MSGID: 1:317/3 64b0cf6b   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Controlled cruelty: New study finds aggression can arise from successful   
   self-control    
      
     Date:   
         July 13, 2023   
     Source:   
         Virginia Commonwealth University   
     Summary:   
         A new study has found that aggression is not always the product   
         of poor self-control but, instead, often can be the product of   
         successful self- control in order to inflict greater retribution.   
      
      
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   A new study by a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher has found   
   that aggression is not always the product of poor self-control but,   
   instead, often can be the product of successful self-control in order   
   to inflict greater retribution.   
      
   The new paper, "Aggression As Successful Self-Control," by corresponding   
   author David Chester, Ph.D., an associate professor of social psychology   
   in the Department of Psychology at VCU's College of Humanities and   
   Sciences, was published by the journal Social and Personality Psychology   
   Compassand uses meta-analysis to summarize evidence from dozens of   
   existing studies in psychology and neurology.   
      
   "Typically, people explain violence as the product of poor self-control,"   
   Chester said. "In the heat of the moment, we often fail to inhibit our   
   worst, most aggressive impulses. But that is only one side of the story."   
   Indeed, Chester's study found that the most aggressive people do not   
   have personalities characterized by poor self-discipline and that   
   training programs that boost self-control have not proved effective in   
   reducing violent tendencies. Instead, the study found ample evidence   
   that aggression can arise from successful self-control.   
      
   "Vengeful people tend to exhibit greater premeditation of their behavior   
   and self-control, enabling them to delay the gratification of sweet   
   revenge and bide their time to inflict maximum retribution upon those   
   who they believe have wronged them," Chester said. "Even psychopathic   
   people, who comprise the majority of people who commit violent offenses,   
   often exhibit robust development of inhibitory self-control over their   
   teenage years."  Aggressive behavior is reliably linked to increased   
   -- not just decreased - - activity in the brain's prefrontal cortex, a   
   biological substrate of self- control, Chester found. The findings make   
   it clear that the argument that aggression is primarily the product of   
   poor self-control is weaker than previously thought.   
      
   "This paper pushes back against a decades-long dominant narrative in   
   aggression research, which is that violence starts when self-control   
   stops," Chester said.   
      
   "Instead, it argues for a more balanced, nuanced view in which   
   self-control can both constrain and facilitate aggression, depending on   
   the person and the situation."  The findings also argue for more caution   
   in the implementation of treatments, therapies and interventions that   
   seek to reduce violence by improving self- control, Chester said.   
      
   "Many interventions seek to teach people to inhibit their impulses, but   
   this new approach to aggression suggests that although this may reduce   
   aggression for some people, it is also likely to increase aggression   
   for others," he said.   
      
   "Indeed, we may be teaching some people how best to implement their   
   aggressive tendencies."  The findings surprised Chester, a psychologist   
   whose team frequently studies the causes of human aggression.   
      
   "Over the years, much of our research was guided by the field's   
   assumption that aggression is an impulsive behavior characterized by   
   poor self-control," he said. "But as we started to investigate the   
   psychological characteristics of vengeful and psychopathic people,   
   we quickly realized that such aggressive individuals do not just have   
   self-regulatory deficits; they have many psychological adaptations   
   and skills that enable them to hurt others by using self-control."   
   Chester and his team plan to continue exploring questions around   
   aggression and self-control based on the study's findings.   
      
   "Our research going forward is now guided by this new paradigm shift   
   in thinking: that aggression is often the product of sophisticated and   
   complex mental processes and not just uninhibited impulses," Chester said.   
      
   This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on   
   Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health.   
      
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   Materials provided by Virginia_Commonwealth_University. Original written   
   by Mary Kate Brogan. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. David S. Chester. Aggression as successful   
      self‐control. Social and   
         Personality Psychology Compass, 2023; DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12832   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230713141930.htm   
      
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