Edward Donnerstein

Bio: Edward Donnerstein is an academic researcher from University of Wisconsin-Madison. The author has contributed to research in topics: Aggression & Poison control. The author has an hindex of 14, co-authored 14 publications receiving 1947 citations.

Human aggression : theories, research, and implications for social policy

Abstract: R.G. Geen, Processes and Personal Variables in Affective Aggression. B.J. Bushman and C.A. Anderson, Methodology in the Study of Aggression: Integrating Experimental and Nonexperimental Findings. L. Berkowitz, Affective Aggression: The Role of Stress, Pain, and Negative Affect. L.R. Huesmann, The Role of Social Information Processing and Cognitive Schema in the Acquisition and Maintenance of Habitual Aggressive Behavior. R.F. Baumeister and J.M. Boden, Aggression and the Self: High Self-Esteem, Low Self-Control, and Ego Threat. S.P. Taylor and M.R. Hulsizer, Psychoactive Drugs and Human Aggression. S.L. Smith and E. Donnerstein, Harmful Effects of Exposure to Media Violence: Learning of Aggression, Emotional Desensitization, and Fear. J.W. White and R.M. Kowalski, Male Violence Toward Women: An Integrated Perspective. N.M. Malamuth, The Confluence Model as an Organizing Framework for Research on Sexually Aggressive Men: Risk Moderators, Imagined Aggression, and Pornography Consumption. C.A. Anderson and K.B. Anderson, Temperature and Aggression: Paradox, Controversy, and a (Fairly) Clear Picture. Index.

Victim reactions in aggressive erotic films as a factor in violence against women.

Abstract: The present study was designed to investigate whether the behavioral characteristics of the people in erotic films and the nature of the targets available for aggression afterward can affect subsequent aggression. In Experiment 1, male subjects were angered by a male or female confederate. They were then shown a neutral film or one of three erotic films. The erotic films differed in terms of their aggressive content (two were aggressive and one was nonaggressive) and the reactions of the female victim in the two aggressive films (positive vs. negative). Subjects were then allowed to aggress against the confederate via electric shock. Results indicated that films had no effect on male targets whereas both types of aggressive erotic films increased aggression toward the female. In Experiment 2, the effects of the above films on nonangry viewers were investigated with only female confederates. Results indicated that angered male subjects were more aggressive toward the female after viewing either aggressive erotic film but that only the positive-outcome aggressive film increased aggression in nonangered subjects. Both the theoretical and applied aspects of aggressive and nonaggressive erotica are discussed.

Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being?

Abstract: The Internet could change the lives of average citizens as much as did the telephone in the early part of the 20th century and television in the 1950s and 1960s. Researchers and social critics are debating whether the Internet is improving or harming participation in community life and social relationships. This research examined the social and psychological impact of the Internet on 169 people in 73 households during their first 1 to 2 years on-line. We used longitudinal data to examine the effects of the Internet on social involvement and psychological well-being. In this sample, the Internet was used extensively for communication. Nonetheless, greater use of the Internet was associated with declines in participants' communication with family members in the household, declines in the size of their social circle, and increases in their depression and loneliness. These findings have implications for research, for public policy and for the design of technology.

