Personality Correlates of Aggression: Evidence From Measures of the Five-Factor Model, UPPS Model of Impulsivity, and BIS/BAS

Although many studies of personality and aggression focus on multidimensional traits and higher order personality disorders (e.g., psychopathy), lower order, unidimensional traits may provide more precision in identifying specific aspects of personality that relate to aggression. The current study includes a comprehensive measurement of lower order personality traits in relation to three forms of aggression: reactive, proactive, and relational. Traits related to interpersonal antagonism and impulsivity, especially impulsive behavior in the context of negative affect, were consistently related to aggression across multiple indices. These findings suggest that certain lower order traits are of critical importance to understanding who engages in aggressive behavior and why this behavior occurs.     

A symptom level examination of the relationship between Cluster B personality disorders and patterns of criminality and violence in women

The psychometric properties and structure of the Cluster B Personality Disorder criteria (Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic, and Narcissistic) are examined in a sample of 261 female inmates using a self-report screen followed by a full diagnostic interview. The results of the structural analyses in this sample demonstrated good internal consistency and convergence, but poor discriminant validity between disorders. An exploratory factor analysis found that the structure of these disorders was best accounted for by a four-factor solution that paralleled the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV-TR; APA, 2000) classification scheme with some significant and notable exceptions. Using the factor scores generated from the factor analysis, the personality profiles of the women were compared with several behavioral indices, including instant offense, institutional infractions, and self-report violence and victimization within the prison. Of particular importance was the consistent relationship observed between narcissistic personality traits and threatening and violent behavior within the prison combined with the impulsive but less malignant presentation of antisocial personality traits among this sample of women. Results are discussed as they inform our understanding of the structural integrity of the four Cluster B diagnostic categories and the relationship of these personality disorders to different types of criminality and violence.     

A Developmental-Ecological Model of the Relation of Family Functioning to Patterns of Delinquency

Person-centered approaches to understanding delinquent and criminal careershave identified several distinct pathways or patterns of delinquent behavior(Gorman-Smith et al., 1998; LeBlanc and Kaspy, in press; Loeber et al.,1991; Loeber et al., 1993). In addition, research suggests that there maybe etiological variations that correspond to these different pathways(Gorman-Smith et al., 1998). That is, there may be different configurationsof risk factors associated with different types of delinquent and criminaloffending. If this is so, understanding these relations can have importantimplications for intervention and prevention. However, there have been fewstudies that examine how the configuration of risk factors may vary inrelation to different delinquency pathways. The current study brings aperson-centered analysis to examine how patterns of family functioningrelate to patterns of offending. In addition, this study contextualizesthese relations by examining how these relations vary as a function ofcommunity setting. This study expands upon previous research that hasidentified four basic patterns of delinquent behavior among a sample ofminority male adolescents living in poor urban neighborhoods (Gorman-Smithet al., 1998).     

What do Alternative Measures of Peer Behavior Tell Us? Examining the Discriminant Validity of Multiple Methods of Measuring Peer Deviance and the Implications for Etiological Models

Deviant behavior tends to be more strongly correlated with respondents’ perceptions of peer deviance than with actual peer deviance. However, research has yet to discern between two interpretations of this finding. On one hand, respondent perceptions of peer deviance may simply be “biased” indicators of actual peer behavior or alternative measures of one’s own deviance. On the other, respondent perceptions and actual peer deviance may reflect fundamentally separate constructs. The present study uses two separate statistical methods to discern the empirical validity of each interpretation. It then illustrates the importance of the measurement results with a series of cross-lagged panel analyses assessing how a researcher’s operationalization of peer deviance impinges upon conclusions about the bidirectional relationship between personal and peer deviance. Measurement results across two separate behavioral domains (property crime and substance use) suggest that actual peer deviance items reflect a construct fundamentally separate from both personal and perceived peer deviance. Likewise, results fail to support the claim that peer deviance items are simply alternative measures of one’s own deviance. Cross-lagged structural equation results are consistent with the notion that personal deviance affects both later perceptions of peer deviance and actual peer deviance. Yet, null or very weak effects of either peer deviance measure on personal deviance are observed. In light of our findings, we discuss the necessity for new theorizing concerning the complex relations among personal behavior, perceived peer behavior, and actual peer behavior.     

