Validation of a monetary Taylor Aggression Paradigm: Associations with trait aggression and role of provocation sequence

Publication date: May 2020Source: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 88Author(s): Julian Konzok, Ludwig Kreuzpointner, Gina-Isabelle Henze, Lisa Wagels, Christian Kärgel, Kathrin Weidacker, Boris Schiffer, Hedwig Eisenbarth, Stefan Wüst, Brigitte M. KudielkaAbstractThe Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP) is widely used to measure reactive aggression in laboratory settings. While modified versions (mTAPs) with various stimulus characteristics (shocks, noise, pressure, heat) have already been established, a modified version with monetary stimuli has only been introduced very recently. In this experiment, 209 young healthy participants (104 males, 105 females) completed a mock Competitive Reaction Time Task (CRTT) with a fictional opponent with preprogrammed 40 win and 60 lose trials. In lose trials, participants were provoked by subtracting a low (0–20 euro cents), medium (30–60 cents) or high (70–90 cents) amount of money from their fictitious account. Provocation stimuli were either presented randomly or in a fixed sequence (experimental conditions). In contrast to a random sequence, the fixed sequence was generated by repeating trials from the same provocation category in series of three. Linear mixed models (LMMs) considering aggression trajectories revealed significant effects of provocation (low, medium, high) and trait aggression (K-FAF) on reactive aggression. Men showed significantly higher reactive aggression levels than women. In regard to provoca...
Source: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research