That anger engendered by means of insult or frustration is physiologically arousing has been demonstrated. This research was designed to investigate the availability of anger to misattribution, an attribution error, and, by this means, the effectiveness of misattribution in reducing aggressive behavior. (Author/RK)

While theoretical analogs of misattribution therapy appeared promising, attempts with clinically relevant behaviors have not been successful. This study attempted to increase plausibility by manipulating familarity with the setting and psychological arousal in a clinically relevent situation. Authors conclude misattribution effect is not effective…

Administered caffeine to males (N=39) who were provoked or not provoked by a partner. Provoked participants attributed their feelings to both the drug and their partner's behavior. Angered subjects were more aversive when thinking they had taken caffeine but reduced their aggression when told the drug was a placebo. (Author/JAC)

Interpersonal attraction appears to increase under aversive conditions. Two distinct theories suggest that attraction results from either misattribution or fear reduction. To investigate the effects of misattribution and fear reduction on attraction, 36 male college students were ostensibly exposed to an electromagnetic field while an attractive…

This article traces the origin of the James-Lange theory of emotion, considers differences in their thinking, and assesses early criticisms and debate. Research on physiological patterns in emotion is reviewed. New paths for emotion research are outlined and homage is paid to the inspiration of William James. (SLD)

The effects of another person's gaze on physiological arousal were investigated by measuring skin conductance responses (SCR). Twelve able children with autism and 12 control children were shown face stimuli with straight gaze (eye contact) or averted gaze on a computer monitor. In children with autism, the responses to straight gaze were stronger…

Evaluated the role of depression, internal/external attributions, and sex differences in negative arousal in problematic social situations. Using depressed and nondepressed students' ratings of causality and reported arousal, found those who attributed causality to internal factors experienced more negative arousal, and females experienced more…

Explored use of punitive force by adults with low perceived power in teaching interactions. Found that those women with low perceived power were more likely than the others to use high levels of punitive force and show elevated levels of autonomic arousal when given ambiguous control, and more likely to attribute intentionality to children whose…

Characteristics of the situation in which a fear-arousing communication is received affect the effectiveness of the communication. The influence of situational factors affecting a recipient's interpretation of the arousal induced by communication were investigated with smokers (N=37) who were exposed to a fear-arousing anti-smoking movie. Prior to…

High, neutral, and low statements of success expectancy were paired with positive and negative success feedback statements in a reading comprehension experiment. Incongruent combinations such as high success expectancy--negative feedback produced higher comprehension than congruent combinations. Results were interpreted by arousal and attribution…

Following a traditional learned helplessness paradigm, subjects initially tried to terminate random bursts of noise using a button-pressing manipulandum and next tried to solve 20 serially-presented anagrams. The noise was broadcast at either a loud or soft intensity, and the subject's button-pressing was either successful (Escape condition) or…

Analyses of deviant sexual behaviors have most often derived from psychodynamic or behavioral theory. Little systematic research attention has been paid to the role of intervening cognitive variables such as social perception and the causal attribution process. Two studies were conducted to examine differences in cognition between child molesters…

A model of women's readiness to terminate an abusive relationship was examined, using cognitive and emotional factors to predict readiness to change as conceptualized in the transtheoretical model. Factors previously identified in the domestic violence literature were selected to represent cognitive predictors (attribution and attachment style)…