Personality pathways to aggression: Testing a trait‐state model using immersive technology

Trait‐state models aim to provide an encompassing view of offender decision‐making processes by linking individual dispositions to proximal factors. In an experiment using an immersive virtual reality bar fight scenario, we propose and test a trait‐state model that identifies the pathways through wh...

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Published inCriminology (Beverly Hills) Vol. 60; no. 3; pp. 406 - 428
Main Authors Gelder, Jean‐Louis, Vries, Reinout E., Sintemaartensdijk, Iris, Donker, Tara
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Columbus American Society of Criminology 01.08.2022
Subjects
aggression
Aggressiveness
Agreeableness
Anger
Criminals
Decision making
Emotional states
Emotionality
Guilt
Honesty
Morality
Personality
Personality traits
Risk perception
Shame
Structural equation modeling
Technology
trait‐state models
Virtual reality
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Summary:Trait‐state models aim to provide an encompassing view of offender decision‐making processes by linking individual dispositions to proximal factors. In an experiment using an immersive virtual reality bar fight scenario, we propose and test a trait‐state model that identifies the pathways through which robust personality correlates of aggressive behavior, that is, agreeableness, emotionality, and honesty‐humility, result in intentions to aggress. Using structural equation modeling, we show how these personality traits relate to intentions to aggress via anger, fear, perceived risk, and anticipated guilt/shame. Additionally, we demonstrate superior validity of our virtual scenario over a written version of the same scenario by virtue of its ability to provide more contextual realism, to establish a stronger sense of presence, and to trigger more intense emotional states relevant to the decision situation. Implications for future decision‐making research and theory are discussed.
Bibliography:Additional supporting information can be found in the full text tab for this article in the Wiley Online Library at
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/crim.2022.60.issue‐3/issuetoc
The authors would like to thank Dan Nagin, Shaina Herman and Tim Barnum for their helpful feedback on earlier versions of this manuscript. We thank Jonas Weber for assistance with data collection.
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ISSN:0011-1384
1745-9125
DOI:10.1111/1745-9125.12305