A Further Methodological Study of the Measurement of Interpersonal Aggression

Abstract

The 9 highest (HH) and 9 lowest (LH) scorers on the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory out of a sample of 115 males were placed into an identical situation in which they received mild shocks on 6 of 60 trials. All Ss were angered by this procedure according to their scores on a self-report mood inventory. The HH and LH Ss significantly differed from each other on measures of number and intensity of shocks used and in terms of the first trial on which they retaliated. No apparent evidence was found for the notion that number and intensity of shocks measure different processes of interpersonal aggression.