Personality, mating effort and alcohol-related violence expectancies

Abstract

The current study investigated whether scores on the Alcohol Related Aggression Questionnaire (ARAQ) were predictable from the independent influences of personality and intra-sexual competition as measured by the mating effort scale (MES) and whether education had a protective factor in any relationship that arose. Ninety-five participants completed personality, MES and ARAQ scales. Hierachical linear regression independently entering MES followed by agreeableness, conscientiousness, age, education and sex found alcohol-aggression expectancies were predicted by higher MES and younger age; alcohol-related trait aggression was predicted by higher MES, lower agreeableness and younger age; alcohol-related sensitivity to pain and anxiety was related to higher MES and younger age; an expectation of drinking cheap but high potency alcoholic beverages was primarily associated with higher MES alone. These results show that mating effort has a disproportionate influence upon different facets of alcohol-aggression expectancies relative to even established constructs such as personality, and that much of alcohol-related violence in social contexts, may reflect intra-sexual competition and forces within the individual that lead them to discount the future.

“Me Getting Plastered and Her Provoking My Eyes”

“…Instead, alcohol interacts with other variables to produce violent outcomes (Graham, 2009; Wells, Graham, & Tremblay, 2009). For example, individuals who see violence as situationally appropriate/necessary or who have aggressive personalities are more likely to experience alcohol-related aggression (Egan & Hamilton, 2008; Leonard et al, 2003; Quigley & Leonard, 2004). In addition, people’s beliefs about alcohol’s physical effects (i.e., their alcohol expectancies) affect the likelihood that consumption will lead to violence (Barnwell et al, 2006; Quigley, Corbett, & Tedeschi, 2002; Tremblay, Mihic, Graham, & Jelley, 2007).…”

“…Structural factors like overcrowding, narrow hallways/doors, loud noise, poor ventilation, lack of or poorly trained security staff, and lack of proper seating have been linked to disproportionately high rates of aggressive behavior (Forsyth & Lennox, 2010; Graham, Bernards, Osgood, & Wells, 2012; Graham et al, 2004; Hobbs, O’Brien, & Westmarland, 2007; Roberts, 2007; Schnitzer et al, 2010). Social factors such as a permissive atmosphere or reputation for violent conduct (Graham et al, 2000; Quigley & Leonard, 2004), commercialism (Anderson, Daly, & Rapp, 2009; Kavanaugh, 2013), competition or heightened concerns about sexuality (Anderson et al, 2009; Egan & Hamilton, 2008; Wells et al, 2009), and the perception that fighting is normal, acceptable, or even expected (Bernburg & Thorlindsson, 2005; Wells, Graham, & Tremblay, 2007; Wells, Neighbors, Tremblay, & Graham, 2011) also contribute to barroom aggression.…”

Understanding the experience of psychopathology after intimate partner violence: the role of personality

“…A final limitation of this study is that we did not collect data for variables that might mediate the relationship between high Harm Avoidance, low Self-Directedness and involvement in violence, and thus did not control for them. Future studies should therefore control variables such as alcohol abuse (Egan & Hamilton, 2008), effective problem-solving skills, levels of experienced stress (Hellmuth & McNulty, 2008), satisfaction with life (Dyrenforth et al, 2010), and history of maltreatment in childhood or characteristics of abuse (Bensley, Van Eenwyk & Simmons, 2003).…”

Anxiety, alcohol intoxication, and aggression

“…In many countries, young people socialize in bars and clubs, and it is in these social drinking venues that aggression and violence are more likely (Lang, Stockwell, Rydon, & Lockwood, 1995). The need for confidence may stem in part from mating effort, that is the competition for sexual partners that occurs in these social settings (Egan & Hamilton, 2008). These contexts are also likely to provoke anxiety in some young drinkers, in that to be part of the social scene is to risk meeting with violence.…”