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The impact of aggressive priming, rumination, and frustration on prison sentencing
Author(s) -
Vasquez Eduardo Antonio,
Bartsch Vanessa O.,
Pedersen William C.,
Miller Norman
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/ab.20203
Subject(s) - rumination , frustration , psychology , aggression , priming (agriculture) , anger , ruminating , poison control , prison , social psychology , developmental psychology , cognition , medical emergency , psychiatry , medicine , botany , germination , criminology , biology
We tested the hypothesis that ruminating about a previous aggressive prime interacts with a subsequent minor frustration to augment aggression. Sixty participants watched a video showing a murder during a bank robbery (the aggressive prime). Those in the rumination condition were asked to write about the video for 20 min. In the no rumination condition, participants were given 20 min to complete an irrelevant task. Participants were then either frustrated or not frustrated. Our results supported the main hypothesis. Relative to the control condition, neither rumination nor frustration alone impacted aggression. Rumination, in combination with a minor frustration, however, increased the recommended prison sentence towards the targets. We discuss the implications of our findings. Aggr. Behav. 33:477–485, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.