The role of empathy in anger arousal in violent offenders and university students

Empathy, impulsiveness, and sensation seeking as mediators between primary psychopathic traits and driving behaviors in French driving offenders

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to examine the links between primary psychopathic traits and driving behavior on the one hand, and driving anger expression on the other hand, through the specific contribution of empathy, impulsiveness, and sensation seeking, in a sample of French driving offenders.

METHODS

One thousand six hundred and eighty-six driving offenders completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire during 110 drivers' rehabilitation programs.

RESULTS

Primary psychopathic traits were positively associated with violations and aggressive driving anger expression, and negatively associated with prosocial driving behaviors. These associations were partially mediated by empathy, impulsiveness, and sensation seeking. In addition, the negative relation between primary psychopathic traits and adaptive anger expression was fully mediated by these three personal dispositions.

CONCLUSION

Low empathy, high impulsiveness and sensation seeking are important characteristics of driving offenders with high psychopathic traits. Our results provide a better understanding of French driving offenders' risky behaviors and the role of primary psychopathic traits.

Dropout and recidivism are partly explained by emotional decoding and perspective taking deficits of intimate partner violence perpetrators

Professionals and researchers have dedicated important efforts to understanding the underlying factors that explain the failure to complete interventions (dropout) and the recidivism of men convicted of intimate partner violence (IPV) against their female partners. There is a growing interest in measuring emotional decoding and empathic deficits in IPV perpetrators to better understand dropout and recidivism proneness, due to their direct impact on behavioral regulation. In the current study, we first aimed to examine whether the emotional decoding abilities of facial expressions and empathic abilities (cognitive and emotional), as well as their interrelationships in IPV perpetrators (n = 561), would explain dropout, treatment attendance, and recidivism (risk and official) once treatment ended. Our results allowed us to conclude that emotional decoding abilities and perspective taking (cognitive empathy) were significantly and negatively associated with dropout and recidivism. Two moderation models were significant. On the one hand, participants with low emotional decoding abilities presented lower intervention doses the lower their perspective taking. Furthermore, the percentage of participants that reoffended was higher among individuals with low and moderate perspective taking who dropped out. Therefore, our study highlights the importance of conducting emotional decoding and empathic assessments during the initial stages of intervention programs to clearly outline the therapeutic needs of IPV perpetrators. This would allow designing coadjuvant and complementary training programs that can support the main interventions by increasing treatment adherence and, in turn, reducing the risk of recidivism.

Emotional Regulation in Male Batterers When Faced With Pictures of Intimate Partner Violence. Do They Have a Problem With Suppressing or Experiencing Emotions?

Emotional regulation is crucial to psychological functioning and mental health. Studies of male batterers indicate the critical role that emotional processing plays in the violence they exert upon their partners or ex-partners. The aim of this study was to investigate the neural bases of emotional regulation in male batterers-both in experiencing and suppressing emotions-when faced with pictures of intimate partner violence (IPV). We conducted a fMRI study to compare brain functioning when emotions were experienced or increased with the case in which emotions were suppressed or reduced in response to IPV pictures and unpleasant pictures. The sample consisted of three groups: Male Batterers Group (MBG, n = 26), that is, men convicted for IPV; Other Offenders Group (OOG, n = 27), men convicted of crimes other than IPV; and a Non-offenders Group (n = 29), that is, men without a criminal history. The results reveal that in MBG, the brain areas that previous studies have related to suppression and experience processes were activated when faced with unpleasant pictures. However, a different pattern of functioning was found when experiencing IPV pictures. That could be explained by a low capacity to empathize with their partners or ex-partners and by the use of maladaptive emotional regulation strategies. In addition, MBG showed activation in brain areas previously related to suppression but did not modulate their emotions, showing a similar emotional state after suppression and experience. The results of this preliminary study suggest that in psychological treatments for male batterers, it is important to promote empathy towards partners or ex-partners, along with adaptive strategies of emotional regulation.

