Abstract
Although aggression’s brain correlates have attracted attention in recent years, to date, its principles remain unclear. We speculate that, according to mastery motivation for aggression (disinhibition–control), aggression can be divided into two types, aggression under disinhibition and aggression under control, and that the two types should have different brain correlates. To test our hypothesis, voxel-based morphometry was used to explore the interaction of aggression and self-control on brain structural features (gray matter volume, GMV) in 202 undergraduate and graduate students. The Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) and the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) were used to measure individual differences in aggression (including total aggression and the four aggression dimensions) and self-control, respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated significant interaction between BPAQ and BSCS scores on the GMV of bilateral Area Fo1 (orbital frontal cortex, OFC). Furthermore, the interactions of two aggression dimensions (physical aggression and anger) and self-control significantly correlated with the GMV of bilateral Area Fo1 and right Area Op5 (frontal operculum, FOP), respectively. Further, moderation effect and simple slope analysis found that, among individuals with high self-control but not among individuals with high disinhibition, aggression (including total aggression and physical aggression) was negatively associated with the GMV of bilateral Area Fo1 and that anger (an aggression dimension) was negatively associated with the GMV of right Area Op5, respectively. These results partly support our hypotheses and help us further understand the brain’s structural correlates of aggression in individual differences.
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Data Availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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References
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This work was supported by Project of the Human Social Science Research Program of the Ministry of Education (19YJA190008).
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LXX contributed to conceptualization of the study. HW conducted the data analysis and wrote the original draft. WFZ supervised the statistical analysis. All authors approved the submitted version of the manuscript.
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Wang, H., Zhu, WF. & Xia, LX. Brain structural correlates of aggression types from the perspective of disinhibition–control: A voxel-based morphometric study. Curr Psychol 42, 13825–13837 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02712-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02712-z