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Rape: power, anger, and sexuality.

Accounts from both offenders and victims of what occurs during a rape suggest that issues of power, anger, and sexuality are important in understanding the rapist's behavior. All three issues seem to operate in every rape, but the proportion varies and one issue seems to dominate in each instance. The authors ranked accounts from 133 offenders and 92 victims for the dominant issue and found that the offenses could be categorized as power rape (sexuality used primarily to express power) or anger rape (use of sexuality to express anger). There were no rapes in which sex was the dominant issue; sexuality was always in the service of other, nonsexual needs.

Adult↗

Firstborns' behaviors during a mother's second pregnancy.

Distress and autonomy behaviors were examined in 80 preschool children of pregnant mothers and nonexpectant mothers. Four groups of only children participated: three groups of 20 children of expectant mothers who were in their early, middle, or late stages of pregnancy and a comparison group of 20 children of nonexpectant mothers. The groups were balanced for age (young: 18 to 36 months; old: 37 to 60 months) and sex. At 12 weeks, young firstborn girls were more dependent than either young boys or older girls and boys. Firstborns in the middle pregnancy group were more dependent at 20 weeks than at 24 and 28 weeks; however, boys reacted more to separation and expressed more anger than did girls. During the late phase of pregnancy, boys reacted to separation more negatively than girls did only at 28 weeks. Old firstborns were generally more autonomous than young firstborns; however, by the 32nd week of pregnancy, the groups did not differ. Compared with children in the comparison group, those in the early pregnancy group showed fewer reactions to separation, and those in the middle pregnancy group were less dependent at 24 and 28 weeks. At 38 weeks of pregnancy, late pregnancy boys reacted less to separation and expressed less anger than did comparison group boys. Late pregnancy girls were angrier than boys in both the comparison and pregnancy groups.

Anger↗

Anger inhibition potentiates the association of high end-tidal CO2 with blood pressure in women.

OBJECTIVE: High resting end-tidal CO2 (PetCO2) has been shown to be an independent predictor of systolic blood pressure (SBP) in women, particularly older women. The study reported in this article investigated whether the tendency to experience, express, and/or suppress anger contributes to the association of PetCO2 and SBP in women and in men. METHODS: The Spielberger Anger Expression Inventory was administered to 403 healthy male and female participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging. Resting PetCO2 was obtained by means of a respiratory gas monitor, and resting blood pressure was obtained with an oscillometric device. The associations of resting PetCO2 and the anger scales with SBP and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were investigated using multivariate regression analyses. RESULTS: PetCO2, as well as age and body mass index, was an independent predictor of SBP in women with low, but not high, trait anger and in women with low, but not high, anger-out. PetCO2 was not an independent predictor of SBP in men with either high or low anger. In addition, PetCO2 was not an independent predictor of DBP in either men or women. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that inhibition of anger potentiates the relationship of high PetCO2 with SBP in women but not men. Additional studies are needed to determine the origins of the observed gender differences and the psychophysiological pathways by which high resting PetCO2 contributes to elevated resting blood pressure in women.

Adult↗

[Recognition of joy, anger, and fear by face expression in humans].

Behavioral and neurophysiological characteristics of a visual recognition of emotions of joy, anger, and fear were studied in 9 young healthy men and 10 women. It was shown that these emotions were identified by subjects with different rate and accuracy; significant gender differences in recognition of anger and fear were found. Recording of visual evoked potentials (VEP) from the occipital (O1/2), medial temporal (T3/4), inferior temporal (T5/6), and frontal (F3/4) areas revealed differences (related with the type of emotion) in the latencies of P150, N180, P250, and N350 waves and in the amplitude of VEP components with the latencies longer than 250 ms. These differences were maximally expressed in T3/4 derivation. The subjects could be divided in two groups. The first group was characterized by increased VEP latencies and higher amplitudes of VEP components later than 250 ms in response to anger (in comparison with other types of emotions). These phenomena were observed in all the derivations but were most pronounced in T3/4. In the second group, only late P250 and N350 components had shorter latencies during recognition of fear. VEP amplitude variations related with the type of emotions were insignificant and were recorded in the occipital and frontal areas. The two groups of subjects also differed in psychoemotional personality characteristics. It is suggested that primary recognition of facial expression takes place in the temporal cortical areas. A possible correlation of electrophysiological indices of emotion recognition with personality traits is discussed.