Management of Aggression in Young Male Adults Using the Virtual Reality-Based Communication Modification Program

High aggression is common and costly for mental health problems in young adults. Because communication is a universal part of social relationships, including conflicts with others, it could be a possible target for mediating aggression. This study aimed to evaluate whether the virtual reality (VR)-based communication modification program can be utilized for aggression management. Fifty-eight individuals with high aggression (n = 30) and with low aggression (n = 28) completed psychological assessments associated with aggression and functional communication, and they participated in the program, consisting of the three tasks: exploring the communication style, practicing functional communication, and expressing empathy. The participants’ selections and their visual analog scale scores, in response to questions in the tasks, were collected as behavioral data. Results indicated that the high aggression group selected blaming dysfunctional communication style more frequently than the low aggression group. VR-based parameters, expected to reflect dysfunctional communication-related characteristics, showed significantly different correlations with aggression-related traits between the two groups. These findings show that our program may accurately represent an individual’s aggressive traits and elicit the appropriate reaction.

Regulating interpersonal stress: the link between heart-rate variability, physical exercise and social perspective taking under stress

Social interactions can be stressful, especially if they involve provocation or ambiguity. At the same time, such interactions necessitate social cognition. The question thus arises how stress affects social cognition and how personality attributes modulate this effect. The aim of the current study was to investigate the link between emotional reactivity, physical exercise, and social cognition under stress. As a measure of social cognition, we used spontaneous perspective taking, i.e., the degree to which participants represented the mental state of another agent. Studying young female participants, we investigated how physiological regulation, measured through resting heart-rate variability, is related to spontaneous social perspective taking under stress, and to predicted anger in an ambiguous social scenario. When controlling for resting heart rate, vagally mediated heart-rate variability was negatively correlated with the effect of stress on perspective taking, indicating that good physiological regulation supports social cognition under stress. Further, participants who reported to exercise at least once a week showed higher perspective taking under stress than less active participants. Finally, we found tentative evidence for participants who exercised regularly to show reduced predicted anger in response to an ambiguous provocation. Our findings suggest that good physiological regulation and regular physical exercise support social cognition under stress.

The Differing Roles of Cognitive Empathy and Affective Empathy in the Relationship Between Trait Anger and Aggressive Behavior: A Chinese College Students Survey

Empathy is essential for effective social interaction. People often express the belief that empathy is closely related to aggressive behavior, but empirical data has challenged this assumption. However, there is a lack of research that focuses on the role of empathy in the relationship between trait anger and aggressive behavior. The current research focuses on the roles that different components of empathy have performed in the combinations of trait anger-hostile cognition-aggressive behavior link and attempt to identify, with reference to Integrated Model of Emotion Processes and Cognition in Social Information Processing, at which step this may occur. Participants included 663 undergraduate students who completed self-report measures of Trait Anger Scale, Aggressive Behavior Questionnaire, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire. Results from correlation analysis show that there is no significant correlation between cognitive empathy and aggressive behavior (r = -.06) but do however suggest a significant correlation between affective empathy and aggressive behavior (r = -.19). Results from structural equation modeling reveal that different components of empathy perform different roles in relation to aggressive behavior. The moderated mediating model analysis results show that cognitive empathy played a moderating role in both the direct effect and the first stage of the mediating model of trait anger-hostile cognition-aggression behavior. The results of multiple mediation model analysis demonstrate that affective empathy only played a partial mediating role between hostile cognition and aggressive behavior. This study contributes to understanding of Social Information Processing Models (SIPMs) and provides insight into the relationship between empathy and aggressive behavior.

Understanding Empathy, Self-Esteem, and Adult Attachment in Sexual Offenders and Partner-Violent Men

The assessment and treatment of emotional variables is a priority in the rehabilitation of offenders. Although theoretical proposals suggest a clear relationship between violence and self-esteem, attachment, and empathy, the research carried out to date has reached contradictory results due mainly to differences in the measurements used, the reliability of self-reports, or even to problems with the definition of the constructs. The present study analyzed these three variables in a prison sample of sexual offenders (n = 48) and partner-violent men (n = 68), using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, the Rape Empathy Measure, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Adult Attachment Questionnaire. Results confirmed the low utility of nonspecific empathy, the predominance of high self-esteem, and the difficulty of identifying an insecure attachment. The implications of the use of these variables in the treatment of offenders, and the need to improve the assessment tools, are discussed.

