Sugar or spice: Using I³ metatheory to understand how and why glucose reduces rejection‐related aggression

Abstract

Social rejection can increase aggression, especially among people high in rejection sensitivity.Rejection impairs self-control, and deficits in self-control often result in aggression. A dose of glucose can counteract the effect of situational factors that undermine self-control. But no research has integrated these literatures to understand why rejection increases aggression, and how to reduce it. Using the I 3 model of aggression, we proposed that aggression would be highest under conditions of high instigation (rejection), high impellance (high rejection sensitivity), and low inhibition (drinking a beverage sweetened with a sugar substitute instead of glucose). As predicted, aggression was highest among participants who experienced social rejection, were high in rejection sensitivity, and who drank a placebo beverage. A dose of glucose reduced aggression, especially among rejected people high in rejection sensitivity.These findings point to the importance of self-control in understanding why social rejection increases aggression, and how to prevent it. (149 words)

Effects of rejection intensity and rejection sensitivity on social approach behavior in women

“…Hence, it may simply be that for our outcome variable, RS didn't overcome the strong effects of rejection. While RS did not moderate effects of rejection in this study, there are studies, where RS could be identified as important moderator [67,68]. Future studies should therefore include the assessment of RS while investigating the effects of state rejection and analyze trait RS as potential moderator.…”

Rejection Sensitivity and Reactive Aggression in Early Adults: The Mediating Role of Loneliness and Maladaptive Coping

“…For example, researchers have demonstrated this positive relationship in different samples including children (Jacobs & Harper, 2013), teenagers (Bondü & Krahé, 2015), and adults (Bondue & Richter, 2016). Additionally, Pfundmair et al (2015) and Fan and Ning (2018) also verified this positive relationship by using experimental designs, respectively. The Rejection Sensitivity Model suggested that the early experience of being rejected or ignored by significant others would lead to the formation of rejection sensitivity, which would affect individuals' cognition, emotion, and behavior in subsequent interpersonal interactions (Downey & Feldman, 1996;Romero-Canyas et al, 2010).…”

The Intersection of Ultra-Processed Foods, Neuropsychiatric Disorders, and Neurolaw: Implications for Criminal Justice

“…Researchers also reported that among criminal offenders (vs. healthy non-offender controls), an oral glucose challenge leads to initially higher levels of blood glucose and a subsequent lower glucose nadir in the period following glucose consumption [ 241 , 242 , 243 , 244 ]. More recent evidence supports the idea that, after initial consumption, glucose reduces aggressive tendencies and increases helping behavior under stress [ 245 , 246 ]. However, this benefit may be short-lived.…”