Negatively biased emotion perception in depression as a contributing factor to psychological aggression perpetration: a preliminary study

Aggression and anxiety influence the relationship between interpersonal sensitivity and military morale among new recruits

We explored the internal mechanism of military morale by examining the relationships of interpersonal sensitivity, aggression, anxiety, and military morale among newly recruited army soldiers. Participants (N = 718) completed a self-report survey measuring the focal variables. The results indicate that military morale was negatively related to interpersonal sensitivity and aggression. Further, aggression played a mediating role in the relationship between interpersonal sensitivity and military morale, and the mediating effect of aggression was, in turn, moderated by anxiety. Our study enriches the interpersonal model of military morale and has implications for interventions to improve military morale, such as training in reduction of interpersonal sensitivity or counseling for high interpersonal sensitivity to improve military morale, and avoiding selecting individuals with high levels of interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, and aggression when recruiting soldiers.

The Impact of Customer Mistreatment on Employee Displaced Aggression: The Moderating Effect of Interpersonal Sensitivity and Moral Identity

Although customer mistreatment produces harmful consequences for employees and organizations, our understanding of the boundary conditions of customer mistreatment has largely been neglected. This study examines whether and when customer mistreatment influences employee displaced aggression toward coworkers by demonstrating interpersonal sensitivity and moral identity traits as two critical boundary conditions. Through the analysis of 623 employees’ questionnaire data, the results showed that customer mistreatment was positively related to employee displaced aggression toward coworkers. Furthermore, interpersonal sensitivity exacerbates the effect of customer mistreatment on displaced aggressive behaviors, while moral identity buffering the effect.

Development and validation of the Korean version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test

The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) is one of the most widely used instruments for assessing the ability to recognize emotion. To examine the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the RMET and to explore the possible implications of poor performance on this task, 200 adults aged 19–32 years completed the RMET and the Korean version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20K), the cognitive empathy domain of the Korean version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI-C), and the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory-Aggression (BDHI-A). In the present study, confirmatory factor analyses confirmed that the hypothesized three-factor solution based on three different emotional valences of the items (positive, negative, or neutral) had a good fit to the data. The Korean version of the RMET also showed good test-retest reliability over a 4-week time interval. Convergent validity was also supported by significant correlations with subscales of the TAS-20K, and discriminant validity was identified by nonsignificant associations with IRI-C scores. In addition, no difference was found in RMET performance according to the sex of the photographed individuals or the sex or educational attainment of the participants. Individuals with poor RMET performance were more likely to experience alexithymia and aggression. The current findings will facilitate not only future research on emotion processing but also the assessment of conditions related to the decreased ability to decode emotional stimuli.

Relationships Amongst Aggression, Self-Theory, Loneliness, and Depression in Emerging Adults

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships amongst aggression, self-theory, loneliness, and depression. The study group consisted of 904 student volunteers from various undergraduate programs of a university in Central Anatolia. Simple and hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses, as well as t-tests, were used to analyze the data. In the preliminary analysis performed, females’ depression levels and males’ aggression levels are higher. The study findings revealed that self-theory negatively and significantly predicted aggression, whereas loneliness and depression positively and significantly predicted aggression in emerging adulthood. Another important finding showed that both direct and indirect relationships exist between self-theory and aggression. According to these findings, loneliness and depression play partially mediating roles individually, and fully mediating roles together, with regard to the relationship between self-theory and aggression.

Effects of social support and resilient coping on violent behavior in military veterans

Violence toward others has been identified as a serious postdeployment adjustment problem in a subset of Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans. In the current study, we examined the intricate links between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), commonly cited psychosocial risk and protective factors, and violent behavior using a national randomly selected longitudinal sample of Iraq- and Afghanistan-era United States veterans. A total of 1,090 veterans from the 50 United States and all United States military branches completed 2 waves of self-report survey-data collection 1 year apart (retention rate = 79%). History of severe violent behavior at Wave 1 was the most substantial predictor of subsequent violence. In bivariate analyses, high correlations were observed among risk and protective factors, and between risk and protective factors and severe violence at both time points. In multivariate analyses, baseline violence (OR = 12.43, p < .001), baseline alcohol misuse (OR = 1.06, p < .05), increases in PTSD symptoms between Waves 1 and 2 (OR = 1.01, p < .05), and decreases in social support between Waves 1 and 2 (OR = .83, p < .05) were associated with increased risk for violence at Wave 2. Our findings suggest that rather than focusing specifically on PTSD symptoms, alcohol use, resilience, or social support in isolation, it may be more useful to consider how these risk and protective factors work in combination to convey how military personnel and veterans are managing the transition from wartime military service to civilian life, and at what point it might be most effective to intervene. (PsycINFO Database Record

Perceiving the evil eye: Investigating hostile interpretation of ambiguous facial emotional expression in violent and non-violent offenders

