Why are savagery and violence so o mnipresent among humans? We suggest that hunting behaviour is fascinating and attractive, a des ire that makes temporary deprivation from physical needs, pain , sweat, blood and, ultimately, the willingness to kill tolerable and even appeti tive. Evolutionary development in to the " perversion" of the urge to hunt humans, that is to say the transfer of thi s hunt to members of one's own species, has been nurtured by the resultant advantage of personal and social power and dominance. While a breakdown of the inhibition towards intra-specific killing would endanger any animal species, controlled inhibition was enabled in humans in that hi gher regul atory systems, such as frontal lobe-based executi ve fun ctions, prevent the involuntary derailment of hunting behaviour. lf this control-such as in child soldi ers for example-is not learnt, then brutality towards humans re mains fascinating and appealing. B lood must ft ow in order to kill. It is hence an appetiti ve cue as is the struggling of the victim . Hunting for men, more rarely for women, is fasc inating and emotionally arousing wi th the parallel release of testos terone, serotonin and endorphins, which can produce feelings of euphoria and alleviate pain .T. Elbert (rBJ) C lin ica l Psyc ho logy & Neuropsyc hology,

BackgroundSeveral instruments, notably Buss and Perry's Aggression Questionnaire, have been developed for the assessment of aggressive behavior. However, in these instruments, the focus has been on reactive rather than instrumental forms of aggression, even though men in particular may find aggressive behavior attractive. A questionnaire or structured interview for the systematic assessment of the attraction to violence is not yet available.ObjectiveWe, therefore, developed a freely available short form for the assessment of a person's attraction to violent and planned forms of aggression based on reports of former combatants on the attraction to violence and the characteristics of instrumental aggression described in the literature.MethodThe Appetitive Aggression Scale (AAS) was administered to nine samples drawn from different populations, with a total of 1,632 former combatants and participants from war-affected regions (1,193 male and 439 female respondents).ResultsFrom the initial set of 31 items, a selection of 15 items was extracted to improve the scale's psychometric properties and assess the construct of appetitive aggression validly with respect to content. Cronbach's Alpha coefficient of 0.85 was appropriate. All items loaded significantly on a single factor accounting for 32% of the total variance. Further analysis revealed that the scale measures a specific construct that can be distinguished from other concepts of human aggression.ConclusionsWith the AAS, we present an easily administrable tool for the assessment of the attraction to violence.

Substantial evidence has documented that adverse childhood experiences exert deleterious effects on mental health. It is less clear to what extent specific maltreatment during specific developmental periods may vary between disorders rather than increasing vulnerability for any particular disorder. The present comparison of characteristics of childhood adversity (type and frequency of adversity, developmental period) between major depressive disorder (MDD), borderline personality disorder (BPD), schizophrenia, and psychiatrically healthy subjects examined how effects of adverse childhood experiences vary between disorders. Patients generally reported more adverse events than healthy subjects. Irrespective of diagnosis, emotional maltreatment was substantial in all patients. BPD was characterized by marked increase of adversities across age relative to MDD and schizophrenia. Fifty-six percent of BPD, 40% of MDD and 18% of schizophrenia cases experienced a significant degree of early childhood adversity. Stress pattern (type and time) varied between diagnoses, but not for patients with significant early adversities. Regression analyses confirmed early experiences as a predictor of BPD, but not of MDD and schizophrenia. Prepubescent experiences predicted affective and traumatic symptoms in BPD, and moderated the association with symptoms in MDD. Results indicate a dose-effect with differential impact of adverse childhood experiences in BPD, MDD, and schizophrenia, while early maltreatment beyond a certain degree affects mental health independent of diagnosis.

Background The cumulative exposure to life-threatening events increases the risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, over the course of evolutionary adaptation, intra-species killing may have also evolved as an inborn strategy leading to greater reproductive success. Assuming that homicide has evolved as a profitable strategy in humans, a protective mechanism must prevent the perpetrator from getting traumatised by self-initiated violent acts.Objective We thus postulate an inverse relation between a person's propensity toward violence and PTSD.Method We surveyed a sample of 269 Rwandan prisoners who were accused or convicted for crimes related to the 1994 genocide. In structured interviews we assessed traumatic event types, types of crimes committed, the person's appetitive violence experience with the Appetitive Aggression Scale (AAS) and PTSD symptom severity with the PSS-I.Results Using path-analysis, we found a dose-response effect between the exposure to traumatic events and the PTSD symptom severity (PSS-I). Moreover, participants who had reported that they committed more types of crimes demonstrated a higher AAS score. In turn, higher AAS scores predicted lower PTSD symptom severity scores.Conclusions This study provides first empirical support that the victim's struggling can be an essential rewarding cue for perpetrators. The results also suggest that an appetitive aggression can inhibit PTSD and trauma-related symptoms in perpetrators and prevent perpetrators from getting traumatised by their own atrocities.

BackgroundHuman beings from time immemorial have eradicated neighbouring tribes, languages, religions, and cultures. In war and crisis, the cumulative exposure to traumatic stress constitutes a predictor of the development of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, homicide has evolved as a profitable strategy in man, leading to greater reproductive success. Thus, an evolutionary advantage of perpetrating violence would be eliminated if the exposure to aggressive acts would traumatize the perpetrator. We argue that perpetrating violence could actually ‘immunize’ a person against adverse effects of traumatic stressors, significantly reducing the risk of developing PTSD.MethodsWe surveyed 42 former child soldiers in Northern Uganda that have all been abducted by the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) as well as 41 non-abducted controls.ResultsLinear regression analyses revealed a dose–response effect between the exposure to traumatic events and the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) sum score. However, the vulnerability to develop trauma related symptoms was reduced in those with higher scores on the Appetitive Aggression Scale (AAS). This effect was more pronounced in the formerly abducted group.ConclusionsWe conclude that attraction to aggression when being exposed to the victim’s struggling can lead to a substantial risk-reduction for developing PTSD.