The Impact of Multiple Opportunities for Aggression on Aggressive Thoughts, Behaviors, and Motivations

• Main Author: Hull, Kristen Nicole
• Format: Others
• Published: UNF Digital Commons 2016
• Subjects: Thesis; University of North Florida; UNF; Dissertations; Academic > UNF > Psychology; Academic > UNF > Master of Arts in General Psychology; aggression; aggressive behavior; aggressive thoughts; aggressive motivations; revenge; moral licensing; Experimental Analysis of Behavior; Personality and Social Contexts
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/642; http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1677&context=etd

Opportunities for aggression occur frequently and unpredictably, but little research to our knowledge has investigated the impact of the mere presence of multiple opportunities on aggression over time. Two studies, one with a Canadian sample (163 participants) and one with an American sample (103 participants) were conducted to analyze the impact of the number of opportunities for aggression on justified and unjustified aggressive thoughts, behaviors, and motivations. Individually, these studies yielded the result that justified aggression remains stable over time, but that unjustified aggression decreases when an individual is given multiple opportunities. Combined, they indicated that justified aggression increased when participants had a second opportunity. Future research is proposed to understand the impact of moral licensing on aggression over time, and to understand why unjustified aggression occurs.