Anger, Attitudes, and Aggressive Behavior: Exploring the Affective and Cognitive Foundations of Angry Aggression

Abstract

Although general strain theory highlights the role of affective processes in the development of offending behavior, the theory also recognizes the role of cognition. In fact, Agnew and other theorists assert that affective and cognitive processes are interrelated and function together in producing crime and delinquency. In the case of aggression, for example, chronic strain/anger may distort the individual’s attitudes, expand the “regulative rules” associated with aggressive behavior, and increase the perceived legitimacy of a violent response. In this study, the author conducts an empirical examination of this argument using data from a national survey of male adolescents. The findings help to shed light on the affective and cognitive foundations of angry aggression; they not only confirm the key role assigned to angry arousal but also indicate that such arousal leads individuals to devalue nonaggressive responses to various provocations. Implications for criminological theory are discussed.