Aggressive behavior and social Status: An experimental test of the general aggression model

Abstract

In everyday situations, violations of social norms can be perceived as provocations that trigger aggression, which can have negative consequences for the individuals involved and social coexistence. Based on the General Aggression Model (GAM), we investigate how a physical provocation affects the internal state (cognition, arousal, and affect) of the provoked person and how this then affects their potential reactions. We also investigate the moderating effect of the provocateur's social status in this process. Using a scenario-based experiment within a representative sample of the working population in Germany (N = 1,595), the level of provocation and the social status of the provocateur were experimentally manipulated, whereby three indicators of the internal state and three possible reactions (no reaction, verbal aggression, and physical aggression) were measured. Results show that an intentional provocation reduces the likelihood that the provocation will be ignored, while verbal or aggressive reactions become more likely. These effects were mediated by the provoked person's internal state. A higher social status of the provocateur resulted in a more aggressive-prone internal state. Moreover, the verbal reaction to provocation was significantly less affected by the internal state when the provocateur was of high social status. However, a simultaneous analysis of these processes shows that these countervailing conditioning effects of the social status offset the overall impact. This study offers insights into the dynamics of social interactions by demonstrating the functioning of a mechanism between provocation in everyday situations and the provoked individual's reactions, as well as the role of the provocateur's social status.