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The weapons effect.

Arlin James Benjamin¹, Brad J Bushman²

¹Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fort Smith, USA.

Current Opinion in Psychology

|December 28, 2017

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The mere presence of weapons primes aggression. Research, supported by the General Aggression Model, shows that seeing weapons increases aggressive thoughts and behaviors, highlighting a strong link between weapons and aggression.

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Criminology
Sociology

Background:

Weapons are prevalent in many societies.
The 'weapons effect' describes how weapon presence can incite aggression.

Purpose of the Study:

To review current research on the weapons effect.
To examine the General Aggression Model's explanation for this phenomenon.

Main Methods:

Literature review of recent trends.
Analysis of meta-analytic data.

Main Results:

Findings align with the General Aggression Model.
Exposure to weapons increases aggressive thoughts and appraisals.
Meta-analyses confirm the link between weapons and aggression.

Conclusions:

The link between weapons and aggression is robust in semantic memory.
Merely observing a weapon can enhance aggressive tendencies.
Implications are both theoretical and practical for understanding aggression.