Alcohol and Aggression

Aggression can be demonstrated by verbal or physical attack and may be an emotional or instrumental expression. There has been growing support for the explanation that many violent behaviors result from a self-protective response to perceived aggression. Similarly, the frustration-aggression hypothesis supports the idea that an individual who experiences frustration is more likely to react aggressively due to cognitive error. It is not entirely clear how this relates to the relationship between alcohol consumption and aggressive or violent behavior. A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that there is not a direct link between the two. It seems more likely that the interaction of neurobiochemical, psychological, situational, and cultural variables can explain the ties between alcohol and aggression.

When an individual is in an inebriated state, cognitive functioning may be mediated by both situational and cultural variables. This is in part because of the limitations imposed on rationality and decision-making skills when one is in that state. People who have consumed substantial amounts of alcohol have greater difficulty in thinking clearly, making it harder for them to exercise sound judgment and substitute more acceptable behaviors, such as calm argument, for inappropriate aggressive responses. The information a person uses to guide his or her responses is reduced by the increasing amount of alcohol consumed. The person begins to focus on details of the situation, thereby impairing his or her ability to perceive the situation as a whole. This unstable perceptual ability narrows the individual's attention, which can lead to misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and flawed reactions. However, this information does not explain why the majority of people drink alcohol without becoming aggressive or why aggression and violence occur in the absence of alcohol.

Experiments conducted under controlled conditions confirm that the determinants of aggressive behavior in different cultural groups are cultural beliefs and social norms rather than alcohol effects. In fact, it was concluded that the cultural belief that alcohol causes aggression led subjects to become aggressive when administered a placebo. There is a large amount of cross-cultural variation in drinking behaviors. In some societies, alcohol is associated with violent behavior and antisocial stance. However, South American and Mediterranean societies, for instance, tend to remain peaceful and enjoy harmony when drinking. When the immediate social context is nonaggressive and cultural beliefs and norms inhibit aggression, drinking is highly unlikely to lead to aggression.

Neuropsychology has linked aggression and low frustration tolerance to cortical reactivity. Evidence that increased or decreased reactivity of the brainstem coupled with a decreased moderating capacity of the limbic or cortical areas will increase an individual's aggressivity has pointed to chronic traumatic stress, neglect, and dysregulated serotonin or norephinephrine systems as precipitators. Deprivation of key developmental experiences will result in persisting primitive and immature behavioral reactivity, which predisposes an individual to violent behavior. In later years, a loss [Page 25]of solid cortical functioning due to alcohol intoxication, dementia, or stroke will also result in losses of modulation of aggressivity, which is mediated by the brainstem and midbrain.