Impulsivity,attribution and prison bullying: Bully-category and perpetrator–victim mutuality

The current study explores bullying behaviours among adult male prisoners, examining its relationship with aggression attribution and impulsivity. Employed are two separate methods of analysis to determine how this may influence results. Participants were 102 prisoners. All completed a revised version of the Direct and Indirect Prisoner behaviour Checklist (DIPC-R), the Barratt Impulsivity Scale: Version II (BIS-12) and the Expressive Aggression Scale (EXPAGG). Analysis included categorical analysis with prisoners placed into one of four groups (pure bully, pure victim, bully/victim and not-involved), and factorial analysis where perpetration and victimisation were assessed as continuous variables and evidence of interactions explored. It was predicted that perpetration would be associated with higher instrumental attributions and higher impulsivity than non-perpetration. It was predicted that a factorial analysis would demonstrate no interactions between perpetration and victimisation across aggression variables, questioning the utility of a distinct ‘bully–victim’ group. Bullies were found to have higher instrumental attribution scores than non-bullies, with no differences for expressive attribution. Victims were more impulsive than non-victims with evidence that perpetration moderated this relationship. A categorical analysis demonstrated that bully/victims were more impulsive, at least in relation to pure bullies. Results suggested that it was the combined effect of indirect and direct aggression which promoted differences between victims and bullies in relation to attribution and impulsivity. Results are discussed with reference to previous research concerning prison bullying, with directions for future research focused on exploration of perpetrator–victim mutuality using a range of variables and distinct methods of analysis.     

STRUCTURAL MODELS OF PERSONALITY AND THEIR RELATION TO ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR: A META‐ANALYTIC REVIEW*

The authors argue that the concept of personality has much to offer the field of criminology. To this end, they used meta‐analytic techniques to examine the relations between antisocial behavior defined relatively broadly and four structural models of personality: Eysenck's PEN model, Tellegen's three‐factor model, Costa and McCrae's five‐factor model (FFM), and Cloninger's seven‐factor temperament and character model. A comprehensive review of the literature yielded 59 studies that provided relevant information. Eight of the dimensions bore moderate relations to antisocial behavior; the dimensions could all be understood as measures of either Agreeableness or Conscientiousness from the FFM. The implications of these findings for future research are considered.     

ADOLESCENT ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS AND DELINQUENCY INVOLVEMENT

While much attention has centered on the role of peer influence for adolescent delinquency, that of romantic partners has been largely neglected. Recent analyses of romantic relationships during the adolescent period suggest their general importance to development; research highlights that adolescents themselves frequently describe these relations as relatively intimate and influential. Thus, while classic theoretical frameworks such as differential association theory have often centered on the role of peers, their general logic is consistent with the notion that such relationships may indeed "matter" as a source of influence on delinquent behavior. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health are well suited for examining the role of romantic partners because they allow for the identification and recreation of friendship networks and connections between romantic partners. Forging these interconnections, we link friends' and romantic partners' delinquency to respondents' own delinquency, enabling an examination of romantic partner influence on adolescent delinquency, beyond that influence associated with friends' behaviors. Drawing on theories of gender stratification, we also explore whether the effect of romantic partners' behavior is conditioned by gender. Findings reveal that romantic partners' delinquency exerts a unique effect on respondents' delinquency net of friends' delinquency and control variables. Additionally, romantic partners' deviance has a stronger effect on female involvement in minor deviance. We find no evidence, however, that gender conditions the strength of romantic partners' more serious delinquency on respondents' serious delinquency.     

