Citation

Santor DA, Ingram A, Kusumakar V. Aggressive Behav. 2003; 29(6): 475-488.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, International Society for Research on Aggression, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

We examined the extent to which executive functioning difficulties were related to verbal aggression under conditions of gradually increasing or decreasing provocation over both winning and losing trials. Sixty adolescent boys and girls completed a modified Taylor aggression paradigm in which verbally offensive remarks were sent and received. Results showed (a) that during increasing levels of provocation, verbal aggression increased on both winning and losing trials, (b) that verbal aggression decreased during decreasing levels of provocation but only on losing trials, and (c) that difficulties on two measures of executive functioning were related to verbal aggression, but only in the context of increasing verbal provocation. Individuals with executive functioning difficulties responded with more verbal aggression than did individuals with less severe executive functioning difficulties. Results have implications for the manner in which provocation is studied and for understanding the conditions in which executive functioning difficulties contribute to verbal aggression.