Adult↗

A functional single nucleotide polymorphism (V158M) in the COMT gene is associated with aggressive personality traits.

BACKGROUND: Suicidal behavior is often correlated with other-directed aggression, which is partially mediated by catecholaminergic neurotransmission. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is an enzyme involved in catecholamine inactivation. In this study, we examined the influence of a functional COMT (V158M) polymorphism on suicidal behavior and anger-related traits. METHODS: This polymorphism was examined in 149 German suicide attempters and 328 German control subjects. Both groups were administered self-report questionnaires for anger-related traits. RESULTS: There was no overall difference in allele/genotype frequency between patients and control subjects; however, the low-activity L-allele and genotype frequencies were higher among violent suicide attempters. For anger-related traits, a multivariate effect of the COMT genotype was observed after controlling for age and educational level. LL-carriers expressed their anger more outwardly, whereas HH-carriers expressed it more inwardly and reported more state anger, as assessed by the self-report questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the hypothesis that the functional polymorphism in the COMT gene may modify the phenotype of suicide attempts and anger-related traits. This, however, being a novel finding, should warrant further investigation.

Adult↗

The role of affect and reasoning in a patient with a delusion of misidentification.

INTRODUCTION: This study investigated a patient with a delusion of misidentification (DM) resembling a Capgras delusion. Instead of the typical Capgras delusion--the false belief that someone has been replaced by an almost identical impostor--patient MF misidentified his wife as his former business partner. METHOD: Detailed investigation of MF's face processing, affective response and affect perception, and ability to evaluate, and reject, implausible ideas was undertaken. RESULTS: MF's visual processing of identity, gender, and age of familiar and unknown faces was intact but he was unable to identify the facial expressions of anger, disgust, and fear, or to match faces across expressions. MF also showed a reduced affective responsiveness to his environment, and impaired reasoning ability. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that MF's delusion of misidentification resulted from a combination of affective deficits, including impairment of both affective response and affect perception, in addition to an inability to evaluate, and reject, implausible ideas. These deficits, in combination with specific life events at the time of onset of the delusion, may have contributed to the form and content of the delusion. In addition, the results raise the possibility that the processing of face identity and facial expression are not as independent as previously proposed in models of face processing.

Journal Article↗

Coping with background anger in early childhood.

Normative patterns, individual styles, and developmental changes in coping with background anger (anger between others) were examined in preschoolers. Live models expressed verbalized anger toward each other while pairs of same-sex friends played in an adjacent room. 85 4- and 5-year-olds participated, playing took place in the presence of mothers, and a 7-episode sequence of background conditions (no emotion, positive, no emotion, anger, no emotion, positive, no emotion) described the experimental situation. Children were also interviewed concerning their feelings during others' anger. Preschoolers evidenced heightened arousal, that is, greater distress, social sharing, preoccupation, and positive affect, concurrent with exposure to background anger. Increased verbal aggressiveness in play occurred in the period following exposure. Coping styles initially identified from behavioral emotional responses to the adults' quarrel were further delineated by contrasts on other aspects of functioning. Concerned emotional responders (46%) showed negative emotions concurrent with exposure, and later reported that they had felt sad during the fight and wanted to intervene. Unresponsive children (15%) showed no evidence of emotion, but later reported that they were angry. Ambivalent responders (35%) showed high emotional arousal during exposure, typified by both positive and negative emotions. Later they reported feeling happy but disregulated and were most likely to become physically and verbally aggressive in play with a friend. Analyses on a subsample (N = 43) also seen as toddlers showed that responses to background anger changed markedly, but precursors of preschoolers' coping styles were evident in toddlers' behavioral responses.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Facial expressions as conditioned stimuli for electrodermal responses: a case of "preparedness"?

