Sweetened blood cools hot tempers: physiological self-control and aggression
✍ Scribed by C. Nathan DeWall; Timothy Deckman; Matthew T. Gailliot; Brad J. Bushman
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2010
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 115 KB
- Volume
- 37
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0096-140X
- DOI
- 10.1002/ab.20366
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Aggressive and violent behaviors are restrained by self-control. Self-control consumes a lot of glucose in the brain, suggesting that low glucose and poor glucose metabolism are linked to aggression and violence. Four studies tested this hypothesis. Study 1 found that participants who consumed a glucose beverage behaved less aggressively than did participants who consumed a placebo beverage. Study 2 found an indirect relationship between diabetes (a disorder marked by low glucose levels and poor glucose metabolism) and aggressiveness through low self-control. Study 3 found that states with high diabetes rates also had high violent crime rates. Study 4 found that countries with high rates of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (a metabolic disorder related to low glucose levels) also had higher killings rates, both war related and non-war related. All four studies suggest that a spoonful of sugar helps aggressive and violent behaviors go down. Aggr. Behav. 37:73-80, 2011.