title: The voodoo doll task: Introducing and validating a novel method for studying aggressive inclinations.
abstract: Aggression pervades modern life. To understand the root causes of aggression, researchers have developed several methods to assess aggressive inclinations. The current article introduces a new behavioral method-the voodoo doll task (VDT)-that offers a reliable and valid trait and state measure of aggressive inclinations across settings and relationship contexts. Drawing on theory and research on the law of similarity and magical beliefs (Rozin, Millman, & Nemeroff [1986], Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 703-712), we propose that people transfer characteristics of a person onto a voodoo doll representing that person. As a result, causing harm to a voodoo doll by stabbing it with pins may have important psychological similarities to causing actual harm to the person the voodoo doll represents. Nine methodologically diverse studies (total N = 1,376) showed that the VDT had strong reliability, construct validity, and convergent validity. Discussion centers on the importance of magical beliefs in understanding the causes of aggressive inclinations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.
authors.forename: C Nathan
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Dewall
authors.forename: Eli J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Finkel
authors.forename: Nathaniel M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.forename: Erica B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Slotter
authors.forename: Galen V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Bodenhausen
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Pond
authors.forename: Claire M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Renzetti
authors.forename: Frank D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Fincham
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: aggression; intimate partner violence; magical beliefs; violence