Troublemakers
Age, period, and cohort effects in conduct problems among American adolescents from 1991 through 2015
Katherine Keyes et al.
American Journal of Epidemiology, forthcoming
Abstract:
While arrest rates for juvenile offenses have substantially decreased since the 1990s, U.S. national trends in conduct problems are unknown. Population variation in conduct problems would imply changes in the social environment, including emergent or receding risk factors. The present study separated age, period, and cohort effects in conduct problems using nationally representative surveys of 375,879 U.S. students, conducted annually, 1991-2015. Summed score of seven items measuring frequency of conduct problems was the outcome. Conduct problems have decreased over the past 25 years among boys; the total amount of the decrease was approximately 0.4 standard deviations (p < 0.01), and by item prevalence, the total amount of the decrease was 8-11%. Declines are best explained by period effects beginning ~2008, and a declining cohort effect beginning among those born after 1992, suggesting not only population level declines, but more rapid declines among younger cohorts of boys. Trends were also consistent with age-period-cohort effects in evenings spent out, suggesting one possible mechanism. Conduct problems among girls were lower than boys and did not demonstrate trends over time. These changes may reflect the changing nature of adolescence towards less unsupervised interaction.
Backfire of Good Intentions: Unexpected Long-term Contact Intervention Effects in an Intractable Conflict Area
Kerstin Guffler & Ulrich Wagner
Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
We investigated whether an intergroup contact intervention that included two intergroup meetings between Jewish and Arab Israeli students in Israel led to improved long-term intergroup relations. Besides our interest in long-term intergroup contact effects in an intractable conflict, we analyzed minority–majority differences in this context. Before we calculated our results, measurement equivalence across time was ascertained. Data were computed using latent change models. Results for minority members (Arab Israeli) showed positive short- but no long-term contact intervention effects, that is, attitudes and behavior intentions improved shortly after the intervention but went back to the before-intervention level after nine weeks. Contrary to our expectation for majority members (Jewish Israeli), the intervention led to a reduction of positive intergroup relations both in the short- and long-run. By merging quantitative data with students’ comments about their intergroup experience, we identified that this effect was probably based on negative contact experiences. Results are discussed.
Excessive users of violent video games do not show emotional desensitization: An fMRI study
Gregor Szycik et al.
Brain Imaging and Behavior, June 2017, Pages 736–743
Abstract:
Playing violent video games have been linked to long-term emotional desensitization. We hypothesized that desensitization effects in excessive users of violent video games should lead to decreased brain activations to highly salient emotional pictures in emotional sensitivity brain regions. Twenty-eight male adult subjects showing excessive long-term use of violent video games and age and education matched control participants were examined in two experiments using standardized emotional pictures of positive, negative and neutral valence. No group differences were revealed even at reduced statistical thresholds which speaks against desensitization of emotion sensitive brain regions as a result of excessive use of violent video games.
The object of my aggression: Sexual objectification increases physical aggression toward women
Eduardo Vasquez et al.
Aggressive Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Objectification involves reducing someone to a sexual object, rather than seeing them as a full person. Despite numerous theoretical claims that people are more aggressive toward the objectified, and empirical evidence that objectification is linked to high willingness to aggress, rape proclivity, and aggressive attitudes, no research has examined a causal link between objectification and physical aggression, particularly in the context of provocation. In two experiments, we examined this predicted link. In Experiment 1, using a 2 (objectification: no/yes) × 2 (provocation: no/yes) factorial between-subjects design, we investigated the effects of objectification, induced via body focus during a face-to-face interaction, and provocation on physical aggression toward a female confederate. Our results revealed a significant main effect of provocation, a marginal main effect of objectification, and a significant interaction between these variables. In the absence of a provocation, focusing on a woman's body increased aggression toward her. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1 using a video of a target woman instead of a face-to-face interaction. Again, our results showed a significant two-way interaction between objectification and provocation, wherein objectification increased aggression in the absence of provocation. Overall, this research indicates that objectification can lead to heightened physical aggression toward objectified women.
Access to a Loaded Gun Without Adult Permission and School-Based Bullying
Maayan Simckes et al.
Journal of Adolescent Health, forthcoming
Methods: We used data on students, aged 12–18 years, from the 2011 and 2013 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey to assess the association between self-reported bullying victimization (traditional and cyber) and access to a loaded gun without adult permission. Prevalence ratios (PRs) and confidence intervals (CIs) were obtained from multivariable Poisson regression using the Taylor series after controlling for student age, sex, family income, public/private school, and race.
