Effects of alcohol on human aggression. Validity of proposed explanations

• Published in: Recent developments in alcoholism : an official publication of the American Medical Society on Alcoholism, the Research Society on Alcoholism, and the National Council on Alcoholism Vol. 13; p. 227
• Main Author: Bushman, B J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 1997
• Subjects: Aggression - drug effects; Aggression - psychology; Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects; Alcohol Drinking - psychology; Alcoholic Intoxication - psychology; Arousal - drug effects; Humans
• ISSN: 0738-422X

In the present review, meta-analytic procedures were used to test the validity of three explanations of alcohol-related aggression: physiological disinhibition, expectancy, and indirect cause. According to the physiological disinhibition explanation, alcohol increases aggression directly by anesthetizing the center of the brain that normally inhibits aggressive responding. According to the expectancy explanation, alcohol increases aggression because people expect it to. According to the indirect cause explanation, alcohol increases aggression by causing changes within the person that increase the probability of aggression (e.g., by reducing intellectual functioning). The results from the review were inconsistent with the physiological disinhibition and expectancy explanations, but were consistent with the indirect cause explanation. Experimental manipulations that increased aggression (e.g., provocations, frustrations, aggressive cues) had a stronger effect on intoxicated participants than on sober participants.