Converging data suggest that human facial behavior has an evolutionary basis. Combining these data with Seligman's preparedness theory, it was predicted that facial expressions of anger should be more readily associated with aversive events than should expressions of happiness. Two experiments involving differential electrodermal conditioning to pictures of faces, with electric shock as the unconditioned stimulus, were performed. In the first experiment, the subjects were exposed to two pictures of the same person, one with an angry and one with a happy expression. For half of the subjects, the shock followed the angry face, and for the other half, it followed the happy face. In the second experiment, three groups of subjects differentiated between pictures of male and female faces, both showing angry, neutral, and happy expressions. Responses to angry conditioned stimuli showed significant resistance to extinction in both experiments, with a larger effect in Experiment 2. Responses to happy or neutral conditioned stimuli, on the other hand, extinguished immediately when the shock was withheld. The results are related to conditioning to phobic stimuli and to the preparedness theory.

Adult↗

Facial EMG in an anger-provoking situation: individual differences in directing anger outwards or inwards.

This study was designed to examine whether facial EMG reactions occurred while subjects experienced anger. All subjects (n = 60) were required to perform an intelligence test. Randomly chosen subjects (n = 40) received negative feedback irrespective of their actual test achievement. The remaining twenty subjects served as control group and received neutral feedback. While all subjects received their feedback, facial EMG was recorded over the mm. frontalis lateralis, corrugator supercilii, orbicularis oculi, and zygomaticus major. In addition, anger and fear self-reports were measured. Those subjects receiving negative feedback were post-hoc divided into two groups. One group comprised subjects verbally expressing their anger toward the experimenter (anger-out group, n = 19) while the other anger group comprised subjects who were angry with themselves (anger-in group, n = 18). Facial EMG reactions over the m. frontalis and m. corrugator were only evident for the anger-out group while they received negative feedback. In addition, intensity of anger self-reports were unrelated to facial EMG reactions. It is hypothesized that the anger-out group implicitly communicated with the experimenter by generating facial anger displays including mm. frontalis and corrugator EMG activity. Thus, these results were taken as evidence that facial displays are communicative tools used to communicate with an interactant although he/she is not physically present (implicit audience).

Adult↗

Face-selective processing and the effect of pleasant and unpleasant emotional expressions on ERP correlates.

Previous studies have revealed that decoding of facial-expressions starts very early in the brain ( approximately 180 ms post-stimulus) and might be processed separately from the basic stage of face perception. In order to explore brain potentials (ERPs) related to decoding of facial-expressions and the effect of emotional valence of the stimulus, we analyzed 18 normal subjects. Faces with five basic emotional expressions (fear, anger, surprise, happiness, sadness) and neutral stimulus were presented in random order. The results demonstrated that an emotional face elicited a negative peak at approximately 230 ms (N230), distributed mainly over the posterior site for each emotion. The electrophysiological activity observed may represent specific cognitive processing underlying the decoding of emotional facial-expressions. Nevertheless, differences in peak amplitude were observed for high-arousal negative expressions compared with positive (happiness) and low-arousal expressions (sadness). N230 amplitude increased in response to anger, fear and surprise, suggesting that subjects' ERP variations are affected by experienced emotional intensity, related to arousal and unpleasant value of the stimulus.

Adult↗

The motivation behind serial sexual homicide: is it sex, power, and control, or anger?

