The Role of Restrictive Emotionality, Trait Anger, and Masculinity Threat in Men's Perpetration of Physical Aggression

We examined the relationships among restrictive emotionality (RE), trait anger, and masculine-relevant threat as predictors of aggressive behavior in men. There were 128 male participants who competed in a reaction time aggression task whereby they were given a choice to administer shocks to an ostensible opponent after experiencing no threat or a threat directed toward their masculine gender identity. RE was measured with the Gender Role Conflict Scale (O'Neil et al., 1986), direct physical aggression was assessed by the overall intensity, frequency, and initiation of shocks administered to a confederate, and trait anger was assessed with the Anger subscale of the Buss Aggression Questionnaire (Buss & Perry, 1992). Results indicate that the relationship between RE and aggressive behavior was contingent on anger-proneness and situational provocation. Greater RE predicted higher shock frequencies for men who endorsed high-trait anger and who had experienced a masculine-relevant threat. Effects of RE on initiation and sustained aggressive behavior are placed in the context of gender role socialization in men and treatment.