title: Appetitive aggression in former combatants--derived from the ongoing conflict in DR Congo.
abstract: Soldiers and combatants often report that committing violence can be appealing, fascinating and exciting (Elbert, Weierstall, & Schauer, 2010). This appetite for aggression was investigated in a sample of 224 former combatants from different armed groups and forces in eastern DRC. In a semistructured interview they were questioned about their military history, exposure to violence and perpetrated violence. Appetitive aggression was assessed with a 15-item-scale (Weierstall & Elbert, 2011), which was successfully implemented in comparable samples (Weierstall, Schalinski, Crombach, Hecker, & Elbert, submitted for publication). A sequential multiple regression was conducted to determine possible predictors of appetitive aggression. Perpetrated violence types, recruitment type, and joining as a child were significant predictors and explained 26% of the variability in appetitive aggression. Duration or military rank within the armed group and exposure to violence did not play a significant role. Thus, combatants reporting high levels of appetitive aggression are characterized by perpetrating a high number of violent acts, joining armed groups on their own accord and as children. Joining an armed group on one's own accord indicates pre-existing appetitive aggression. However, joining young and perpetrating violence on a regular basis seem to intensify the appetite for aggression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany. tobias.hecker@uni-konstanz.de
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hecker
authors.forename: Katharin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hermenau
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maedl
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Elbert
authors.forename: Maggie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schauer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression; D003223:Congo; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012432:Rwanda; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D014857:Warfare