Research into the causal and perpetuating factors influencing aggression has partly focused on the general tendency of aggression-prone individuals to infer hostile intent in others, even in ambiguous circumstances. This is referred to as the ‘hostile interpretation bias’. Whether this hostile interpretation bias also exists in basal information processing, such as perception of facial emotion, is not yet known, especially with respect to the perception of ambiguous expressions. In addition, little is known about how this potential bias in facial emotion perception is related to specific characteristics of aggression. In the present study, conducted in a penitentiary setting with detained male adults, we investigated if violent offenders (n = 71) show a stronger tendency to interpret ambiguous facial expressions on a computer task as angry rather than happy, compared to non-violent offenders (n = 14) and to a control group of healthy volunteers (n = 32). We also investigated if hostile perception of facial expressions is related to specific characteristics of aggression, such as proactive and reactive aggression. No clear statistical evidence was found that violent offenders perceived facial emotional expressions as more angry than non-violent offenders or healthy volunteers. A regression analysis in the violent offender group showed that only age and a self-report measure of hostility predicted outcome on the emotion perception task. Other traits, such as psychopathic traits, intelligence, attention and a tendency to jump to conclusions were not associated with interpretation of anger in facial emotional expressions. We discuss the possible impact of the study design and population studied on our results, as well as implications for future studies.

Theory of Mind and Selective Attention, Response Inhibition, Cognitive Flexibility in Patients with Schizophrenia

INTRODUCTION

The aims of the current study are to investigate the relationship between selective attention, response inhibition, and cognitive flexibility that are among executive functions and sociocognitive and socioperceptual theory of mind (ToM) functions and also to investigate whether selective attention, response inhibition, and cognitive flexibility are predictive factors for ToM functions in patients with schizophrenia.

METHODS

Forty-seven patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and a control group consisting of 42 individuals were administered demographic information form, Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST), Stroop test, Eye test, Hinting test. Positive and negative syndrome scale was applied to the schizophrenia group.

RESULTS

In comparison to the control group, the schizophrenia group performed significantly worse on Eyes test and Hinting test. Eyes Test score and age, WCST perseverative error scores were significantly negatively correlated; education and WCST categories achieved scores were significantly positively correlated in patients with schizophrenia. Age and cognitive flexibility were found to predict the Eyes test score in patients with schizophrenia.

CONCLUSIONS

ToM functions that are important in maintaining socioperceptual functioning are closely related with cognitive flexibility, and impairment in cognitive flexibility may predict the ToM functions in patients with schizophrenia.

Association between Depression and Aggression in Rural Women

Rural women represent approximately 20% of women living in the United States, yet research on the specific mental health needs of rural women is limited. Given the well-recognized gender-linked difference in depression rates, its correlated depressive symptoms in women still need much investigation. While emerging notions of depression in men embrace potential symptoms related to irritability and aggression, less research has focused on the potential role of aggression in depressed women. This connection may be particularly relevant for rural women who face unique mental health stressors in comparison to their urban counterparts. The purpose of this study was to examine if aggression is linked to depression for rural women in order to identify potential unique symptomatology and presentation for rural women. As part of a larger initiative, a sample of 54 participants was recruited from the patient population at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in rural southeast Georgia to participate in a quantitative survey. The survey explored demographics, depression, and aggressive behavior. Mean total score of aggression in depressed women was significantly higher than non-depressed women (p < 0.001), and within the entire sample depression scores were significantly related linearly to aggression, with aggression explaining 16% of the variance found in depression scores (β = .399, r² = .159, p = 0.003). This study suggests that aggressive behavior may be linked to depression for rural women, and underscores the need for future research investigating if depression presents differently for rural women.

Upregulation of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex can alter the perception of emotions: fMRI-based neurofeedback at 3 and 7 T

Recent advances in real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rt-fMRI) techniques enable online feedback about momentary brain activity from a localized region of interest. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) as a central hub for cognitive and emotional networks and its modulation has been suggested to elicit mood changes. In the presented real-time fMRI neurofeedback experiment at a 3 and a 7 T scanner we enabled participants to regulate ACC activity within one training session. The session consisted of three training runs of 8.5 min where subjects received online feedback about their current ACC activity. Before and after each run we presented emotional prosody. Subjects rated these stimuli according to their emotional valence and arousal, which served as an implicit mood measure. We found increases in ACC activation at 3 T (n = 15) and at 7 T (n = 9) with a higher activation success for the 3 T group. FMRI signal control of the rostral ACC depended on signal quality and predicted a valence bias in the rating of emotional prosody. Real-time fMRI neurofeedback of the ACC is feasible at different magnetic field strengths and can modulate localized ACC activity and emotion perception. It promises non-invasive therapeutic approaches for different psychiatric disorders characterized by impaired self-regulation.

Recognition of emotion from body language among patients with unipolar depression

Major depression may be associated with abnormal perception of emotions and impairment in social adaptation. Emotion recognition from body language and its possible implications to social adjustment have not been examined in patients with depression. Three groups of participants (51 with depression; 68 with history of depression in remission; and 69 never depressed healthy volunteers) were compared on static and dynamic tasks of emotion recognition from body language. Psychosocial adjustment was assessed using the Social Adjustment Scale Self-Report (SAS-SR). Participants with current depression showed reduced recognition accuracy for happy stimuli across tasks relative to remission and comparison participants. Participants with depression tended to show poorer psychosocial adaptation relative to remission and comparison groups. Correlations between perception accuracy of happiness and scores on the SAS-SR were largely not significant. These results indicate that depression is associated with reduced ability to appraise positive stimuli of emotional body language but emotion recognition performance is not tied to social adjustment. These alterations do not appear to be present in participants in remission suggesting state-like qualities.