ALCOHOL AND AGGRESSION - EFFECTS OF PERSONAL THREAT ON HUMAN-AGGRESSION AND AFFECTIVE AROUSAL

Theorists have attempted to account for the relationship between alcoh ol intoxication and a wide range of aggressive behaviors by ascribing alcohol-related aggression to the disinhibiting effects of alcohol and to its disruptive effects on cognitive processes. Allocation of atten tion and situational threat have been thought to mediate alcohol-relat ed aggression. tn the present study, 72 mate social drinkers received either alcohol, a placebo, or a nonalcoholic beverage and were exposed to either threatening or nonthreatening personal information. Measuri ng levels and duration of aggressive responses on a Taylor-Buss aggres sion machine, intoxicated subjects were found to be generally more agg ressive under threatening than under nonthreatening information condit ions. Intoxicated subjects also reported relatively large increases in anger, depression, and tension following the aggression task, which a ppeared to be affected by the type of information received. These find ings concur with and refine previous models suggesting that alcohol fo cuses the drinker's attention to salient cues in threatening circumsta nces, thus increasing the likelihood of aggressive behavior.