Psychophysiological underpinnings of proactive and reactive aggression in young men and women

Thomson, Nicholas D.; Kevorkian, Salpi; Blair, James; Farrell, Albert D.; West, Samuel James; Bjork, James M.

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2021.113601

Cited by 19 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…In that case, our results might probably reflect the characteristics of our sample, demonstrating higher levels of emotional dysregulation and reactive aggression in particular. Although we did not find SCL reactivity to be related to either of the aggression types in this study, heightened SCL has mainly been found to be associated with reactive aggression [34,35].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 96%

“…Research results regarding SNS reactivity, indicated by skin conductance level (SCL), are mixed as well. Reactive aggression is found to be associated with heightened SNS reactivity in response to provocation [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ] and fear [ 35 ]. In contrast, proactive aggression has been linked to blunted skin conductance reactivity [ 31 , 35 , 36 ], although no association has also been reported [ 28 , 37 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neurobiological Responses towards Stimuli Depicting Aggressive Interactions in Delinquent Young Adults and Controls: No Relation to Reactive and Proactive Aggression

et al. 2022

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Neurobiological measures underlying aggressive behavior have gained attention due to their potential to inform risk assessment and treatment interventions. Aberrations in responsivity of the autonomic nervous system and electrophysiological responses to arousal-inducing stimuli have been related to emotional dysregulation and aggressive behavior. However, studies have often been performed in community samples, using tasks that induce arousal but not specifically depict aggression. In this study, we examined differences in psychophysiological (i.e., heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, skin conductance level) and electrophysiological responses (i.e., P3, late positive potential, mu suppression) to aggressive versus neutral scenes in a sample of 118 delinquent young adults and 25 controls (all male, aged 18–27). With respect to group differences, we only found significant higher SCL reactivity during the task in the delinquent group compared to controls, but this was irrespective of condition (aggressive and neutral interactions). Within the delinquent group, we also examined associations between the neurobiological measures and reactive and proactive aggression. No significant associations were found. Therefore, although we found some indication of emotional dysregulation in these delinquent young adults, future studies should further elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying emotional dysregulation in relation to different types of aggression.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurobiological Responses towards Stimuli Depicting Aggressive Interactions in Delinquent Young Adults and Controls: No Relation to Reactive and Proactive Aggression

et al. 2022

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“…The distinct patterns of effects across concurrent and longitudinal analyses may in part reflect differences in the physiological processes that facilitate the establishment versus maintenance of social dominance. In fact, Pellegrini and colleagues (2011) Further, coinhibition may foster callousness and feelings of dominance (Thomson et al, 2019(Thomson et al, , 2021 that promote efforts to climb the social hierarchy, even if these efforts occur at the expense of peers. Importantly, in the longitudinal analyses, the implications of RSAR depended on SCLR, bolstering calls among researchers to investigate how the PNS and SNS work together in children's development and adjustment (El-Sheikh et al, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autonomic nervous system reactivity and preschoolers’ social dominance

Lent

Perry

Blakely‐McClure

et al. 2022

Developmental Psychobiology

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity (RSAR) in preschoolers’ social dominance, as well as potential gender differences in these associations. Reactivity was assessed in response to viewing videos of social exclusion and a post‐aggression discussion. In a community sample of 94 preschool children followed over one calendar year, reactivity to the post‐aggression discussion, but not exclusion, video was related to social dominance. Specifically, increased RSAR to the post‐aggression discussion video was positively associated with concurrent social dominance for both boys and girls. Longitudinally, for boys only, coactivation (i.e., increases in SCLR accompanied by increases in RSAR) to the post‐aggression discussion video, which may reflect dysregulated, emotionally labile reactions to stress, was associated with relatively low levels of social dominance across the course of the year. Overall, findings contribute to a growing literature documenting the role of autonomic reactivity in preschoolers’ social adjustment and extend this work to their capacity to achieve and maintain socially dominant positions with peers.

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“…Substantial research indicates that persons inclined towards antisocial behaviors commonly exhibit low levels of psychological and physiological arousal even in the face of threatening stimuli (e.g., Thomson et al, 2021). Such individuals commonly engage in sensation seeking behaviors and are typified by a propensity to boredom and explosive bouts of anger (Hicks & Patrick, 2006;Gray et al, 2019;Pfattheicher et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much of the extant literature indicates that disturbances in the recognition and experience of the full breadth of human emotion underlies antisocial tendencies, particularly in relation to harming others (e.g., Marsh, 2013;Thomson et al, 2021). One theory argues that antisocial behaviors develop over time due to a deficit in the ability to experience or recognize fear (e.g., Newman et al, 2010;Sylvers et al, 2011).…”

Section: Emotions Apologies and Antisocial Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying the emotions behind apologies for severe transgressions

West

Thomson

2022

Motiv Emot

Self Cite

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Interpersonal transgressions, subsequent apologies, and offered (or withheld) forgiveness hold important consequences for both perpetrators and victims. Research has focused largely on the perceptions of victims and processes that promote forgiveness in relation to transgressions of low severity. In order to extend this domain of inquiry we examined the emotional substrates that facilitate and constrain apologies for severe transgressions (i.e., murder). We collected data on the final statements from incarcerated persons on death row and applied a sentiment analysis to obtain estimates of the emotions expressed in them (i.e., anger, anticipation, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, surprise, and trust). We manually coded each statement to indicate whether it exhibited some form of apology and compared the emotions expressed in apologetic statements versus non-apologetic statements. Results indicated that overall, final statements reflected high levels of joy and trust. Similar to studies of less severe transgressions, we found that 33.50% of statements contained some form of apology. Our comparative analyses revealed that apologetic statements reflected significantly greater sadness and less anger. In regression and subsequent dominance analyses we found that sadness and anger were the most important emotions to apologizing. We also found that anger moderated the association between sadness and the likelihood of apologizing such that as anger increased the effect of sadness decreased. Taken together these findings suggest that apologies for severe transgressions involve a delicate balance between sadness and anger rather than either emotion in isolation.

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Psychophysiological underpinnings of proactive and reactive aggression in young men and women

Cited by 19 publications

References 58 publications

Neurobiological Responses towards Stimuli Depicting Aggressive Interactions in Delinquent Young Adults and Controls: No Relation to Reactive and Proactive Aggression

Neurobiological Responses towards Stimuli Depicting Aggressive Interactions in Delinquent Young Adults and Controls: No Relation to Reactive and Proactive Aggression

Autonomic nervous system reactivity and preschoolers’ social dominance

Identifying the emotions behind apologies for severe transgressions

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