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Institute
Leaking comprises observable behavior or statements that signal intentions of committing a violent offense and is considered an important warning sign for school shootings. School staff who are confronted with leaking have to assess its seriousness and react appropriately - a difficult task, because knowledge about leaking is sparse. The present study, therefore, examined how frequently leaking occurs in schools and how teachers identify leaking and respond to it. To achieve this aim, we informed teachers from eight schools in Germany about the definition of leaking and other warning signs and risk factors for school shootings in a one-hour information session. Teachers were then asked to report cases of leaking over a six- to nine-month period and to answer a questionnaire on leaking and its treatment after the information session and six to nine months later. Our results suggest that leaking is a relevant problem in German schools. Teachers mostly rated the information session positively and benefited in several aspects (e.g. reported more perceived courses of action or improved knowledge about leaking), but also expressed a constant need for support. Our findings highlight teachers' needs for further support and training and may be used in the planning of prevention measures for school shootings.
Several personality dispositions with common features capturing sensitivities to negative social cues have recently been introduced into psychological research. To date, however, little is known about their interrelations, their conjoint effects on behavior, or their interplay with other risk factors. We asked N = 349 adults from Germany to rate their justice, rejection, moral disgust, and provocation sensitivity, hostile attribution bias, trait anger, and forms and functions of aggression. The sensitivity measures were mostly positively correlated; particularly those with an egoistic focus, such as victim justice, rejection, and provocation sensitivity, hostile attributions and trait anger as well as those with an altruistic focus, such as observer justice, perpetrator justice, and moral disgust sensitivity. The sensitivity measures had independent and differential effects on forms and functions of aggression when considered simultaneously and when controlling for hostile attributions and anger. They could not be integrated into a single factor of interpersonal sensitivity or reduced to other well-known risk factors for aggression. The sensitivity measures, therefore, require consideration in predicting and preventing aggression.
Objective: Research has linked individual differences in justice and rejection sensitivity to aggression in different age groups. However, different forms and functions of aggression have not been considered when investigating these links in adults. Furthermore, no attention has been paid to verbal aggression or the conjoint effects of justice and rejection sensitivity. Method: The present study assessed rejection sensitivity as well as victim, observer, and perpetrator justice sensitivity in 349 German adults. Links with self-reported forms (physical, relational, verbal) and functions (proactive, reactive) of aggression were examined. Results: In structural equation models controlling for age and gender, higher victim sensitivity predicted higher relational, proactive, and reactive aggression and higher observer sensitivity predicted higher physical and verbal aggression. In contrast, higher perpetrator sensitivity predicted lower physical, relational, verbal, and proactive aggression. Higher rejection sensitivity predicted higher physical and reactive, but lower verbal aggression. Using a 2-dimensional definition of aggression considering forms and functions of aggression at the same time yielded similar results. There were marked gender differences. Conclusion: Justice and rejection sensitivity may explain individual differences in forms and functions of aggression in adults and should therefore be considered in the planning of preventive and intervention measures.
Is bad intent negligible?
(2018)
The hostile attribution bias (HAB) is a well-established risk factor for aggression. It is considered part of the suspicious mindset that may cause highly victim-justice sensitive individuals to behave uncooperatively. Thus, links of victim justice sensitivity (JS) with negative behavior, such as aggression, may be better explained by HAB. The present study tested this hypothesis in N=279 German adolescents who rated their JS, HAB, and physical, relational, verbal, reactive, and proactive aggression. Victim JS predicted physical, relational, verbal, reactive, and proactive aggression when HAB was controlled. HAB only predicted physical and proactive aggression. There were no moderator effects. Injustice seems an important reason for aggression irrespective of whether or not it is intentionally caused, particularly among those high in victim JS. Thus, victim JS should be considered as a potential important risk factor for aggression and receive more attention by research on aggression and preventive efforts.
