Study links guns, aggression in men - merged

[ExSoldier]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/09/he...in&oref=slogin

In Men, 'Trigger-Happy' May Be a Hormonal Impulse
NY Times ^ | May 9, 2006 | BENEDICT CAREY

Posted on 05/09/2006

Handling a gun stirs a hormonal reaction in men that primes them for aggression, new research suggests.

Psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., enrolled 30 male students in what they described as a taste study. The researchers took saliva samples from the students and measured testosterone levels.

They then seated the young men, one at a time, at a table in a bare room; on the table were pieces of paper and either the board game Mouse Trap or a large handgun.

Their instructions: take apart the game or the gun and write directions for assembly and disassembly.

Fifteen minutes later, the psychologists measured saliva testosterone again and found that the levels had spiked in men who had handled the gun but had stayed steady in those working with the board game.

The "taste sensitivity" phase of the experiment was in fact intended to measure aggressive impulses. After the writing assignment, the young men were asked to rate the taste of a drink, a cup of water with a drop of hot sauce in it. They were then told to prepare a drink for the next person in the experiment, adding as much hot sauce as they liked.

"Those who had handled the gun put in about three times as much as the others — 13 grams on average, which is a lot," said Tim Kasser, one of the authors. He worked with Francis McAndrew, also of Knox, and Jennifer Klinesmith, a former student who had the idea for the study, due to appear in Psychological Science.

Critics of research linking guns to aggressiveness have argued that people who handle guns in experiments tend to act out or think violent thoughts simply because they sense the expectations of the experimenters. The same could be true of this study:

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Steelhorse]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation...482_gun09.html

Tuesday, May 9, 2006

Study links guns, aggression in men

By BENEDICT CAREY
THE NEW YORK TIMES

Handling a gun stirs a hormonal reaction in men that primes them for aggression, new research suggests.

Psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., enrolled 30 male students in what they described as a taste study. The researchers took saliva samples from the students and measured testosterone levels.

They then seated the young men, one at a time, at a table in a bare room; on the table were pieces of paper and either the board game Mouse Trap or a large handgun. Their instructions: Take apart the game or the gun and write directions for assembly and disassembly.

Fifteen minutes later, the psychologists measured saliva testosterone again and found that the levels had spiked in men who had handled the gun but had stayed steady in those working with the board game.

The "taste sensitivity" phase of the experiment was in fact intended to measure aggressive impulses.

After the writing assignment, the young men were asked to rate the taste of a drink, a cup of water with a drop of hot sauce in it.

The men were then told to prepare a drink for the next person in the experiment, adding as much hot sauce as they liked.

"Those who had handled the gun put in about three times as much as the others -- 13 grams on average, which is a lot," said Tim Kasser, one of the authors.

He worked with Francis McAndrew, also of Knox, and Jennifer Klinesmith, a former student.

Critics of research linking guns to aggressiveness have argued that people who handle guns in experiments tend to act out or think violent thoughts simply because they sense the expectations of the experimenters.

[4my son]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation...482_gun09.html

Handling a gun stirs a hormonal reaction in men that primes them for aggression, new research suggests.

Psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., enrolled 30 male students in what they described as a taste study.

30 students,

Yeah, that's enough to consider it to be a definative study and publish the results.

Testoserone, Dosen't that link to other feelings in young men too.

Maybe they should put a couple of copies of Playboy out, and see how much hot sauce they put in the water after examining those.

[4my son]

This is up in the General Firearms section too.



(Done a merge now Mike - thx for pointing that out, Chris)

[P95Carry]

OMG - for some reason this sorta thing makes me think of articles saying stuff like - too many gummy bears will give you high blood pressure or similar!!!

I have little doubt a gun in hand produces a reaction - but let's face it - it is far from unpredictable, that just that engenders thoughts of gun useage if only to realize how potentially lethal it could be. Plenty enough to produce ''scenario'' thoughts but for a sane person that's as far as it goes - NO need whatsoever for a progression from that into homicidal behavior - quite the opposite.

Sure, bound to be a few individuals who are not too safe and might think this to excess but in essence they are trying something akin to that absurd survey on drivers, guns and road rage.

[artz]

OMG - for some reason this sorta thing makes me think of articles saying stuff like - too many gummy bears will give you high blood pressure or similar!!!

LOL.... so true...
Its scary that so much money is spent in order to educate these people to become the so-called professionals that they are. And then the public calls them prominate citizens.... go figure. idiots !

[QKShooter]

I just got done "early morning detail stripping" two handguns out in the backyard and giving them a Super Cleaning.

You guys are really going to get the Hot Sauce if you stop over for coffee at my house this morning.

Don't these people have anything better to do with their time?

[Rock and Glock]

A sample of 30 proves nothing. Nada. Zip. The idiocy of some academics still staggers me. I find it deplorable that "science" is devolving into a mission designed to create a sound bite for public consumption rather than further true science.

That our journalists publish this trash (as well as the millions of "gummy bear", "caffeine", "chocolate", psuedo "tests") without any critical analysis says something about the journalistic experience as well.

[Weeg]

NY Times = Pravda



.

[David III]

I'm going to go home tonight and have a beer on my patio with my wife. Sample size is 2. People who carry guns drink beer.
That was easy! I'm going to be a prominent researcher......
Next - I'll need a Penthouse model and my Harley. I predict high testosterone followed by severe pain when my wife sees the Penthouse model.

[gddyup]

Holding a gun leads to aggression about as much as holding my johnson leads to rape.

It just goes to show, given enough time and/or money, almost anything can be justified.