Twin study of laboratory-induced aggression

Bojana M Dinić; Snežana Smederevac; Selka Sadiković; Milan Oljača; Nataša Vučinić; Mechthild Prinz; Zoran Budimlija

doi:10.1002/ab.21916

Twin study of laboratory-induced aggression

Aggress Behav. 2020 Nov;46(6):489-497. doi: 10.1002/ab.21916. Epub 2020 Jul 13.

Authors

Bojana M Dinić¹, Snežana Smederevac¹, Selka Sadiković¹, Milan Oljača¹, Nataša Vučinić², Mechthild Prinz³, Zoran Budimlija⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.
² Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.
³ Department of Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, New York City, New York.
⁴ Department of Neurology, NYU School of Medicine, New York City, New York.

PMID: 32656781
DOI: 10.1002/ab.21916

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore genetic and environmental contributions to laboratory-induced aggressive behavior. On a sample of 478 adult twins (316 monozygotic), the Competitive Reaction Time Task was used for aggression induction. The results showed that the initial, basic level of aggression could be explained by both shared (45%) and nonshared environmental factors (55%), while only nonshared environmental factors (100%) had a significant influence on changes in aggression as provocation increased. Genetic factors had no influence on laboratory-induced aggression. The results highlight the importance of environmental factors in shaping situation-specific aggressive responses to provocation.

Keywords: Competitive Reaction Time Task; laboratory aggression; twin study.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aggression*
Environment
Humans
Mental Disorders*
Twins
Twins, Monozygotic