Are You Insulting Me? Exposure to Alcohol Primes Increases Aggression Following Ambiguous Provocation

Abstract

Considerable research has shown that alcohol consumption can increase aggression and produce extremes in other social behaviors. Although most theories posit that such effects are caused by pharmacological impairment of cognitive processes, recent research indicates that exposure to alcohol-related constructs, in the absence of consumption, can produce similar effects. Here we tested the hypothesis that alcohol priming is most likely to affect aggression in the context of ambiguous provocation. Experiment 1 showed that exposure to alcohol primes increased aggressive retaliation but only when an initial provocation was ambiguous; unambiguous provocation elicited highly aggressive responses regardless of prime exposure. Experiment 2 showed that alcohol prime exposure effects are relatively short-lived and that perceptions of the provocateur's hostility mediated effects of prime exposure on aggression. These findings suggest modification and extension of existing models of alcohol-induced aggression.

Keywords: aggression; alcohol; priming; provocation.

Figure 1

Levels of aggression as a function of prime content and provocation, Experiment 1. Note. Values on the aggression measure represent the duration of time participants recommended the target submerge her or his hand in painfully cold water. Error bars represent ±1 SE.

Figure 2

Levels of aggression as a function of prime content and delay between provocation and assessment of aggression, Experiment 2. Note. Values on the aggression measure represent the duration of time participants recommended the target submerge her or his hand in painfully cold water. Error bars represent ±1 SE.

Figure 3

Path model depicting associations among prime content, hostility ratings, and aggression, Experiment 2. Note. Monte Carlo simulations based on repeated resampling from the distributions of the coefficients (Selig & Preacher, 2008) indicated that the indirect effect of prime content on aggression via hostility ratings was significant (see text for details). *p < .05; ^†p < .07.