The Relationship Between Implicit and Explicit Violent Self-Concept and Violent Behaviour

Abstract

Violent self-concept (i.e., the association between self and violent) has been found to be associated with acts of aggression violent behaviour (Nunes et al., 2015). The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between implicit and explicit violent self-concept and self-reported violent behaviour in 138 male undergraduate students. The Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald et al., 1998) was adapted via pilot testing to assess implicit violent self-concept (VSC-IAT), whereas explicit violent self-concept and violent behaviour were each assessed with two self-report measures. Correlational analyses indicated that explicit violent self-concept was related to prior self-reported violent behaviour; however, implicit violent self-concept was not. These findings may provide valuable information regarding the measurement of implicit and explicit violent self-concept and the association between violent self-concept and self-reported violent behaviour.