Criminal attitudes and psychopathic personality attributes of youth gang offenders in Singapore

Gang-affiliated youth are responsible for a disproportionate amount of serious and violent offenses. However, there is scant focus on the psychological variables that could be important for treatment planning and program development. Awareness of these variables is important for treatment planning and program development and also, potentially, for understanding which youth may be attracted to gangs. This study compared the criminal attitudes and psychopathic personality attributes of gang- and nongang-affiliated youth offenders (N=168) residing in youth correctional institutions in Singapore. Multivariate analyses indicated that favorable attitudes toward gangs (ATG), violence, and criminal associates remained significantly associated with gang membership after accounting for favorable attitudes toward violence and criminal associates, as well as increased attitudes of entitlement and impulsive/irresponsible traits. These attitudes were likely to perpetuate gang affiliation and criminal behavior, and thus should be a focus for intervention and rehabilitation efforts.     

IS AGE IMPORTANT? TESTING A GENERAL VERSUS A DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR*

We tested competing hypotheses derived from Gottfredson and Hirschis (1990) general theory and Moffitt's (1993a) developmental theory of antisocial behavior. The developmental theory argues that different factors give rise to antisocial behavior at different points in the life course. In contrast, the general theory maintains that the factor underlying antisocial behavior (i.e., criminal propensity) is the same at all ages. To test these competing predictions, we used longitudinal data spanning from age 5 to age 18 for the male subjects in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Using reports from three sources (parents, teachers, and the boys themselves), we estimated second-order confirmatory factor models of antisocial behavior. These models provided consistent support for the developmental theory, showing that separate latent factors underlie childhood and adolescent antisocial behavior. Moreover, we found that these childhood and adolescent factors related in ways predicted by Moffitt's developmental theory to four correlates of antisocial behavior: Childhood antisocial behavior was related more strongly than adolescent antisocial behavior to low verbal ability, by per activity, and negative/impulsive personality, whereas adolescent antisocial behavior was related more strongly than childhood antisocial behavior to peer delinquency. The two underlying latent factors also showed the predicted differential relations to later criminal convictions: Childhood antisocial behavior was significantly more strongly associated with convictions for violence, while adolescent antisocial behavior was significantly more strongly associated with convictions for nonviolent offenses.     

LEVELS OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION IN GROUP CONTEXTS AND THE EFFECTS OF INFORMAL SANCTION THREAT ON DEVIANCE*

Contextual data from a unique study (Notre Dame Study of Catholic Parish Life) are used to test multilevel models predicting three types of deviance ranging from excessive drinking to tax evasion. Measures representing informal sanction threat and aggregate-level social integration as well as the interaction of these variables displayed the net effects that were predicted only for those types of deviance that appear to be less impulsive. In general, the deterrent effects of informal sanctions were found to be strongest in communities characterized by high levels of social integration.     

FAMILY DEVIANCE AND DELINQUENCY IN CHINA*

This research explores the relationship between family deviance and delinquency using survey data from Tianjin, a large city in China. We hypothesize that, similar to findings in the West, family deviance will be positively related to delinquency in China. We also hypothesize that the nature of the causal process linking these two variables will differ in certain respects from the pattern observed in Western nations, reflecting the unusually strong emphasis placed on family relations in Chinese society. The results of the analysis are mixed. Consistent with expectations, family deviance is positively related to official delinquency status, exhibiting indirect effects via family controls, moral commitments, and deviant associations, and direct effects that are likely to reflect family group pressures. We also discovered appreciable effects of friends' deviance, which runs counter to our hypothesis that the influence of family variables will significantly diminish the importance of peer associations. In general, our analysis indicates the key role of the family in explaining delinquent behavior in China, and it illustrates the utility of cross-cultural research for assessing the generality of research findings and identifying new directions for criminological inquiry.     

Job satisfaction: validating Dantzker’s four-factor model using structural equation modeling

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of the four-factor structure from a job satisfaction instrument. Dantzker’s job satisfaction instrument was designed to capture information on four factors: general administration, extras, job, and equipment. Using data from police officers that are middle management (n?=?136), we performed confirmatory factor analysis via structural equation modeling to validate that the four factors are actually capturing job satisfaction. The results of the study show that the four-factor solution fit the model satisfactorily. All of the factor loadings were large expect for one. The results suggest that the four-factor solution has proper validity to use with middle manager police officers. Post hoc simulation analyses (n?=?1000 replications) show that no bias in the factor loadings or standard errors was present in this analysis, and the study had sufficient statistical power.     