Controversy exists in the literature and society regarding what motivates serial sexual killers to commit their crimes. Hypotheses range from the seeking of sexual gratification to the achievement of power and control to the expression of anger. The authors provide theoretical, empirical, evolutionary, and physiological support for the argument that serial sexual murderers above all commit their crimes in pursuit of sadistic pleasure. The seeking of power and control over victims is believed to serve the two secondary purposes of heightening sexual arousal and ensuring victim presence for the crime. Anger is not considered a key component of these offenders' motivation due to its inhibitory physiological effect on sexual functioning. On the contrary, criminal investigations into serial sexual killings consistently reveal erotically charged crimes, with sexual motivation expressed either overtly or symbolically. Although anger may be correlated with serial sexual homicide offenders, as it is with criminal offenders in general, it is not causative. The authors further believe serial sexual murderers should be considered sex offenders. A significant proportion of them appear to have paraphilic disorders within the spectrum of sexual sadism. "sexual sadism, homicidal type" is proposed as a diagnostic subtype of sexual sadism applicable to many of these offenders, and a suggested modification of DSM criteria is presented.

Anger↗

Expressive/suppressive anger-coping responses, gender, and types of mortality: a 17-year follow-up (Tecumseh, Michigan, 1971-1988).

OBJECTIVES: This study examined prospectively (1971-1988) the relationship between anger-coping responses, gender, and mortality (N = 91) in a representative sample of men (N = 324) and women (N = 372), aged 30 to 69, from the Tecumseh Community Health Study. METHODS: Anger-coping was measured by responses to hypothetical unfair anger-provoking situations. Cox proportional hazard regressions were used adjusted for seven health risk factors (age, smoking, relative weight, systolic blood pressure (SBP), bronchial problems, FEV1, and cardiovascular (CV) risk). RESULTS: Men's suppressed anger interacted significantly with SBP and also with bronchial problems to predict both all-cause and CV mortality. Women showed direct relationships between suppressed anger and early mortality (all-cause, CV, and cancer). Women also showed an interaction of spouse-suppressed anger and SBP for all-cause and CV mortality. Data suggest men who expressed their anger died earlier of cancer (N = 16) deaths. CONCLUSIONS: Suppressed anger at the time of an unjust attack may become chronic resentment (intermittent rage or hatred) about which little is known and requires research. The design for future research should experimentally measure both suppressed anger-coping responses (after an unfair attack) and morbidity (eg, blood pressure, bronchitis, immune disorder, etc.) to predict prospectively to earlier mortality.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Anger in young men and subsequent premature cardiovascular disease: the precursors study.

BACKGROUND: Anger can trigger myocardial ischemia and may be an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease, but its effect on early compared with late onset of disease is unclear. METHODS: We performed a prospective study of 1055 men followed up for 32 to 48 years to examine the risk of premature and total cardiovascular disease (CVD) associated with anger responses to stress during early adult life. Highest level of anger was defined as a self-report of all 3 possible anger reactions to stress (expressed or concealed anger, gripe sessions, and irritability) on a checklist questionnaire administered in medical school. Premature disease was defined as events before age 55 years. RESULTS: During a median follow-up period of 36 years, 205 men developed CVD (cumulative incidence at 76 years, 34.5%), of whom 77 men developed premature disease (cumulative incidence before 55 years, 7.9%). The highest level of anger was associated with an increased risk of premature CVD (adjusted relative risk, 3.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-8.6), including premature coronary heart disease (relative risk, 3.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-11.8) and premature myocardial infarction (relative risk, 6.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.8-22.3), compared with lower levels of anger. When CVD events after age 55 years were included, there was no longer a statistically significant association between anger and CVD. CONCLUSION: High level of anger in response to stress in young men is associated with an increased risk of subsequent premature CVD, particularly myocardial infarction.

Adult↗

Alexithymia and anger in patients with fibromyalgia.

