Affiliation:
1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Emory University Atlanta Georgia USA
2. Department of Psychological Sciences Purdue University West Lafayette Georgia USA
3. Department of Psychology Virginia State University Petersburg Virginia USA
4. Department of Psychology Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond Virginia USA
5. Department of Psychology Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan USA
6. Department of Psychology University of Georgia Athens Georgia USA
Abstract
AbstractAccording to sociocognitive theories, aggression is learned and elicited through a series of cognitive processes, such as expectancies, or the various consequences that an individual considers more or less likely following aggressive behavior. The current manuscript describes a measurement development project that ultimately yielded a 16‐item measure of positive and negative aggression expectancies suitable for use in adult populations. Across two content generation surveys, two preliminary item refinement studies, and three full studies, we took an iterative approach and administered large item pools to several samples and refined item content through a combination of empirical (i.e., factor loadings, model fit) and conceptual (i.e., content breadth, non‐redundancy) considerations. The Aggression Expectancy Questionnaire displays a four‐factor structure, as well as evidence of convergent and divergent validity with self‐reported aggression and relevant basic (e.g., antagonism, anger) and complex (e.g., psychopathy) personality variables. It is posited that this type of cognitive mechanism may serve as an intermediary link between distal characterological predictors of aggression and its proximal manifestation, which is in line with several prominent theories of personality and may ultimately hold clinical utility by providing a framework for aggression interventions.
Subject
General Psychology,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous),Developmental and Educational Psychology