personality and aggression the dissipation-rumination scale

personality and aggression the dissipation-rumination scale 文库 Personality and aggression the Dissipation-Rumination Scale Pergamon Person. indhid. Dff Vol. 22. No. 5, pp. 751- 755. 1997 C 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0191~8869/ 97 $17. 00+0. 00 PII: SO191-8869(96)00248-6 PERSONALITY AND AGGRESSION: THE DISSIPATION- RUMINATION SCALE Katrina Collins and Robert Bell School of Psychology. The Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast. Northern Ireland (Receirred 22 February 1995; receiaed for publicarion 27 Nooember 1996) Summary-This the Dissipation-Rumination Individual responses and opportunity or no provocation erate. As predicted displaying higher levels of aggression concluded that higher levels of aggression harbour thoughts and feelings of vengeance situation. This was discussed individuals. 8 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. study attempted to examine Scale (Caprara, situation aggression Personality and Indicidual Differences, 7, 763-769, 1986). in which there is a delay between instigation Forty males selected from the scale received either provocation and after a IO-minute interval were given the opportunity individual differences in responses were exhibited. with low dissipators-high when previously provoked, are exhibited by personality with the passage of time. when presented in relation to the cognitive factors within a personological framework by using to a provoking to retaliate were examined. of aggression to retaliate against a confed- ruminators F(15.215) = 0.000, P -C 0.05. It was types who have the tendency to with a provoking behaviour that affect the aggressive of INTRODUCTION Individual within the personological the previous experimental environmental variables (Geen, moderate aggression, determine why different Caprara & Pastorelli. examined the constructs of Punishment This refers to involuntary a subtype of affective aggression, emotional state in which the person (Feshbach, 1964). In an experimental the provocateur. Unlike emotional cognitive processes that affect aggressive behaviour. ences of provocation, expectations, 1987). Dissipation-rumination as a function of the lapse of time” (Konecni, of a single dimension of behaviour” toward rapid (high) dissipation rapid (high) rumination at the opposite end. In order to examine this phenomenon situations the Dissipation-Rumination Scale was devised (Caprara those individuals who are found to be high dissipators-low feelings of vengeance from a hostile situation. likely to deliberate over thoughts of retaliation. hostility displayed by an individual when provoked situation. The Dissipation-Rumination these situations (Caprara et al., 1985~; Caprara, Previous studies using this scale found differences in aggressive approach research on aggression, stressors and violation 1990). The personological the cognitive types of aggression 1993). Studies of Emotional (Caprara et al., 1992). Research on these constructs responses towards internal it refers to intent to harm, which is accompanied is aroused, situation this is shown as intent to harm or retaliation behaviour (Caprara, and related processes have received direct attention Barbaranelli & Comrey, 1992). The focus of much of has been on situational of norms, with less emphasis placed on individual approach attempts to examine and emotional processes that are involved are exhibited in specific situations concerned with individual differences Susceptibility, Irritability, Dissipation-Rumination has tested impulsive and external stimulation variables; e.g. frustration, differences how these variables and what factors (Caprara, in aggression 1987; have and Fear aggression. 1964). As by “a negative after provocation”, (Feshbach, exhibiting anger especially 文库 文库 against susceptibility and irritability, dissipation-rumination This refers to the storing in memory of experi- judgements and thoughts has been described as the “decrease or increase in aggressive conduct 1975). It is also considered (Caprara, 1986). At one end of the continuum and minimal (low) rumination, with minimal addresses the possible attributions. of retaliation (Caprara, to be the “opposite there is a tendency (low) dissipation in experimental et al., 1985b). From the scale, ruminators, do not tend to harbour Low dissipators-high ruminators, The scale is therefore designed to test the level of by threatened self-esteem Scale has been found to be a valid measure of hostility 1987). that Ss, when previously ends and however, are more in any experimental in provoked (insulted) selected 751 152 Personality type K. Collins and R. Bell Table 1. Treatment allocations Treatment A High dissipators-low B Low dissipators-high C High dissipators4ow D Low dissipators-high ruminators ruminators ruminators Provocation Provocation No provocation No ruminators provocation higher levels of shock than Ss in the no provocation dissipators-high ruminators who were previously insulted made less favourable evaluations of the provocateur, compared to high dissipators-low passage of time (24 hr) insult was found to be a powerful instigator of aggression. High dissipators- low ruminators displaying no evidence of dissipation (Caprara et al., 1985~). Zelli (1984) examined irritability, emotional