Proactive-Reactive Aggression and White-Blue Collar Crime: A Double Dissociation

• In Event: The Influence of Genes, Aggression, and Emotional Dysfunctions in Criminal Behavior

Abstract

While studies have documented that aggression is associated with criminal behavior, much of this research has focused on blue-collar crime. In contrast, there appears to be no prior research on aggression types and white-collar offending. The primary aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that proactive aggression is selectively associated with white-collar crime, while reactive aggression is associated with blue-collar crime. As a secondary aim, psychopathy was examined to test the hypothesis of a selective association with proactive aggression. Hypotheses were tested in a community sample of 129 adult males who were administered a self-report crime questionnaire, the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire, and the Psychopathy Checklist. Results of partial correlations and two-step hierarchical regression models controlling for covariates support our main and secondary hypotheses. Consistent with prior findings on differential correlates for types of aggression, the main results indicate the presence of a double dissociation between proactive-reactive aggression and white-blue collar offending. Findings are the first to document instrumental aggression in white-collar offenders. These results question both preconceived notions of white-collar criminals as non-aggressive individuals as well as theories of white-collar crime being solely driven by the macro-social corporate environment without individual difference contributions.

Authors

• Ling Shichun, University of Pennsylvania

• Adrian Raine, University of Pennsylvania

• Robert Schug, California State University, Long Beach