Ratings Creep: The Increase In Offensive Content In Movies Over Time, Alexandria N. Tatum

2024 Spring Honors Capstone Projects

Aggression, influenced by a range of factors including media exposure, remains a significant societal concern. Drawing from Bandura's social cognitive theory, it is important to examine violence in media because its exposure can have a long-term effect on the viewers. Furthermore, studies suggest a correlation between media exposure and aggressive behavior, emphasizing the need for comprehensive analysis of content portrayal. To regulate exposure to offensive content, movies are usually ranked using the MPAA’s rating system. Yet, there has been an observed ratings creep in this system (i.e., the progressive escalation of offensive content in films). The current study hypothesizes that …

The Relationship Between Perfectionism And Aggression In Collegiate Athletes, Mia Colucci

Honors College Theses

The traits of perfectionism and aggression in modern society are pervasive. Negative effects of both perfectionistic and aggressive behavior are well-documented, including increased risk of mental illness, such as anxiety, depression, and eating disorders (Wade & Tiggeman, 2013; Wheeler et al., 2011; Chung et al., 2019; Koivula et al., 2002). Perfectionism and aggression are traits seen independently in collegiate athletes and are relevant traits when assessing an athletes psychological profile. While the two traits have been linked previously in the general population (Chester, 2015), little research exists to link the two in collegiate athletes. This study’s purpose is to discover …

Rock, Rap, And Rage: Which Genre Elicits Negative Emotional Contagion, Sarah Vinson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Previous studies have analyzed the effects of the heavy metal and rap music genres, both together and separately, to study the music’s influence on aggressive behavior. A lack of studies analyzing the effect of one group against the other are available to assess which group it is that elicits higher negative emotional contagion. The current study is a follow-up to a pilot study conducted to assess whether it was heavy metal or rap music that elicited higher negative emotional contagion. Personality type using the 10-Item Big Five Inventory and the Trait Anger Scale allowed the researcher to compare several personality …

Cyberbullying, Relational, And Social Aggression, Latitia Lattanzio

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cyberbullying is a relatively new phenomenon that has only begun to be significantly investigated within the last decade. To date, researchers have failed to develop a uniform definition or determine appropriate terminology. These deficits have inhibited a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon. Although a comprehensive conceptualization of cyberbullying has yet to be established, the phenomenon has been recognized as a significant problem affecting our youth. Many of the existing studies are descriptive in nature and emphasize the need for more research. In an effort to drive future studies, many have postulated on the possible similarities between cyberbullying and traditional indirect …

The Effects Of Mortality Salience And Team Identification On Sports Fans' Willingness To Consider Anonymous Acts Of Aggression, Sagan L. Ladd

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The current study sought to understand if mortality salience and identification with the University of Kentucky men’s varsity basketball team (UK) would interact in such a way as to influence participants’ willingness to engage in anonymous acts of aggression toward fans, coaches and players of rival sport teams. A research question was also evaluated which asked if mortality salience might be a potential mediator between participants’ identification and their likelihood to engage in anonymous acts of aggression. Results indicated that mortality salience was not a significant predictor and there was no significant interaction between identification and mortality salience. As a …

Understanding Tendencies Of Aggressive Behavior And Cognition As Related To Alcohol Use And Intimate Partner Violence, Taylor D. Thomas Ms.

Honors College Theses

The term intimate partner violence (IPV) refers to any act of aggression (physical or emotional) committed within an intimate relationship by one partner against the other, regardless of gender, sexual intimacy, or sexual orientation. One of the leading risk factors for IPV is the regular abuse of alcohol (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2014). High levels of alcohol consumption predict an increase in aggression in individuals with aggressive dispositions (Barnwell et al., 2006). Extensive research exists on the relationship between alcohol use and IPV, yet there is a dearth in the literature investigating the complexities of the alcohol use-IPV relationship …

Re-Specifying The Sacred Values Scale, Adon Lee Neria

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

An object or value becomes sacred when a person feels compelled to protect and admire it. When a person holds a Sacred Value (SV) they are less likely to accept compromises, or "taboo tradeoffs," to that value and will behave less rationally to protect it from perceived slights. Though research on SV has replicated well, there has yet to be a popularized scale measuring it. A previous attempt at developing a multidimensional scale for measuring the degree to which a person holds any value as sacred was made that resulted in a 15-item measure. Though this version demonstrated good predictive …

Effects Of Oxytocin On Human Aggression, Joseph L. Alcorn Iii

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

EFFECTS OF OXYTOCIN ON HUMAN AGGRESSION

Joseph Louis Alcorn III, B.S.

Advisory Professor: Scott D. Lane, Ph.D.

Human interaction is comprised of common, yet complex, behaviors and the outcomes of these social behaviors can beneficially or detrimentally impact individual and public health. One social behavior that can have profound detrimental outcomes is aggression. Aggression is a class of social behavior that is particularly prevalent in individuals with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and comorbid substance use disorder (SUD). Aggression in these individuals can manifest at maladaptive levels that place considerable burdens on public health and communities. Therefore, understanding the neurobehavioral underpinnings …

Friend Or Foe: The Effect Of Shared Group Status On Aggressiveness And Testosterone In Response To Provocation, Eric William Fuller

Wayne State University Dissertations

Previous research has found that individuals display behavioral and hormonal differences when engaged in competition with natural and experimental ingroup and outgroup members. The current work expands on this line of research by examining the impact of shared group status on reactive aggression in response to provocation. Using a previously validated measure of reactive aggression, participants were provoked by and given a chance to aggress on to either a racial ingroup or outgroup member. Participants also provided saliva samples to allow for monitoring changes in testosterone. It was hypothesized that behavioral aggression would be predicted by changes in testosterone and …

Reactivity And Distortions In The Self: Narcissism, Types Of Aggression, And The Functioning Of The Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis During Early Adolescence, William M. Bukowski, Alex Schwartzman, Jonathan Bruce Santo, Catherine Bagwell, Ryan Adams

Psychology Faculty Publications

A multisample, multistudy project aimed at understanding how individual differences in narcissism during early adolescence are related to distortions in the aggression, and the reactivity of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis to negative and positive experiences. The findings indicate that individual differences in narcissism are a remarkably stable aspect of personality during early adolescence. It is predictably related to an inflated view of the self that is not warranted by objective indices of social functioning. Further evidence shows that it promotes the continuity of aggressive behavior and is more strongly related to reactive aggression than to proactive aggression and more strongly related …

Scientific Facts, Misinformation, And Disinformation: On Media Violence, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article critiques a recent publication in the American Psychological Association's (APA) flagship journal, American Psychologist. This publication asserts that media reporting on scientific research concerning the effects of media violence on human psychology underreports those effects and misinforms the public.

Preventing Political Violence: Instincts And Their Vicissitudes, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes some of the implications of hypothesizing an aggression instinct for preventing political violence.

The Philosophy Of Political Conflict: The Example Of Punishment, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article posits a basic philosophical substrate of inevitable political conflict as opposed to more common psychological ones.