susceptibility and dissipation-rumination. to be the best predictor of aggression and insult as a powerful instigator of aggression. As before, less favourable evaluations were made by low dissipators-high ruminators, when insulted than high dissipators-low ruminators, in the same condition. Dissipation-rumination was examined in this study. Failure on a learning task was used in the provocation condition. Negative judgement of a s’s performance on a learning task has been found to be an effective measure of provocation in previous experiments (Caprara, 1982; Caprara & Renzi, 1981; Caprara et al., 1983). Low dissipators-high ruminators have displayed higher levels of hostility and made less favourable evaluations towards the provocateur when similar provocation was used (e.g. Caprara et al., 1985a). This tendency to harbour insult or failure was also reflected in the high level of aggression displayed by low dissipators-high ruminators 24 hr after provocation (Caprara et al., 1985a). This highlights the power of provocation as an instigator of aggression. In this experiment two groups were selected using the Dissipation-Rumination were assigned to four smaller groups according to treatment allocation (see Table 1). Groups A and B were in the experimental condition. C and D were control groups. Assignment to the treatment group was random. Both personality type and treatment were independent vari- ables. The dependent variable was the level of aggression displayed by each S. This was measured by the number of masks (blasts of white noise) delivered by the Son the Human Irritable Aggression Paradigm (Buss, 1961). The hypothesis tested was: Low dissipators-high aggression than high dissipators-low ruminators when previously provoked. condition (Caprara et al., 198%). Low ruminators, who were also insulted. With the Dissipation-rumination was found Scale. The Ss ruminators will display higher levels of METHODS Subjects Forty undergraduate males were selected from 1st and 3rd year psychology classes. S selection was based on their responses on the Dissipation-Rumination percentile were described as low dissipators-high percentile were categorized as high dissipators-low ruminators. Each S was then randomly assigned to one of the four treatment conditions, with 10 Ss in each condition. Scale. Ss scoring above the 75th ruminators. Ss found to score below the 25th Procedure Ss selected on the basis of their 文库 文库 responses on the Dissipation-Rumination tasks in this experiment. Each S was first asked to read and answer questions about a short passage by H. G. Wells, The History of A4r Polly. Provocation was negative feedback on performance in this memory task. Feedback was only given to Ss in the experimental conditions. Control Ss who were not provoked did not receive feedback. In order to assess level of aggression after provocation, the Buss paradigm was administered to each S after a lo-minute interval. Ss were instructed about the game. They were informed they were playing an ‘opponent’ in the adjoining room. In order to play against the ‘opponent’, three buttons were used on the control panel in front of them. The buttons were marked points, deduct and mask. Scale completed two Personality and aggression 30 = 26 - $ 26 - 2 24 - 2 22- 0 2 20- :: 16- g I3 = l6 14 - - HIGH LOW DISSIPATORS-LOW DISSIPATORS-HIGH RUMINATORS RUMINATORS M 12 - PROVOCATION Fig. 1. Graph showing disordinal interaction between personality type and treatment. NO PROVOCATION 753 POINTS DEDUCTS MASKS Fig. 2. Graph showing significant main effect of deducts and masks at treatment for low dissipators-high ruminators. In order to score 1 point, the button was pressed 100 times. The Ss score registered in the corner of the screen. A point was deducted from the other person when the deduct button was pressed 10 times. This also applied to the mask button, which delivered a loud white noise to the ‘opponent’. The S was told that the other person could also deduct points and deliver a mask to him. The game lasted 15 minutes. “Time up” would appear on the screen after the game had ended. Each S was debriefed about the true purpose of the experiment and thanked for their cooperation. The total number of points, deducts and masks were calculated and printed out by the Buss paradigm machine. Aggression was measured by the number of masks delivered to the ‘opponent’ by the S. A high level of aggression was characterized by a greater number of masks. RESULTS Through analysis of variance a significant interaction was found between personality type and the treatment received; F(9.179) = 0.0045, P , 104, 76-102. Zelli, A. (1984). Ruolo delle differenze psicofisioligichce. Tesi di Laurea. Universita’ G. V. & Pastorelli, C. (1993). Early indicators of emotional stability, prosocial behaviour and aggression. European hypothesis vs irritability. G. (1983). Instigation The role of irritability Rech. Psicol. Sot, 3, 75-80. to aggress and emotional susceptibility. G. & Travaglia, perspective: and escalation of Aggressive of aggression and the regulation University of postannoyance of aggressive drive. Psychological Review, 71, 257-272. Press. type and duration activity and aggression: the cathartic effect. Journal individuali nella condotta delgi studi di Roma, ‘La Sapienza’. aggressiva: variabili Roma. di personalita, temperamentali, 文库