Alcohol's Impact on Triggered Displaced Aggression

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

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Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Factors that mediate alcohol-induced aggression are not well- understood. Our long term goal is to develop an empirically based understanding of social factors that interact with alcohol intoxication to disjunctively increase aggression. Here, we focus on how provocation and cue salience interact with alcohol to violate the tit-for-tat matching rule - a rule that governs most social interaction. The proposed pilot research uses a newly validated experimental paradigm that reliably produces disjunctively escalated aggression-the triggered displaced aggression paradigm. It assesses two aspects of cue salience that might mediate the increased aggression shown by intoxicated participants: vividness of the aggression-arousing cue, and psychological state. The experimental designs control for alcohol expectancy effects. The results are likely to provide new insights that facilitate understanding of social and psychological processes involved in alcohol-induced aggression. Moreover, research on aspects of cue salience that might mediate alcoholinduced aggression will eventually provide important information that is relevant to reducing alcohol-related aggressive responding.