Our objective was to delineate the relevance of the personality construct alexithymia and anger-in in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome. Fifty subjects with fibromyalgia syndrome were compared to 20 subjects with rheumatoid arthritis and 42 healthy controls on the measures of anxiety, depression, anger, alexithymia, pain intensity and disability. There was a significant difference on the measures of anxiety and anger between FMS and RA groups, and also between FMS patients and healthy controls. There was a significant difference between FMS patients and healthy controls on the measures of depression, difficulty in identifying feelings subscale of TAS (TAS-dif), and total alexithymia scores. When the severity of pain was controlled for, there was a significant difference on the measures of anger and alexithymia between the FMS and the RA groups. Fibromyalgia patients were more alexithymic than rheumatoid arthritis patients even when the level of depression was controlled for. Anger towards oneself, which is anger-in, was higher in patients with fibromyalgia patients than in the rheumatoid arthritis sample. A stepwise regression model showed that the anger-out scores and the anxiety scores predicted the level of pain severity, and this explained 32% of the variance in the fibromyalgia syndrome group. Although anger-in is consistently higher in fibromyalgia patients, it is the behavioral expression of anger, together with anxiety, that predicts the severity of the pain. The difficulty of identifying feelings, rather than other dimensions of alexithymia, seems to be associated with fibromyalgia.

Adult↗

Are angry male and female faces represented in opposite hemispheres of the female brain? A study using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS).

The universality across cultures for recognizing the facial expression of anger suggests an evolved mechanism for dealing with threat. Using low frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and a paradigm involving color-naming latencies for angry, fearful and neutral faces, and for emotional and neutral words respectively, we found evidence for a hemispheric specialization according to the sex and emotional content of faces in female subjects. Participants showed increased attention specifically to male angry faces after stimulation of the right superior temporal lobe, whereas they showed increased attention to angry female faces after left temporal stimulation. No effect was detected regarding the processing of fearful faces or emotional words. This result suggests differential processing of sex-specific threat-related stimuli specifically involving both hemispheres, i.e., that male and female faces are processed in opposite hemispheres, which might reflect the divergent adaptive significance of male and female threat for young females.

Adolescent↗

Not all negative emotions are equal: the role of emotional expression in online support groups for women with breast cancer.

The repression/suppression of negative emotions has long been considered detrimental for breast cancer (BC) patients, leading to poor coping, progression of symptoms, and general lower quality of life. Therapies have focused on encouraging the expression of negative emotions. While group therapies have proven to be successful for BC patients, no study has looked at the role of expressing negative emotions during the therapeutic interaction. We examined written expressed emotions by women participating in a common form of psychosocial support, Internet based bulletin boards (BBs). Fifty-two new members to BC BBs were studied. They completed measures of quality of life and depression. After 6 months the measures were again assessed and messages during that time were collected and analyzed for emotional content. For the 52 women, results showed that greater expression of anger was associated with higher quality of life and lower depression, while the expression of fear and anxiety was associated with lower quality of life and higher depression. The expression of sadness was unrelated to change scores. Our results serve to challenge the commonly held belief that the expression of all negative emotions are beneficial for BC patients. Instead, expressing specific negative emotions are beneficial, while others are not.

Affect↗

Emotional facial expressions at the onset of temporal lobe seizures: observations on scalp and intracranial EEG recordings.

The initial facial expressions of 195 complex partial seizures of 98 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy were reviewed in relation to the laterality and focality of electroencephalographic (EEG) seizure origin. A neutral expression was observed most often (71) followed in frequency by expressions of disgust (13), happiness (7) and sadness (7). There was no expression of anger, surprise and fear. No correlation was found between the type of facial expression and the side of seizure origin. However, among 27 patients examined by means of intracranial EEG recordings, it was evident that a disgust expression occurred with oro-alimentary automatisms at the beginning of mesial temporal lobe seizures, whereas a happy one occurred without oro-alimentary automatisms at the beginning of lateral temporal lobe seizures. Although the facial expressions were not always related to the concurrent ictal emotion, it appeared that the majority of the patients with the disgust expression had autonomic features, while those of the happy/sad expression had psychic/sensory ones. It was concluded that (1) a disgust expression occurs as an indirect consequence of "crude sensation," while a happy/sad expression occurs as a direct consequence of "elaborate mental state" (Jackson) and (2) facial expressions must be reviewed in relation to focality rather than laterality in temporal lobe seizures.

Adolescent↗