“Thou Shalt Kill”: Practicing self-control supports adherence to personal values when asked to aggress

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• 作者：Thomas F. Denson^a ; ^{t.denson@unsw.edu.au} ; Benjamin M. Wilkowski^b ; C. Nathan DeWall^c ; Malte Friese^d ; Wilhelm Hofmann^e ; Elizabeth L. Ferguson^b ; Miriam M. Capper^a ; Michael M. Kasumovic^f
• 关键词：Self-control training ; Aggression ; Bug killing ; Empathy ; Moral responsibility
• 刊名：Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：March 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：69
• 期：Complete
• 页码：71-78
• 全文大小：417 K
• 卷排序：69

文摘

Poor self-control is a root cause of aggression and criminality. But people can improve their self-control through repetitive practice. Because self-control involves acting in accordance with personal values, practicing self-control can promote attainment of value-consistent goals. The present research tested the hypothesis that practicing self-control could both decrease and increase obedient aggression. In Experiment 1, relative to the active control group, participants who practiced self-control were more hesitant to engage in mock violence (e.g., “cutting” the experimenter's throat with a rubber knife), especially for participants high in dispositional empathy. In Experiment 2, practicing self-control increased obedience to kill insects, but only among participants who felt little moral responsibility for their actions. There was a trend for decreased killing among participants who felt morally responsible for their actions. Our findings suggest that when asked to behave aggressively, self-control promotes adherence to personal values, which may or may not fuel aggression.