Results: Of 10,704 participants, 4.2% (95% CI: 3.8%–4.6%) reported gun access. Compared with nonbullied students, those who reported traditional bullying (PR = 2.2; 95% CI: 1.7–2.4), cyberbullying (PR = 2.8; 95% CI: 1.6–4.9), and both (PR = 5.9; 95% CI: 4.6–7.7) were more likely to also report gun access.
Examining the effect of prenatal testosterone and aggression on sporting choice and sporting longevity
Scott Reed & Jennifer Meggs
Personality and Individual Differences, 1 October 2017, Pages 11–15
Abstract:
Digit ratio (2D:4D; a putative correlate of prenatal testosterone) has been reported to be negatively associated with aggression in non-sporting and sporting populations. 2D:4D has previously been suggested to be a potential biomarker for successful competitive performance within football, rugby, athletics, skiing, and gym-based exercises. However, to date no study has attempted to investigate prenatal testosterone levels as a predictor of sporting choice. This study included a sample of both athletes and non-sports people in order to examine associations between prenatal testosterone (2D:4D), aggression, choice of sport (contact vs. non-contact), attainment level, and longevity. 200 male participants completed a self-report measure for aggression followed by providing a hand scan, which was later used to measure 2D:4D using Vernier Calipers. Results showed individuals involved in sport exhibited significantly greater levels of both prenatal testosterone (lower 2D:4D) and physical aggression compared with their non-sporting counterparts. Athletes from contact sports (rugby and football) were found to have significantly lower 2D:4D and significantly higher levels of physical aggression compared to athletes from non-contact sports (basketball, golf, weight-training, badminton). Additional findings, regarding longevity, showed those exposed to higher levels of prenatal testosterone (low 2D:4D) had been involved in sport for more years compared to those with high 2D:4D, adjusting for age. Findings may contribute to more reliable predictions of sporting selection and longevity. Future studies should look to replicate findings across a greater variety of sports using professional/elite populations.
Impulsive-antisocial psychopathic traits linked to increased volume and functional connectivity within prefrontal cortex
Cole Korponay et al.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, July 2017, Pages 1169-1178
Abstract:
Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by callous lack of empathy, impulsive antisocial behavior, and criminal recidivism. Studies of brain structure and function in psychopathy have frequently identified abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex. However, findings have not yet converged to yield a clear relationship between specific subregions of prefrontal cortex and particular psychopathic traits. We performed a multimodal neuroimaging study of prefrontal cortex volume and functional connectivity in psychopathy, using a sample of adult male prison inmates (N = 124). We conducted volumetric analyses in prefrontal subregions, and subsequently assessed resting-state functional connectivity in areas where volume was related to psychopathy severity. We found that overall psychopathy severity and Factor 2 scores (which index the impulsive/antisocial traits of psychopathy) were associated with larger prefrontal subregion volumes, particularly in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, Factor 2 scores were also positively correlated with functional connectivity between several areas of the prefrontal cortex. The results were not attributable to age, race, IQ, substance use history, or brain volume. Collectively, these findings provide evidence for co-localized increases in prefrontal cortex volume and intra-prefrontal functional connectivity in relation to impulsive/antisocial psychopathic traits.
Parochial Empathy Predicts Reduced Altruism and the Endorsement of Passive Harm
Emile Bruneau, Mina Cikara & Rebecca Saxe
Social Psychological and Personality Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Empathic failures are common in hostile intergroup contexts; repairing empathy is therefore a major focus of peacebuilding efforts. However, it is unclear which aspect of empathy is most relevant to intergroup conflict. Although trait empathic concern predicts prosociality in interpersonal settings, we hypothesized that the best predictor of meaningful intergroup attitudes and behaviors might not be the general capacity for empathy (i.e., trait empathy), but the difference in empathy felt for the in-group versus the out-group, or “parochial empathy.” Specifically, we predicted that out-group empathy would inhibit intergroup harm and promote intergroup helping, whereas in-group empathy would have the opposite effect. In three intergroup contexts — Americans regarding Arabs, Hungarians regarding refugees, Greeks regarding Germans — we found support for this hypothesis. In all samples, in-group and out-group empathy had independent, significant, and opposite effects on intergroup outcomes, controlling for trait empathic concern.