A Pilot Study for Forgiveness Intervention in Adolescents With High Trait Anger: Enhancing Empathy and Harmony

Forgiveness interventions benefit victims’ mental health, reduce levels of anger, and promote forgiveness. However, forgiveness interventions are rarely used to improve the offender’s anger and mental health, especially in specific situations such as juvenile correctional facilities. The offender is often also a victim, and reducing the offender’s excessive anger may prevent or decrease the likelihood of future interpersonal violence. This study examined the effects of forgiveness interventions on anger, forgiveness, empathy, and harmony of juvenile delinquents with high levels of trait anger. Eighteen adolescents with trait anger in a juvenile correctional facility volunteered to participate in group counseling. A pretest–posttest method of quasi-experimental design was used, with 8 participants in the intervention group and 10 in the control group; the intervention group received forgiveness group counseling, and the control group did not. The results revealed that the intervention group had significantly higher scores for forgiveness, empathy, and harmony than the control group, although no significant differences in the scores of state and trait anger were found. The forgiveness intervention had significantly improved the levels of forgiveness toward specific perpetrators of childhood victimization for the juvenile delinquents with high levels of trait anger, raising their levels of empathy and harmony; there was no significant increase in trait anger. The findings indicated that forgiveness intervention provides an effective way to improve the positive mental strength of adolescents with high levels of trait anger.

Social Desirability Bias Against Admitting Anger: Bias in the Test-Taker or Bias in the Test?

The veracity of self-report is often questioned, especially in anger, which is particularly susceptible to social desirability bias (SDB). However, could tests of SDB be themselves susceptible to bias? This study aimed to replicate the inverse correlation between a common test of SDB and a test of anger, to deconstruct this relationship according to anger-related versus non-anger-related items, and to reevaluate factor structure and reliability of the SDB test. More than 200 students were administered the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale Short Version [M-C1(10)] and the Anger Parameters Scale (APS). Results confirmed that anger and SDB scores were significantly and inversely correlated. This intercorrelation became nonsignificant when the 4 anger-related items were omitted from the M-C1(10). Confirmatory factor analyses showed excellent fit for a model comprising anger items of the M-C1(10) but not for models of the entire instrument or nonanger items. The first model also attained high internal consistency. Thus, the significant negative correlation between anger and SDB is attributable to 4 M-C1(10) anger items, for which low ratings are automatically scored as high SDB; this stems from a tenuous assumption that low anger reports are invariably biased. The SDB test risks false positives of faking good and should be used with caution.

Anger parameters in parolees undergoing psychoeducation: Temporal stability, social desirability bias, and comparison with non-offenders

BACKGROUND

Anger is commonly measured as if it were a single, simple construct. This may be particularly unhelpful if the main purpose of a measure is to determine change and responsiveness to interventions.

AIMS

Our primary aim was to assess five anger parameters in parolees - frequency, duration, intensity, latency, and threshold - and to test for effects of psychoeducation and social desirability bias on parolees' scores. Average anger scores for the offender sample were compared with those in a non-offender sample.

METHODS

The offender sample was drawn from male parolees in San Antonio. Age-matched volunteers recruited at public libraries were engaged for baseline comparisons. The Anger Parameters Scale and the Marlow-Crowne Scale were used to assess anger and social desirability, respectively. Parole officers delivered a psychoeducation course to parolees over 12 weeks, and anger and social desirability measures were taken before and afterwards.

RESULTS

At baseline, parolees were angry more often, stayed angry longer, and reached higher levels of anger than the non-offenders, confirming their eligibility for the programme. Mean anger scores were not significantly different after psychoeducation than before it. Parolees' reported anger was significantly and negatively correlated with social desirability scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Only three of the five anger parameters were prominent among these offenders: frequency, duration, and intensity of their outbursts. Psychoeducation did not produce improvement, possibly because it was instructional rather than therapeutic, but also because group means may mask useful individual differences. Concurrent assessment of social desirability is likely to assist in interpretation of anger measures. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

21st Century Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Anger: A Systematic Review of Research Design, Methodology and Outcome

