[Victus]

I'm thinking about doing a study on instrumental aggression (aggression for the sake of a tangible goal or reward, rather than being prompeted by frustration or emotional outburst). First off I'd like to describe the gist of the experiment (still a gleem in my eye), and then ask for any interesting research on instrumental aggression that anyone has encountered, in the event that I've missed something.

My primary motive is not instrumental aggression itself, but rather its relation to psychopathy (my main interest of psychopathology). Many psychological disorders are associated with an increase in reactive aggression (frustration or emotionally based, no tangible reward). This can be seen in CD/ODD/Childhood and adult bipolar disorder/Intermittent explosive disorder and the list goes on. It has been shown that reactive aggression is linked to frontal lobe dysfunctions, particularly in the ventral (or orbital) regions. While it is true that (criminal) psychopaths display more reactive aggression than non-dysfunctioned controls, they are unique in that they also show a heavy bias towards instrumental aggression (criminals have a 50-50 chance of having committed reactive or instrumental aggression, psychopaths have a 3-97% slide in favor of instrumentality).

Where reactive aggression is linked to poor behavioral inhibition (seen in psychopaths and other disorders), instrumental aggression, I would posit, is a function of poor socialization. One of the unique factors seen in psychopathy is a limited emotional affect (Factor 1 PCL-R). This could explain why instrumental aggression is more prevalent in psychopaths.

The study I'm considering doing would use a community sample (university students), and as such would use a diagnostic device other than the PCL-R (gold standard in forensic psychopathy diagnosis, but inappropriate for community samples), almost certainly the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) would be used. It's fairly easy to complete, score and interpret. In line with some studies, I would be using what's called an 'extreme group analysis', where in the top 10% are taken as 'psychopaths' and the bottom 10% as 'non-psychopaths'.

Participants will complete a 'game' on a computer, which is described as follows...

1) There are believed to be 3 players, when it is actually only them playing against the computer.
2) Each player can choose to either gain 1 point per trial, or to steal points from other 'players' in set amounts (1, 10, 25, 50), there are 100 trials.
3) Players can only 'mug' one other player per trial.
4) The amount they mug for is directly linked to the probability that they will be revealed as the theif to their victim (1%, 10%, 25% or 50% respectively). Regardless of whether or not they are revealed, the keep what they steal.
5) Participants are told that only those scoring over 100 points at the end will receive the credit point normally given for participating in experiments (they actually get it either way, this is simply a prompt for instrumental aggression)
6) Their current score is always on screen.
7) The participants are never, themselves, robbed.

The hypothesis is that participants scoring high on the Fearless-Dominance and Impulsive-Antisociality factors (analagous to Factors one and two on the PCL-R) of the PPI will show more intense mugging, earlier onset mugging, and more frequent mugging.


Can anyone suggest any refinements, I just had this thought last night and jotted it down on a page before bedtime.