Role of motivation to respond to provocation, the social environment, and trait aggression in alcohol-related aggression

摘要

Little attention has been paid to the motivation to respond to provocation and to the interaction between this motivation, alcohol, the drinking environment, and individual characteristics. Undergraduates at six Canadian universities (N= 1,232) read three vignettes describing conflict situations with social environmental manipulations while imagining themselves as either sober or intoxicated. Self-ratings assessed likelihood of assertive and aggressive responses and motivational indices of anger, offensiveness of the instigator's actions, and importance to respond to the provocation. Respondents also completed a measure of trait aggression. Multi-group structural equation models supported the hypothesis that perceived likelihood of reactive aggression is influenced by perceived alcohol intoxication, gender, trait aggression, social environmental factors, and motivation to respond to the provocation. In addition, a number of interactions were found among the predictors. These results provide insight into the types of factors that may influence aggression in drinking situations.