Aggressive Impulse Management

攻击性会给社会带来巨大的损失，了解人们如何抑制他们的攻击性冲动至关重要。不幸的是，比起控制其他情绪冲动，人们控制攻击性的技巧似乎越来越少，越来越不有效。一个关键的问题是，减少攻击性的流行策略往往在情绪激动的时候效果最差，这时脾气会爆发。拟议的研究引入了一种新的激励方法，可以规避这个问题。这项工作将有助于制定更有效的减少攻击行为的方法。 这一点至关重要，因为减少攻击行为有助于防止无数暴力行为，从家庭暴力到严重殴打和杀人。拟议中的研究将直接针对攻击性冲动。先前的研究表明，攻击性冲动的特征是对接近行为的强烈驱动，例如，脱口而出侮辱性的言论或打人。通过阻止这种接近行为的动机，可能会降低人们的攻击冲动。拟议的研究将系统地调查这些动机的影响，并将测试是否实验性地操纵回避（与接近）动机可以减少已知增加攻击性的因素的影响，包括酒精，男性性激素睾酮和暴露于媒体暴力。此外，拟议的研究将开发一个培训计划，旨在减少攻击的动机。据估计，降低接近动机将特别减少由冲动驱动的愤怒个体的攻击性，因此，否则最有可能攻击。

Aggression takes a tremendous toll on society, and it is vital to learn how people may withhold their aggressive impulses. Unfortunately, people seem to have fewer and less effective techniques for controlling aggression than for controlling other emotional impulses. A key problem is that popular strategies for reducing aggression tend to be least effective in the heat of the moment, when tempers can flare. The proposed research introduces a new motivational approach that circumvents this problem. This work will contribute towards the development of more efficient methods for reducing aggression. This is critically important, as aggression reduction is instrumental in preventing countless acts of violence, ranging from domestic violence to aggravated assault and homicide. The proposed research will target aggressive impulses directly. Prior research has shown that aggressive impulses are characterized by a strong drive towards approach actions, for instance, to blurt out an insulting remark or to hit someone. By blocking this motivation towards approach actions, it may be possible to lower people's impulse to aggress. The proposed research will systematically investigate these motivational influences, and will test whether experimentally manipulating avoidance (versus approach) motivation can reduce the impact of factors that are known to increase aggression, including alcohol, the male sex hormone testosterone, and exposure to media violence. In addition, the proposed research will develop a training program that is geared towards reducing the motivation to aggress. It is expected that lowering approach motivation will particularly reduce aggression among angry individuals who are driven by their impulses and, thus, otherwise most likely to aggress.