The social neuroendocrinology of human aggression

人类攻击性的社会神经内分泌学

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-06676
• 负责人: Carré, Justin
• 金额: $ 2.55万
• 依托单位: Nipissing University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=589153
• 关键词: social; neuroendocrinology; human; aggression

Aggression is a common feature of human life and is expressed to varying degrees in many different social contexts including schools, workplace, highways (i.e., ‘road rage’), athletic venues, and the battlefield. Although aggression can serve important adaptive functions (e.g., competing for valued resources, defending oneself against attack), it may become maladaptive when the intensity, frequency, and duration of the aggressive response is out of proportion to the apparent cause(s). Researchers have long suspected that individual differences in testosterone concentrations may underlie variability in human aggressive behaviour. Despite clear evidence in animal models for the important role of testosterone in promoting aggression, the findings in humans have been relatively weak and inconsistent. Notably, testosterone concentrations are not fixed, but rather, change rapidly in response to social interactions, suggesting that it may be critical to consider context dependent changes in testosterone concentrations when attempting to predict variation in human aggression. Indeed, our research has demonstrated that acute changes in testosterone during competition and/or social provocation are consistently positively correlated with reactive aggression in healthy young men. These findings support the hypothesis that competition- or provocation-induced changes in testosterone may serve to fine-tune ongoing and/or future aggressive behaviour. In the current studies, we propose to extend this work in several important ways. First, we will investigate the extent to which competing with an out-group member (i.e., person of another ethnicity) versus an in-group member influences testosterone reactivity and aggressive behaviour. Second, we will investigate the extent to which self-control influences the relationship between acute changes in testosterone and aggression. Finally, and most importantly, we will use a novel and innovative testosterone administration protocol to investigate the causal role of testosterone in modulating aggressive behaviour in young men. The proposed studies will integrate theory and methodology from social and experimental psychology, neuroendocrinology, and pharmacology toward the ultimate goal of understanding and detailing the basic neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying human aggressive behaviour.

攻击性是人类生活的一个共同特征，在许多不同的社会环境中表现出不同程度的攻击性，包括学校、工作场所、高速公路（即，“公路”）、运动场馆和战场。虽然攻击性可以发挥重要的适应功能（例如，竞争有价值的资源，保护自己免受攻击），当攻击性反应的强度，频率和持续时间与明显的原因不成比例时，它可能会变得适应不良。长期以来，研究人员一直怀疑睾丸激素浓度的个体差异可能是人类攻击行为变异的基础。尽管在动物模型中有明确的证据表明睾酮在促进攻击性方面的重要作用，但在人类中的发现相对较弱且不一致。值得注意的是，睾酮浓度不是固定的，而是随着社会互动而迅速变化，这表明在试图预测人类攻击性的变化时，考虑睾酮浓度的背景依赖性变化可能是至关重要的。事实上，我们的研究表明，在竞争和/或社会挑衅过程中，睾丸激素的急剧变化与健康年轻男性的反应性攻击始终呈正相关。这些研究结果支持这一假设，即竞争或挑衅引起的睾酮变化可能有助于微调正在进行的和/或未来的攻击行为。 在目前的研究中，我们建议以几种重要的方式扩展这项工作。首先，我们将调查与群体外成员竞争的程度（即，另一个种族的人）与组内成员的关系会影响睾酮反应和攻击行为。其次，我们将研究自我控制在多大程度上影响睾酮和攻击性的急剧变化之间的关系。最后，也是最重要的，我们将使用一种新颖的和创新的睾酮管理协议来调查睾酮在调节年轻男性攻击行为中的因果作用。拟议的研究将整合社会和实验心理学，神经内分泌学和药理学的理论和方法，以理解和详细说明人类攻击行为的基本神经内分泌机制的最终目标。