Perception of an aggressive interaction as a function of the perceiver's aggression.

This research examined whether persons high or low in naturally occurring aggression differ in attributions made to others engaged in an aggressive interaction. All participants were shown a videotaped aggressive exchange after which they completed a standard person-perception questionnaire and a self-report used to separate them into groups of persons high and low in aggression. The salience of the more aggressive stimulus person was manipulated as a means of relating results to existing findings and theory in person perception. Five of the seven dependent measures show effects of level of aggression consistent with prediction of more negative perceptions by persons high in aggression than by persons low in aggression. Level of aggression often interacts with salience and stimulus person, and some of these complex interactions are not easily interpretable. However, persons high in aggression than by persons low in aggression. Level of aggression often interacts with salience and stimulus person, and some of these complex interactions are not easily interpretable. However, persons high in aggression perceive greater injury, negative reactions, and domineering in such situations and make greater causal distinction among stimulus persons.