Understanding Aggression, Stress and Beliefs.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding Aggression, Stress and Beliefs: can aggression-supportive beliefs together with response to a stressor predict aggressive behaviour.
IRAS ID
263017
Contact name
Ivan Sebalo
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Ethics & Integrity Unit, Research Services, University of Central Lancashire
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 12 days
Research summary
Research Summary:
The current study will investigate how stress interacts with aggression-supportive cognitions in the formation of aggressive responses among forensic and student populations. Current research has suggested that cognitions supporting the use of aggression play a primary role in such behaviour. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that in stressful situations people tend to exhibit more aggression. However, the interaction of these two potential predictors of aggression has not been empirically examined. Thus, the current study aims to address this lack of research, assess predictive powers of aggression-supportive cognitions and stress reactivity, and thereby further the understanding of aggressive behaviour.
At least 35 male students from the University of Central Lancashire and 35 forensic psychiatric patients from Ashworth Hospital, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust will be asked to participate in the study. All participants will be asked to complete questionnaires assessing their history of aggression and aggression-supportive cognitions. They will further be asked to complete a moderate stress-inducing task and then to engage in a computer-based task that will estimate aggression levels in their responses. Individual and combined responses will be assessed with regards to physiological measurement and aggression-supportive cognitions.
The main eligibility criteria will include individual’s capacity to provide informed consent, sufficient understanding of the English language, and comprehension of the study. The study will utilise both paper-based questionnaires and physiological outcomes, measured electronically. The study will last approximately 60 minutes and all data will be stored anonymously.Summary of Results:
It was expected that aggression supportive cognitions and stress would be positively associated with aggressive behaviour. An experimental paradigm was used to induce stress and participants were then given the opportunity to behave aggressively. An Implicit Theory “I am the law” was found to be associated with aggression. Also, elevated skin conductance, but not changes in the heart rate, during the stress task was positively associated with aggression among patients but not among students.Summary of Results:
Data collection began as planned, but face-to-face research had to be stopped prematurely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that point, 31 male participants had completed the study: 20 university students and 11 patients from a high-secure forensic hospital. The original target had been 70 participants. As a result, the final sample was smaller than intended, and the findings should therefore be regarded as preliminary.
Participants completed measures of their previous aggressive behaviour and beliefs that might support the use of aggression. They also completed a computer task designed to produce a mild stress response, followed by a task in which they could select the intensity of an unpleasant noise that they believed would be delivered to another participant. This provided an experimental measure of aggressive responding. Heart rate and skin conductance were recorded to measure participants' physiological response to stress.
The stress task produced a measurable increase in skin conductance, although it did not produce a significant change in heart rate, suggesting that it acted as a relatively mild stressor. One particular aggression-supportive belief, described as “I am the law”, was associated with more aggressive responding in the experimental task. Participants who showed a greater increase in skin conductance during the stress task also tended to respond more aggressively. This relationship appeared to be present particularly among the forensic patient group; changes in heart rate were not associated with aggressive responding.
Some of the physiological recordings were subsequently lost because of data corruption, meaning that analyses involving heart rate and skin conductance were based on 17 participants. Together with the premature termination of recruitment, this substantially reduced the statistical power of the study. The findings were therefore interpreted cautiously as preliminary evidence rather than definitive conclusions.
The data collected were subsequently written up as Study 1 of a peer-reviewed publication examining the role of cognition and stress in aggressive responding and were also included as a chapter of the PhD thesis. The full reference for the publication: Sebalo, I., Ireland, J. L., & Chu, S. (2022). The centrality of cognition and coping styles in driving aggressive responses. International journal of law and psychiatry, 85, 101842. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2022.101842
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/YH/0227
Date of REC Opinion
13 Sep 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion