How does cognitive control reduce anger and aggression? The role of conflict monitoring and forgiveness processes.

Abstract

It is well-established that superior cognitive control abilities are associated with lower levels of anger and aggression. However, the precise emotion regulation operations underlying this relationship have been underspecified and underexplored in previous research. Drawing on neuropsychological models of cognitive control, the authors propose that limited capacity resources can be recruited within a hostile situation to promote a process of forgiveness. The results of 2 studies supported this proposal. Across studies, individual differences in hostility-primed cognitive control were assessed implicitly. In Study 1, hostility-primed cognitive control predicted less aggressive behavior in response to a laboratory provocation. Moreover, forgiveness mediated these effects. In Study 2, hostility-primed cognitive control predicted forgiveness of provocations in participants' daily lives and subsequent reductions in anger. In sum, the results contribute to a systematic understanding of how cognitive control leads to lower levels of anger and aggression.

Compassion for one reduces punishment for another

“…Compassion may reduce desires for punishment by enhancing cognitive control (cf. Pronk, Karremans, Overbeek, Vermulst, & Wigboldus, 2010;Wilkowski, Robinson, & Troop-Gordon, 2010), situational attributions for a transgression (cf. Rudolph et al, 2004) or intuitions of perceived similarity with the transgressor (cf.…”

Reappraising the Situation and Its Impact on Aggressive Behavior

“…Stillwell, Baumeister, and Del Priore (2008) argued that a goal of vengeance is to restore equity after a provocation and found evidence to suggest that avengers actively seek out methods to hurt a transgressor. Wilkowski, Robinson, and Troop-Gordon (2010) found that vengeance was a significant mediator between effortful control and aggressive behavior. Other studies have found that revenge motivation partially mediates the effect of violent video games on immediate aggressive behavior and on trait aggressiveness (e.g., Anderson et al, 2004;Anderson & Murphy, 2003).…”

Four promising psychological interventions for reducing reactive aggression

“…Specifically, participants low in trait anger showed a reduced interference effect on a Flanker task (i.e., a measure of cognitive control) following hostile word primes relative to participants high in trait anger. In a second set of studies, they found that this ability to automatically recruit cognitive control predicted motivation to forgive interpersonal transgressions [28]. Thus, improving cognitive control should help aggressive people inhibit the desire to harm other people when angered.…”