The effects of environmental resource and security on aggressive behavior

Abstract

Exposure to different environments has been reported to change aggressive behavior, but previous research did not consider the underlying elements that caused such an effect. Based on previous work on environmental perception, we examined the role of environmental resource and security in altering aggression level. In three experiments, participants were exposed to environments that varied in resource (High vs. Low) and security (High vs. Low) levels, after which aggression was measured. The environments were presented through visual priming (Experiments 1-2) and a first-person gameplay (Experiment 3). We observed a consistent resource-security interaction effect on aggression, operationalized as the level of noise blast (Experiment 1) and number of unpleasant pictures (Experiments 2-3) delivered to strangers by the participants. High resource levels associated with higher aggression in insecure conditions, but lower aggression in secure conditions. The findings suggest that the adaptive value of aggression varies under different environmental constraints. Implications are discussed in terms of the effects of adverse environments on aggression, and the nature's effects on social behavior. Aggr. Behav. 43:304-314, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Green Infrastructure, Green Stormwater Infrastructure, and Human Health: A Review

“…People expressed less aggression in resourcerich environments that felt safe, such as a savannah-like landscapes, but more aggression in environments with fewer resources and security, such as a desert. The authors suggested that the impact had more to do with resource availability, but the level of security played a role in the behavior and should not be overlooked [54]. Another study showed that children displayed more generous behaviors after being surrounded by tall trees [53].…”

“…More research is needed to establish stronger links between GI and pro-social behaviors, and many questions remain unanswered. For instance, all three of the Guégen et al [52], Piff et al [53], and Ng and Chow [54] studies reported different behaviors from two groups of participants. That means that we still did not know whether a person's tendency to exhibit pro-social behaviors can be influenced by GI exposure.…”

Nature Does Not Always Give You a Helping Hand: Comparing the Prosocial Effects of Nature at Different Resource and Security Levels

“…Demanding climates in China, which threatened resource supply and safety, predicted higher social connectedness (Van de Vliert, Yang, Wang, & Ren, 2012). Exposure to high-resource-high-security natural environments led to lower aggression than those that were resource-poor or insecure (Ng & Chow, 2017). In urban settings, more helping was reported among people possessing more social and economic resources (Korndörfer, Egloff, & Schmukle, 2015) and in safe cities with lower crime rates (Bach, Defever, Chopik, & Konrath, 2017; Levine, Martinez, Brase, & Sorenson, 1994).…”

The role of vulnerable environments in support for homegrown terrorism: Fieldwork using the 3N model

“…The results supported our hypothesis. First, we found that the environment matters (Ng & Chow, 2017). Muslims living in vulnerable environments, perceived more conflict between them and Christians, reported having worse social integration, attended the mosque more frequently, and presented higher support for terrorist activities.…”