Although impulsivity has been repeatedly associated with aggression, specific associations between facets of impulsivity and reactive (RA) and proactive (PA) have yet to be fully elucidated. This may be due, in part, to overlapping variance among facets of impulsivity and between RA/PA. The current study systematically examined associations among these variables using both bivariate correlations as well as path analysis. In addition to raw aggression scores, we isolated the variance unique to both RA/PA by regressing RA onto PA (and vice versa), and saving these residual aggression scores. Participants included 384 racially-diverse undergraduates. Results indicated facets of impulsivity uniquely characterize RA/PA, particularly using residual aggression scores. RA was uniquely characterized by higher levels of Negative Urgency followed by low Perseverance, as well as high Premeditation and low Positive Urgency. In contrast, PA was uniquely characterized by higher levels of Positive Urgency, and to a lesser degree, high Premeditation. Results indicate facets of impulsivity represent potentially different underlying pathways to specific subtypes of aggression. As such, impulsivity, particularly in the context of affect, may be especially important to consider in relation to specific subtypes of aggression.
Aggression represents a broad and heterogeneous construct encompassing a variety of behaviors. Although such complex behaviors are likely explained by multiple etiological processes (e.g., Broidy et al., 2003, Loeber and Hay, 1997 and Moffitt, 1993), individual differences in personality (e.g., Caprara et al., 1994 and Geen and Donnerstein, 1998), and impulsivity in particular (e.g., Latzman and Vaidya, 2013 and Miller and Lynam, 2001), have been repeatedly found to play an important role in the development and persistence of aggressive and antisocial behaviors. Yet, aggression is a broad, complex construct. To better delineate the heterogeneity within aggression, researchers frequently differentiate between various subtypes or forms of aggressive behaviors. One common distinction, which may be especially pertinent when considering differences in trait impulsivity, is that between reactive (RA) and proactive aggression (PA). Whereas RA is an impulsive, angry response to a provocation, PA is a planned act of aggression committed as a means to achieve a secondary goal. Although their distinction rests heavily on impulsivity (Berkowitz, 1993 and Dodge, 1991), the way in which various facets of trait impulsivity relate to RA/PA is not yet understood. As such, it is important to empirically evaluate both the shared and unique associations between facets of trait impulsivity and subtypes of aggression. Such investigations may help to elucidate pathways between individual differences in personality and aggression, and potentially identify avenues through which to intervene (e.g., Derefinko, DeWall, Metze, Walsh, & Lynam, 2011).
Bivariate correlations between the facets of impulsivity and both raw and residual RA/PA are shown in Table 1. Although the pattern of correlations between facets of impulsivity and aggression was largely consistent for raw and residual RA/PA, greater differentiation was observed among correlations between impulsivity and residual aggression scores. Raw and residual PA were most strongly correlated with Positive Urgency (r = .42, p < .01; r = .30, p < .01, respectively) whereas raw and residual RA were most strongly correlated with Negative Urgency (r = .45, p < .01; r = .31, p < .05, respectively). With the exception of Negative and Positive Urgency, which evidenced significant moderate correlations with raw RA/PA, respectively (r = .30, p < .05; r = .35, p < .01, respectively), the remaining significant associations between each subtype of aggression and facets of impulsivity were small in magnitude.