Justice sensitivity captures individual differences in the frequency with which injustice is perceived and the intensity of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions to it. Persons with ADHD have been reported to show high justice sensitivity, and a recent study provided evidence for this notion in an adult sample. In 1,235 German 10- to 19-year olds, we measured ADHD symptoms, justice sensitivity from the victim, observer, and perpetrator perspective, the frequency of perceptions of injustice, anxious and angry rejection sensitivity, depressive symptoms, conduct problems, and self-esteem. Participants with ADHD symptoms reported significantly higher victim justice sensitivity, more perceptions of injustice, and higher anxious and angry rejection sensitivity, but significantly lower perpetrator justice sensitivity than controls. In latent path analyses, justice sensitivity as well as rejection sensitivity partially mediated the link between ADHD symptoms and comorbid problems when considered simultaneously. Thus, both justice sensitivity and rejection sensitivity may contribute to explaining the emergence and maintenance of problems typically associated with ADHD symptoms, and should therefore be considered in ADHD therapy.
Child Aggression as a Source and a Consequence of Parenting Stress: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study
(2015)
This longitudinal study examined the links between child aggression and parenting stress over 4years. Child aggression was hypothesized to contribute to parenting stress, which should increase aggression. Parents and teachers of 239 German children aged between 6 and 15years completed measures of child aggression at Time 1 and Time 3, complemented by children's self-reports of aggression at Time 3. Parents rated their child-focused and parent-focused stress at an intermediate measurement Time 2. Child-focused stress mediated the path from Time 1 to Time 3 aggression in boys and girls, whereas parent-focused stress was unrelated to Time 3 aggression. The findings help to understand the continuity of aggressive behavior in childhood and adolescence and highlight the need to intervene early with families susceptible to parenting stress.
Several personality dispositions with common features capturing sensitivities to negative social cues have recently been introduced into psychological research. To date, however, little is known about their interrelations, their conjoint effects on behavior, or their interplay with other risk factors. We asked N = 349 adults from Germany to rate their justice, rejection, moral disgust, and provocation sensitivity, hostile attribution bias, trait anger, and forms and functions of aggression. The sensitivity measures were mostly positively correlated; particularly those with an egoistic focus, such as victim justice, rejection, and provocation sensitivity, hostile attributions and trait anger as well as those with an altruistic focus, such as observer justice, perpetrator justice, and moral disgust sensitivity. The sensitivity measures had independent and differential effects on forms and functions of aggression when considered simultaneously and when controlling for hostile attributions and anger. They could not be integrated into a single factor of interpersonal sensitivity or reduced to other well-known risk factors for aggression. The sensitivity measures, therefore, require consideration in predicting and preventing aggression.
Two of a kind?
(2014)
School attacks are attracting increasing attention in aggression research. Recent systematic analyses provided new insights into offense and offender characteristics. Less is known about attacks in institutes of higher education (e.g., universities). It is therefore questionable whether the term “school attack” should be limited to institutions of general education or could be extended to institutions of higher education. Scientific literature is divided in distinguishing or unifying these two groups and reports similarities as well as differences. We researched 232 school attacks and 45 attacks in institutes of higher education throughout the world and conducted systematic comparisons between the two groups. The analyses yielded differences in offender (e.g., age, migration background) and offense characteristics (e.g., weapons, suicide rates), and some similarities (e.g., gender). Most differences can apparently be accounted for by offenders’ age and situational influences. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research and the development of preventative measures.
School shooters are often described as narcissistic, but empirical evidence is scant. To provide more reliable and detailed information, we conducted an exploratory study, analyzing police investigation files on seven school shootings in Germany, looking for symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) in witnesses' and offenders' reports and expert psychological evaluations. Three out of four offenders who had been treated for mental disorders prior to the offenses displayed detached symptoms of narcissism, but none was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. Of the other three, two displayed narcissistic traits. In one case, the number of symptoms would have justified a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder. Offenders showed low and high self-esteem and a range of other mental disorders. Thus, narcissism is not a common characteristic of school shooters, but possibly more frequent than in the general population. This should be considered in developing adequate preventive and intervention measures.