Foundation for a General Strain Theory of Crime and Delinquency

Abstract: This paper presents a general strain theory of crime and delinquency that is capable of overcoming the criticisms of previous strain theories. In the first section, strain theory is distinguished from social control and differential association/social learning theory. In the second section, the three major types of strain are described: (1) strain as the actual or anticipated failure to achieve positively valued goals, (2) strain as the actual or anticipated removal of positively valued stimuli, and (3) strain as the actual or anticipated presentation of negatively valued stimuli. In the third section, guidelines for the measurement of strain are presented. And in the fourth section, the major adaptations to strain are described, and thcwe factors influencing the choice of delinquent versus nondelinquent adaptations are discussed. After dominating deviance research in the 196Os, strain theory came under heavy attack in the 1970s (Bernard, 1984; Cole, 1975), with several prominent researchers suggesting that the theory be abandoned (Hirschi, 1969; Kornhauser, 1978). Strain theory has survived those attacks, but its influence is much diminished (see Agnew, 1985a; Bernard, 1984; Farnworth and Leiber, 1989). In particular, variables derived from strain theory now play a very limited role in explanations of crime/delinquency. Several recent causal models of delinquency, in fact, either entirely exchde strain variables or assign them a small role (e.g., Elliott et al., 1985; Johnson, 1979; Massey and Krohn, 1986; Thornberry, 1987; Tonry et al., 1991). Causal models of crime/delinquency are dominated, instead, by variables derived from differential association/social learning theory and social control theory. This paper argues that strain theory has a central role to play in explanations of crime/delinquency, but that the theory has to be substantially revised to play this role. Most empirical studies of strain theory continue to rely on the strain models developed by Merton (1938), A. Cohen (1955), and Cloward and Ohlin (1960). In recent years, however, a wealth of research in several fields has questioned certain of the assumptions underlying those theories and pointed to new directions for the development of strain theory. Most notable in this area is the research on stress in medical sociology and psychology, on equity/justice in social psychology, and on aggression in psychology-particularly recent versions of frustration-aggression and social

Social cognitive theory of mass communication

Abstract: Social cognitive theory provides an agentic conceptual framework within which to analyze the determinants and psychosocial mechanisms through which symbolic communication influences human thought, affect and action. Communications systems operate through two pathways. In the direct pathway, they promote changes by informing, enabling, motivating, and guiding participants. In the socially mediated pathway, media influences link participants to social networks and community settings that provide natural incentives and continued personalized guidance, for desired change. Social cognitive theory analyzes social diffusion of new styles of behavior in terms of the psychosocial factors governing their acquisition and adoption and the social networks through which they spread and are supported. Structural interconnectedness provides potential diffusion paths; sociocognitive factors largely determine what diffuses through those paths.

Social Cognitive Theory of Mass Communication

Abstract: Social cognitive theory provides an agentic conceptual framework within which to analyze the determinants and psychosocial mechanisms through which symbolic communication influences human thought, affect and action. Communications systems operate through two pathways. In the direct pathway, they promote changes by informing, enabling, motivating, and guiding participants. In the socially mediated pathway, media influences link participants to social networks and community settings that provide natural incentives and continued personalized guidance, for desired change. Social cognitive theory analyzes social diffusion of new styles of behavior in terms of the psychosocial factors governing their acquisition and adoption and the social networks through which they spread and are supported. Structural interconnectedness provides potential diffusion paths; sociocognitive factors largely determine what diffuses through those paths.

Social-information-processing factors in reactive and proactive aggression in children's peer groups

Abstract: We examined social-information-processing mechanisms (e.g., hostile attributional biases and intention-cue detection deficits) in chronic reactive and proactive aggressive behavior in children's peer groups. In Study 1, a teacher-rating instrument was developed to assess these behaviors in elementary school children (N = 259). Reactive and proactive scales were found to be internally consistent, and factor analyses partially supported convergent and discriminant validities. In Study 2, behavioral correlates of these forms of aggression were examined through assessments by peers (N = 339). Both types of aggression related to social rejection, but only proactively aggressive boys were also viewed as leaders and as having a sense of humor. In Study 3, we hypothesized that reactive aggression (but not proactive aggression) would occur as a function of hostile attributional biases and intention-cue detection deficits. Four groups of socially rejected boys (reactive aggressive, proactive aggressive, reactive-proactive aggressive, and nonaggressive) and a group of average boys were presented with a series of hypothetical videorecorded vignettes depicting provocations by peers and were asked to interpret the intentions of the provocateur (N = 117). Only the two reactive-aggressive groups displayed biases and deficits in interpretations. In Study 4, attributional biases and deficits were found to be positively correlated with the rate of reactive aggression (but not proactive aggression) displayed in free play with peers (N = 127). These studies supported the hypothesis that attributional biases and deficits are related to reactive aggression but not to proactive aggression.