The jerk
David Yeager et al.
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Highly visible tragedies in high schools thought to involve bullying have directly contributed to public support for state-mandated K-12 anti-bullying programming. But are existing programs actually effective for these older adolescents? This paper first outlines theoretical considerations, including developmental changes in (a) the manifestation of bullying, (b) the underlying causes of bullying, and (c) the efficacy of domain-general behavior-change tactics. This review leads to the prediction of a discontinuity in program efficacy among older adolescents. The paper then reports a novel meta-analysis of studies that administered the same program to multiple age groups and measured levels of bullying (k = 19, with 72 effect sizes). By conducting a hierarchical meta-analysis of the within-study moderation of efficacy by age, more precise estimates of age-related trends were possible. Results were consistent with theory in that whereas bullying appears to be effectively prevented in 7th grade and below, in 8th grade and beyond there is a sharp drop to an average of zero. This finding contradicts past meta-analyses that used between-study tests of moderation. This paper provides a basis for a theory of age-related moderation of program effects that may generalize to other domains. The findings also suggest the more general need for caution when interpreting between-study meta-analytic moderation results.
---------------------
Fetal Testosterone and Criminality: Test of Evolutionary Neuroandrogenic Theory
Anthony Hoskin & Lee Ellis
Criminology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Evolutionary neuroandrogenic (ENA) theory asserts that criminality is a crude form of competitive behavior over resources, status, and mating opportunities. Theoretically, males have been selected for resource acquisitiveness as a result of female preferences for mates who are successful at resource provisioning. ENA theory also asserts that brain exposure to both prenatal and postpubertal androgens (particularly testosterone) promotes all forms of competitiveness, including those that victimize others. The present study was undertaken to test ENA theory by correlating 14 self-reported measures of offending with a biomarker for fetal testosterone exposure based on the ratio of the 2nd and 4th digits of the right hand (r2D:4D), in a nonrepresentative sample of 445. Both Spearman correlations and negative binomial regressions produced results that largely supported the hypothesized connection between offending and high prenatal androgen exposure, even when findings were analyzed separately by sex. Also, offending was significantly associated with r2D:4D for both males and females. Overall, this study supports the view that exposing the brain to high levels of testosterone and other androgens prenatally elevates the probability of offending later in life.
---------------------
Shawn Geniole & Cheryl McCormick
Evolution and Human Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Snap judgements of threat based on exposure to the human face were likely maintained throughout history because they facilitated survival when encountering strangers. If an evolved adaptation, then such judgements should rely on static facial cues that are not masked by facial hair, as may have been the case for our ancestors. We show that the facial width-to-height ratio (FWHR) is not obscured by facial hair and that it reliably and consistently cues observers' (n = 56) judgements of aggression, but not of masculinity, in bearded (r = .59) and in non-bearded (r = .66) versions of the same male faces. The high reliability of the FWHR irrespective of facial hair and the evidence that judgements of threat based on the FWHR have some accuracy, suggests our perceptual system may have evolved to be sensitive to the FWHR along with the perceptual bias to extract information preferentially from the upper-face.
---------------------
Dustin Albert et al.
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, forthcoming
Abstract:
Early interventions are a preferred method for addressing behavioral problems in high-risk children, but often have only modest effects. Identifying sources of variation in intervention effects can suggest means to improve efficiency. One potential source of such variation is the genome. We conducted a genetic analysis of the Fast Track randomized control trial, a 10-year-long intervention to prevent high-risk kindergarteners from developing adult externalizing problems including substance abuse and antisocial behavior. We tested whether variants of the glucocorticoid receptor gene NR3C1 were associated with differences in response to the Fast Track intervention. We found that in European-American children, a variant of NR3C1 identified by the single-nucleotide polymorphism rs10482672 was associated with increased risk for externalizing psychopathology in control group children and decreased risk for externalizing psychopathology in intervention group children. Variation in NR3C1 measured in this study was not associated with differential intervention response in African-American children. We discuss implications for efforts to prevent externalizing problems in high-risk children and for public policy in the genomic era.
---------------------
Ryan Boyd & Michael Robinson
Self and Identity, March/April 2015, Pages 147-156
Abstract:
Some theories of self-enhancement posit that very positive views of the self can disinhibit acting hostilely toward others, particularly in the context of provocation or negative feedback. Dynamics of this type was proposed as a function of individual differences in implicit egotism. Individual differences in implicit egotism were quantified on the basis of name-letter preferences, following which the same (N = 97) participants completed a daily life protocol for two consecutive weeks. Cross-level interactions revealed that the highest frequencies of hostile behavior were particular to participants high (relative to low) in implicit egotism on days of high provocation or negative feedback. The findings encourage greater attention to the potential interpersonal costs of high levels of implicit egotism.
---------------------
Olivia Choy et al.
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, forthcoming
Objectives: Tests the hypothesis that the social adversity-antisocial behavior relationship is partly mediated by a biological mechanism, low heart rate.
Method: 18 indicators of social adversity and heart rate measured at rest and in anticipation of a speech stressor were assessed alongside nine measures of antisocial behavior including delinquency (Youth Self-Report [YSR] and Child Behavior Checklist [CBCL]), conduct disorder (Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder Questionnaire), and child psychopathy (Antisocial Process Screening Device [APSD]) in a community sample of 388 children aged 11 to 12 years. PROCESS was used to test mediation models.
Results: Low heart rate was a partial mediator of the adversity-antisocial behavior relationship, explaining 20.35 percent and 15.40 percent of the effect of social adversity on delinquency and overall antisocial behavior, respectively.
Conclusions: Findings are, to the authors' knowledge, one of the first to establish any biological risk factor as a mediator of the social adversity-antisocial behavior relationship and suggest that social processes alter autonomic functioning in a way to predispose to antisocial behavior. While not definitive, results give rise to a social neurocriminology theory that argues that the social environment influences biological risk factors in a way to predispose to antisocial and criminal behavior.