Antisocial thoughts, such as those related to hurting people, may play a key role in causing aggressive behavior. For example, the prominent explanation for the effect of media violence on aggression proposes that media violence increases aggression because it primes or activates thoughts centered around antisocial actions. Once primed, such antisocial thoughts are more likely to guide in the interpretation of new events as well as the selection of one's actions. The proposed research builds on such a cognitive explanation for aggression. The project will examine individual differences in aggression on the basis of the speed with which people can categorize prosocial and antisocial words. In addition, the project will also examine individual differences in the extent to which one antisocial concept primes another antisocial concept, as well as the extent to which distress and antisocial thoughts are connected. These differences in cognitive processes between individuals will be correlated with aggression-related traits as well as with behavior and experience in everyday life. The project will also involve using cognitive measures to predict aggressive behaviors in the laboratory, particularly following exposure to media violence and manipulations of psychological distress. Finally, the project proposes to extend the cognitive analysis of aggression by manipulating the cognitive processes that may give rise to aggressive behavior. Preliminary findings suggest that such research may reveal new insights about the causes, correlates, and prevention of aggression. For this reason, this project will have implications for the assessment and treatment of aggressive-prone individuals.
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