WHAT DO EXPERIMENTAL PARADIGMS TELL US ABOUT ALCOHOL-RELATED AGGRESSIVE RESPONDING

This article reviews the acute effects of alcohol on aggressive responding. The review is restricted to experimental research that use human subjects. It is concluded that a moderate dose of alcohol does not increase aggression if subjects are unprovoked. Under provocative conditions aggression is increased as a function of alcohol intoxication provided that subjects are restricted to an aggressive response. If subjects also have access to a nonaggressive response, no increase in aggression is observed. Disinhibition and arousal cannot explain the empirical results. A model assuming changes in attentional processes is a more promising explanation.