Beliefs About Aggression Moderate Alcohol's Effects on Aggression

The goal of this investigation was to determine whether permissive beliefs about aggression moderate the relation between acute alcohol intoxication and aggression in two large experiments. Participants in Study 1 were 328 (163 men and 165 women) social drinkers and those in Study 2 were 518 (252 men and 266 women) social drinkers. Beliefs about aggression were assessed using a well-validated self-report measure. Following the consumption of either an alcohol or a placebo beverage, participants were tested on a laboratory task in which electric shocks were received from, and administered to, a fictitious opponent under the guise of a competitive reaction-time task. Aggression was operationalized as the combined mean responses for shock intensity and duration across all trials. Our central finding was that alcohol increased aggression in persons with more approving beliefs about aggression than in those who did not hold such beliefs. Our results are discussed within the context of Huesmann's (1988) cognitive script model of aggression. Suggestions for violence prevention efforts are put forth as well.