Displaced Aggression: Drive Reduction or Equity Restoration?

Abstract

In a previous study Holmes had subjects wait for 5 or 30 minutes for a partner and then provided them with an opportunity to deliver shocks to the late partner or someone who was conscripted to replace him. He found that more shocks were delivered the longer subjects waited, irrespective of the partner's responsibility for the delay. The present study replicated these results, but showed that delay did not have an effect on harm-doing when the subjects and partner had an equal temporal input into the experimental situation. An equity interpretation was offered for these findings.