title: Self-control, negative affect, and young driver aggression: an assessment of competing theoretical claims.
abstract: A large body of research reveals support for Agnew's general strain theory (GST) and Gottfredson and Hirschi's self-control theory, yet the two perspectives make decidedly different predictions concerning the relationships between self-control, negative affect (e.g., anger), and criminal/deviant behavior. Where GST specifies indirect and conditioning effects of self-control and negative affect on criminal/deviant behavior, self-control theory states that the independent effect of indicators of anger would be spurious and should disappear on controlling for self-control. We test these propositions using survey data from a probability sample of young adults. The structural equation models indicate that, although anger is largely the consequence of self-control, self-control and negative affect exert significant direct effects on driving aggression. These results highlight the need to integrate GST and self-control theories to better explain this form of deviant behavior.
authors.affiliation: California State University, Bakersfield, USA.
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Ellwanger
authors.forename: Travis C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Pratt
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D000786:Anger; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology*; D003417:Criminal Psychology; D065786:Delay Discounting; D005260:Female; D005639:Frustration; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011594:Psychometrics; D012941:Social Responsibility; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D014861:Washington; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: anger; driving aggression; general strain; self-control