Physiological arousal, reactive aggression, and the induction of an incompatible relaxation response

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-1789(97)00002-5Get rights and content

Abstract

This review examines the major cognitive/social approaches to reducing reactive aggression and their interdependency on neural mechanisms associated with arousal. According to psychological theory, physiological arousal serves as a nonspecific energizer of cognitively defined emotions. Physiological models emphasize a bottom-up approach, many higher cortical functions serve to reduce heightened arousal and these reductions are essential before cognitive techniques can modulate aggressive behavior. Higher cortical functions are associated with complex cognitive processes necessary for self-control, anticipating consequences, and behavioral inhibition. Heightened arousal interferes with cognitive performance; disinhibiting aggression and reinforcing behavior that reduces arousal. Studies manipulating empathy, humor and sexual content have demonstrated efficacy of incompatible responses to reduce anger and aggression, but when attributions are negative and arousal high all of these manipulations can increase chances of overt aggression. The incompatible response hypothesis is extended beyond empathy, humor, and sexual arousal to include relaxation techniques for prevention and control of aggression. Cognitive-behavioral therapeutic programs have successfully reduced aggression by combining relaxation, systematic desensitization, and biofeedback with cognitive restructuring and anger management training.

Section snippets

Neurophysiological models of arousal

According to Berlyne’s (1960) theory, arousal is an intervening variable used to clarify such diverse phenomena as motivation, sleep, attention, and emotion. Arousal is a term widely used to describe a nonspecific facilitation of cortical transmission that results in increased alertness, responsiveness, and vigilance (Hebb, 1972). According to Berlyne (1960), the portion of the nervous system hypothesized to control alertness and attention is the reticular arousal system. This system contains

Peripheral versus central theories of emotion

In the history of theory and research on emotions, a major topic is the issue of specific central physiological states versus general autonomic arousal as the substrate of different emotions. William James (1884) held that subjective feelings like anger are produced by afferent feedback from visceral and somatic changes following the perception of a stimulus object. The hypothesis that feedback from peripheral changes may account for the specificity of different emotions was rejected by Cannon

Antagonistic excitatory and inhibitory systems

Early formulations of arousal led to the development of a three-component nervous system (Gray, 1979): a nonspecific arousal system, a behavioral inhibitory system, and a behavioral activation system. The behavioral inhibition and activation systems interact with each other in an antagonistic manner and both have positive input into the third nonspecific arousal system, anatomically identified with the reticular formation.

Without going into the details of the neurophysiological experimentation,

Fight, flight, or inhibit aggression

Many psychological and physiological models assume that (a) there are stable, individual differences in the reactivity or the levels of activity in the excitatory and inhibitory systems; (b) learning can result in situationally specific changes in these levels of activity; and (c) activity in the inhibitory system relative to the excitatory system is an inverted U-shaped function of the level of nonspecific nervous system arousal (Traue & Pennebaker, 1993). According to an antagonistic model,

Reducing arousal is reinforcing

According to the catharsis hypothesis, a harmless expression of anger and negative emotions reduces peoples’ aggressive arousal and their tendencies to engage in overt acts of aggression (Baron & Richardson, 1994). Catharsis has many historical interpretations, but, as applied to anger and aggression, it was an hypothesis about conservation of emotional energy. Anger once provoked must be expressed in one form or the other. That expression of anger reduces it, leading to feelings of relief and

Arousal and cognitive control of aggression

Most individual’s inhibitions against aggression are activated to some extent when they are aware of being furious, and their thoughts can modify or even change the aggressive emotional state produced by negative affect (Berkowitz, 1993). The more strongly aroused, however, the less a person is aware of emotions and arousal. The emotionally aroused mother who shakes her baby only wants to stop the crying; she is not aware of her own level of anger and does not think about any consequences. In

Excitation transfer theory of aggression

Aggressive arousal may well depend on several antagonistic neural processes overlapping in time, with at least one involving arousal and another the expression or inhibition of aggressive behavior. In surveys of anger over the past century, Americans and Japanese reported the median duration of an episode of anger was 10 to 20 minutes; a more recent survey found bimodal distributions of anger durations (Fridhandler & Averill, 1982). The shorter mode was 10 minutes, in agreement with

Incompatible response hypothesis

It is a well-established principle in psychology that people have great difficulty engaging in two incompatible responses. This basic principle has been extended to the prevention or control of aggressive behavior in the form of what has become known as the incompatible response hypothesis Baron 1983, Baron 1993. This hypothesis suggests that it may be possible to reduce both anger and overt aggression by exposing individuals to stimuli or events that induce emotions incompatible with anger and

Therapeutic approaches to aggression

In the past few decades, therapists have developed a number of different programs designed to teach aggressive people how to behave in a socially skillful manner and to restrain themselves when aroused. Therapists who see aggression as primarily instrumental behavior carried out in pursuit of some other purpose typically concentrate on teaching assaulting persons that antisocial conduct is apt to be punished and that socially desirable behavior is more likely to be rewarded. Proponents of this

Biofeedback and self-control

Various forms of cognitive-behavioral training have been suggested for the negative perceptions of infant crying found in abusive parents and at-risk individuals Crowe & Zeskind 1992, Dietrich, Berkowitz, Kadushin, & McGloin 1990, Whipple & Webster-Stratton 1991, Wolfe & Jaffe 1991. Biofeedback training has been applied to a variety of stress-related disorders Middaugh 1990, Rice, Blanchard, & Purcell 1993 and applied to the physiological arousal and negative emotions generated by listening to

Conclusions

The diversity of professions offering perspectives or explanations for aggression point to the multidimensional complexity of the subject (Baron & Richardson, 1994). Heightened arousal contributes to episodes of reactive aggression, but physiological variables by themselves cannot explain the current escalation of violence in North America. As Tuchman (1978) has pointed out, historical periods of increased aggressiveness are usually associated with a growth of egocentricity at the expense of

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to Joanna Manning and Stan Sadava for their helpful comments on this review.

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