Background:Past reviews of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for anger have focused on outcome in specific subpopulations, with few questions posed about research design and methodology. Since the turn of the century, there has been a surge of methodologically varied studies awaiting systematic review.Aims:The basic aim was to review this recent literature in terms of trends and patterns in research design, operationalization of anger, and covariates such as social desirability bias (SDB). Also of interest was clinical outcome.Method:After successive culling, 42 relevant studies were retained. These were subjected to a rapid evidence assessment (REA) with special attention to design (ranked on the Scientific Methods Scale) measurement methodology (self-monitored behaviour, anger questionnaires, and others’ ratings), SDB assessment, and statistical versus clinical significance.Results:The randomized controlled trial characterized 60% of the studies, and the State Trait Anger Expression Inventory was the dominant measure of anger. All but one of the studies reported statistically significant outcome, and all but one of the 21 studies evaluating clinical significance laid claim to it. The one study with neither statistical nor clinical significance was the only one that had assessed and corrected for SDB.Conclusions:Measures remain relatively narrow in scope, but study designs have improved, and the outcomes suggest efficacy and clinical effectiveness. In conjunction with previous findings of an inverse relationship between anger and SDB, the results raise the possibility that the favourable picture of CBT for anger may need closer scrutiny with SDB and other methodological details in mind.

The Association among Difficulties in Emotion Regulation, Hostility, and Empathy in a Sample of Young Italian Adults

The aim of the present study was to assess the role of empathy in mediating the association between difficulties in emotion regulation and hostility. Three hundred and sixty young Italian adults (220 women and 140 men) were enrolled in the study. Psychopathological assessments included the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Buss–Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI). Perspective taking (PT) and Personal distress (PD) are significantly associated with both DERS total score and BDHI total score. A mediational model analyzing the direct and indirect effects of DERS on BDHI through the mediating role of PT and PD showed that the relation between DERS and BDHI was partially mediated by PT total score (b = 0.16; se = 0.01; p = 0.02). Taken together our findings support the possibility that PT skills could play a crucial role in inhibiting hostility behaviors.

A systematic review on the relationship between antisocial, borderline and narcissistic personality disorder diagnostic traits and risk of violence to others in a clinical and forensic sample

Risk assessments identify the presence of a Personality Disorder diagnosis as relevant to future violence. At present, risk assessments focus on the presence of the disorder rather than identifying key traits related to risk. Systematic searches of three databases were conducted from January 2000 until August 2014. Of 92,143, 15 studies met the inclusion criteria. A lack of empirical research was found focusing on individual traits; instead most considered PD diagnosis as a sole entity. A preliminary model has been developed detailing the link between potential interactions of diagnostic traits and risk of violence. Recommendations for future research are made.

Increased neural reactivity to socio-emotional stimuli links social exclusion and aggression

We investigated changes in the neural processing of social information as possible link between social exclusion and aggression. Participants played a virtual ball game with two putative game partners, during which half of the 34 participants were excluded. Then, participants played the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP) against the same partners. An empathy paradigm followed, in which participants watched pictures of neutral and emotional social scenes, while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Excluded participants showed stronger neural reactivity to emotional compared to neutral pictures than included participants in regions associated with cognitive mentalizing and the mirror neuron system (bilateral superior, middle and inferior temporal gyrus, bilateral precuneus, right precentral gyrus). Reactivity of left inferior temporal gyrus and right precentral gyrus was positively correlated with aggressive behavior in the TAP. Our results support previous behavioral findings which suggest changes in social information processing as mediator between exclusion and aggression.

An Exploratory Investigation of the Process of Perspective Taking in Interpersonal Situations

The ability to take the perspectives of others is considered a prerequisite for effective interpersonal interaction. Despite extensive investigation into the correlates of perspective taking, there have been few previous attempts to understand the process by which people take another's psychological point of view. The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the strategies used by individuals when attempting to take the perspective of another person. Twelve participants discussed a time they engaged in perspective taking. The analysis revealed that perspective taking was used in situations in which significant negative emotions could arise, and that participants shifted between the use of self-information (e.g., switching places, past experience) and other-information (e.g., target's personal characteristics) during the process of perspective taking. Different emotions and cognitions were associated with taking one's own perspective and taking that of the other person. The study provides a direct consideration of an under-investigated component of social and personal relationships.