The effects of alcohol and provocation on aggressive behavior in men and women.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the manner in which acute alcohol consumption and provocation affect aggressive behavior in men and women. METHOD: Subjects were 102 (56 men) healthy social drinkers between 21 and 35 years of age. Aggression was measured using a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm, in which electric shocks are received from and administered to a fictitious opponent during a competitive task. RESULTS: Provocation was a stronger elicitor of aggression than either gender or alcohol. Under low provocation, men were more aggressive than were women. Under high provocation, men and women were equally aggressive, except in the case of extreme aggression, in which men again exhibited higher levels than did women. Alcohol increased aggression for men but not for women. CONCLUSIONS: These results are important because there now appears to be some convergence among studies indicating that, whereas provocation and alcohol are effective in lifting inhibitions against the expression of aggression for men, only provocation seems to be an effective aggression-elicitor for women.
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Alcohol frequently acts as a "situational amplifier", magnifying preexisting tendencies toward aggression in individuals characterized by impulsivity, emotional lability, low frustration tolerance, or externalizing psychopathology.
“Alcohol frequently acts as a “situational amplifier”, magnifying preexisting tendencies toward aggression in individuals characterized by impulsivity, emotional lability, low frustration tolerance, or externalizing psychopathology (Bushman and Cooper 1990; Ito et al. 1996; Giancola et al. 2002; Graham et al. 2011; Heinz et al. 2011; Leonard And Quigley 2017; Parrott And Eckhardt 2018).”
From Decoding the bidirectional links between alcohol misuse and aggression: toward a unified translational framework (2026) · cites this paper as Giancola et al. 2002
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Effects of Alcohol on Human Aggression
Bushman, B. J. (2002) · Recent Developments in Alcoholism · doi:10.1007/0-306-47141-8_13 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
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Cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of alcohol-related aggression
Heinz, A. J., Beck, A., Meyer-Lindenberg, A., Sterzer, P., & Heinz, A. (2011) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn3042 · Cited by 368 · see citing works
Gilman, J. M., Ramchandani, V. A., Davis, M. B., Bjork, J. M., & Hommer, D. W. (2008) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0086-08.2008 · Cited by 267 · see citing works
“Alcohol intoxication increases the incidence of aggression and social risk taking (Giancola and Zeichner, 1997; Corbin and Fromme, 2002; Giancola et al., 2002), perhaps by disrupting the amygdala-mediated differentiation between threatening and nonthreatening stimuli.”
BackgroundWhat can animal aggression research tell us about human aggression?
Blanchard, D. C., & Blanchard, R. J. (2003) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/s0018-506x(03)00133-8 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Russell, N. M., Frier, M. D., Bortolato, M., & Mangieri, R. A. (2026) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-025-06938-0 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
- Authors
- Giancola, P. R., Helton, E. L., Osborne, A. B., Terry, M. K., Fuss, A. M., & Westerfield, J. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Kentucky (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Studies on Alcohol
- Publisher
- Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc.
- Published
- 2002-01
- Volume
- 63
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 64-73
- ISSN
- 0096-882X (ISSN-L)
- 1934-2683
- OpenAlex
- W51445904
- Cited by
- 97
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 16.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Studies on Alcohol (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01-AA-11691, R01AA011691)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
- Keywords
- alcohol, provocation, aggression, sex differences, Taylor Aggression Paradigm, social drinkers
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aggression, Alcohol Drinking, Ethanol, Analysis of Variance, Central Nervous System Depressants, Electroshock, Female, Humans, Male, Pain Threshold, Sex Distribution
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