Youth psychopathy: Differential correlates of callous-unemotional traits,narcissism, and impulsivity

Research supports the validity of the dimensional approach to psychopathy in both children and adults. The occurrence of severe aggressive and antisocial behavior in combination with callous-unemotional traits (CU traits) designates a group of children that is particularly at risk to develop psychopathy. However, most studies did not investigate the role of the remaining psychopathy dimensions (i.e. narcissism and impulsivity) in comparison. The present text reviews the newest developments in the dimensional study of psychopathy in relation to cognition, behavior and affect in clinical and detained child and adolescent samples. Findings support the role of the callous-unemotional dimension (CU traits) in the development of psychopathy. Additionally, they also underscore the importance of the narcissistic and impulsive dimensions for the understanding of psychopathy in children and adolescents and for the identification of different psychopathy profiles. Understanding differential correlates of the underlying dimensions of psychopathy is an important step in formulating interventions for those most at risk.     

BIS/BAS Variables as Moderators of the Rumination-Intimate Partner Violence Link

Although cognitive rumination is related to violence perpetration, not all people who ruminate become violent. Four personality variables—impulsivity, anxiety, anger-in, anger-out—were tested as possible moderators of the link between the tendency to ruminate and the frequency of intimate partner violence (IPV). Variables related to the Behavioral Activation System (anger-out and impulsivity) were predicted to strengthen the rumination-IPV link; whereas measures related to the Behavioral Inhibition System (anger-in and anxiety) would suppress this link. As predicted, anger-out, anger-in, and impulsivity moderated the relation between rumination and IPV. No evidence was found for suppressor variables. Thus, appetitive drives appear to amplify the effect of rumination on violence. Clinically, therapeutic techniques that address rumination, anger, and impulsivity may help to reduce IPV risk.     

UNPACKING THE BLACK BOX OF PEER SIMILARITY IN DEVIANCE: UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISMS LINKING PERSONAL BEHAVIOR,PEER BEHAVIOR,AND PERCEPTIONS

The strong correlation between measures of personal and peer deviance occurs with near “law‐like” regularity. Yet, as with other manifestations of peer similarity (often referred to as homophily), the mechanisms generating this relationship are widely debated. Specific to the deviance literature, most studies have failed to examine, simultaneously, the degree to which similarity is the consequence of multiple causes. The current study addresses this gap by using longitudinal network data for 1,151 individuals from the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) School Project. Structural equation modeling is used to address these issues by adapting Jussim and Osgood's ( 1989 ) model of deviant attitudes in dyadic pairs to the current data. Across two separate behavioral domains (substance use and property offending), the results provide strong support for the prediction that individuals project their own deviant tendencies inaccurately onto their peers. Conversely, the results provide little or no support for the predictions that respondents accurately perceive their peers’ deviance or that their perceptions of peer deviance influence their own behavior. Implications for understanding the role of peer behavior in the etiology of adolescent deviance are discussed.     

The relation of ADHD and violent aggression: What can we learn from epidemiological and genetic studies?

Disruptive behavior includes psychopathological and behavioral constructs like aggression, impulsivity, violence, antisociality and psychopathy and is often closely related with diagnostic categories like conduct disorder (CD), attention deficit disorder (ADHD) and antisocial personality disorder (ASP). There is now clear evidence that neurobiological and environmental factors contribute to these phenotypes. A mounting body of evidence also suggests interactive effects of genetic and environmental risks.In this selective review we give an overview over epidemiological aspects of the relation between ADHD and antisocial behavior, including violent aggression and psychopathy. Moreover, we summarize recent findings from molecular genetic studies and particularly discuss pleiotropic effects of a functional polymorphism of the serotonin transporter promoter gene (5HTTLPR) and childhood adversity on ADHD and violent behavior. The reported gene–environment interactions are not only informative for understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of disruptive behavior, but also throw some light on the relation between ADHD and violent behavior from a genetic perspective. The impact of genetic research on forensic psychiatry and future directions of neurobiological research are discussed.     

