Cognitive and Aggressive Reactions of Male Dating Violence Perpetrators to Anger Arousal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Published online on July 14, 2014
Abstract
In the current study, 20 dating violent and 27 non-violent college males provided verbal articulations and self-report data regarding cognitive biases, change in affect, and aggressive reactions following anger induction through the articulated thoughts in simulated situations paradigm. Violent, relative to non-violent, males articulated more cognitive biases and verbally aggressive statements during provocation. These same relationships did not hold for a retrospective self-report measure. Greater cognitive biases and aggressive articulations reliably distinguished between violent and non-violent males in the current study. Results suggest that assessing cognitive and affective content "in the heat of the moment" may be a more sensitive indicator of dating violence than retrospective self-reports.