and a novel strategy for predicting reading failure is briefly described.

The Psychology of Aggression: Insights and Issues

A traveler visiting the United States will be cautioned about entering particular areas in our urban centers, especially at night. Even if he does not find himself the direct object of assault, he might well be the victim of a stray bullet, fired during the course of a drive-by shooting or an exchange of gunfire between rival gangs. He may discover that violence is not restricted to the evening or to inner city streets, and be struck by television reports of vandalism, extortion, physical attack, guns, and knives and other indices of aggression in the public schools.

Ethical issues and exposure to rape stimuli: a reply to Sherif.

The three ethical issues raised by Sherif are discussed. In response to the first issue, we recognize the need to measure the effectiveness of our attempts to counteract possible undesirable effects of the research materials. Problems that arise in implementing such an assessment are considered. Also discussed is the possibility that exposure to such materials combined with an effective discrediting communication may have beneficial effects. In addressing the second issue, it is argued that Sherifs criticisms of our alternative data interpretations are unfounded. Finally, Sherifs suggestion to formalize the process of having investigators consider the social policy implications of their research is whole-heartedly supported.

Television Viewing and Aggression: Some Alternative Perspectives:

The focus of this article is on the examination of variables that moderate the influence of exposure to TV violence. The research on the relationship between TV violence and aggressive behavior of the audience has largely focused on addressing the social policy issue of whether witnessing TV violence fosters aggressive behavior in viewers, particularly children. There has been a dearth of research addressing the conditions that enhance the aggression stimulating effects of media violence, those that mitigate these effects, and those that may even result in reduced aggression after one witnesses media violence. To illustrate the importance of potential moderating factors, we present longitudinal correlational data relating the degree of viewing TV violence to various social behaviors and cognitive attributes of White and African-American male and female elementary-school-age children. Although TV violence viewing was associated with lower cognitive attributes and negative social behaviors in White males and females and African-American females, a very different pattern of relationships was found for African-American males.

The "Personality" of Personality Theory and Research

The objective of this article is to consider the changes that have taken place in the status of personality since the mid-1940s and to provide an overview of the current status of personality theory and research in the context of its history and challenge, and of likely future developments. During the last several decades the status and salience of personality study relative to other areas of psychological research has undergone a decline, although there have been some important advances during this period. In addition, there are a number of signs suggesting that a revitalization of the area of personality is taking place, and that we can anticipate a resurgence of research addressed to central problems of personality structure, dynamics, and development. The title chosen for this article is intended to convey the idea that I will draw upon the field of personality itself for concepts to describe its status. I do not intend to belabor the metaphor and restrict my analysis to personality terminology. However, I do believe the metaphor will help communicate the status of the field of personality.