The importance of police contact in the formulation of youths' attitudes toward police

The central focus of this study was to examine types of contact between adolescents and police as determinants of attitudes toward these authority figures. Three value or group expressive determinants — race, deviance, and parental defiance — were used as control variables to specify conditions under which the importance of actual contact with police is enhanced or diminished. Positive contact with police was found to be predictive of positive attitudes and negative contact was predictive of negative attitudes toward police. Further investigation revealed that the relationship between positive contact and positive attitudes toward police became significantly stronger among youths who had experienced negative encounters with police, as well as among those who reported being frequently involved in deviance, and among those who had been defiant of parental authority. The effects of negative contact with police were most significant among whites, those who report infrequent deviant behavior, and those youths who had experienced little or no positive contact with police.     

Marginalization,reproduction and assaults against teachers: Ideas on the contradictions of ideological social control

Summary We have analyzed school stratification and delinquent behavior by demonstrating that the connection between the two can be explained more completely by reference to the nature and functioning of American capitalism. By way of a thorough analysis of the reproduction forces at work today in American capitalism, as well as the way consciousness is formed through the satisfaction and fulfillment of species needs and powers, our investigation linked delinquent behavior (assaults against teachers) and school stratification with the social system of which they are embedded. Concentrating initially on the structural forces at work within the labor market, we were able to uncover the foundations which mold the social relations of production. We then turned our investigation to the school, revealing how the underlying function of secondary education today is the reproduction of the social relations of production. With a thorough understanding of these two interrelated phenomena, we were then able to explain why minority students attack secondary school teachers at a higher rate than other students. Specifically, it is because of thecontradiction between the creation of a personality possessing autonomous and independent behavior traits, with emphasis on violent behavior patterns as a means of solving interpersonal problems (marginalization), and the austere authoritarian and control mechanisms of the school (reproduction).I wish to thank Nancy Gilliland for helpful comments and criticism on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Profiles of punishment and privilege: secret and disputed deviance during the racialized transition to American adulthood

This paper combines Glenn Loury’s (The anatomy of racial inequality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002) thought experiments about racial inequality with Howard Becker’s (Outsiders: Studies in the sociology of deviance. New York, NY: Free, 1963) typology of deviance to guide the analysis of three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The results reveal the racial anatomy of punishment and privilege during the transition to American adulthood. Our analysis points to a substantial pool of white American youth and emerging adults whose partying behavior is a prevalent form of unsanctioned secret deviance. These disproportionately white and economically advantaged secret deviants contrast with a smaller but significant number of African-American youth and emerging adults who dispute their designations by the juvenile and criminal courts as official deviants. While the privileged position of a party subculture may in social–psychological terms be enabling and even empowering for youthful and affluent white Americans, the selective punishment of other forms of drug activity and delinquency is disabling for African-Americans in profound and less recognized ways. The importance of the data presented in this paper is to expose the comparative probabilities of black and white punishment and privilege. The results reveal concealed racial conventions involved in the construction of the American collective conscience, which Loury identifies as a source of our cognitive imprisonment.     

Contact crimes in relation to neuroticism,impulsiveness, conscience formation and intelligence: An exploratory discriminant analysis in juvenile delinquents

Abstract

Using archival data, we investigate the relationship between the type of crime committed and personality characteristics from a sample of 100 juvenile Dutch delinquents, who had been screened at a bureau for ambulant youth care. Possibly confounding variables such as age, education and family background were controlled for using exploratory non-linear techniques.

It appeared that delinquents who had committed crimes that involved victim contact were on average more impulsive, less neurotic and often had a less well developed conscience than those juvenile delinquents who had committed crimes that involved no contact with a victim. The latter were on average less impulsive, more neurotic and more often had a sufficiently or partially developed conscience. The relation with intelligence was inconclusive.