RESUMO
Although psychological research shows that guns are aggressive cues, proponents of liberal gun control argue that people rather than guns are to blame for gun-related violence. For instance, athletic target-shooters might classify guns as athletic rather than aggressive stimuli and thus should not be more aggressive than the general population. The present work investigated aggression and emotion-regulation in target-shooters. A longitudinal study found that initial self-reported aggression in target-shooters was higher than in the general population and further increased over 1 year. Additionally, the sample exhibited deficient emotion-regulation strategies, and this was related to self-reported aggression. In contrast, their implicit self-construct became more peaceful over time but was unrelated to all other measures. Two further cross-sectional experiments explored the causal impact of athletic target-shooting and other athletic activities (shooting a basketball) on aggression. Target-shooters and basketball players were tested before and after their regular team practice and aggressive thoughts and feelings were measured. Target-shooting but not basketball practice activated aggressive and anxiety-related thought more strongly than positive thought. Future research avenues, implications for the indirect measurement of aggression, and possible interventions to decrease aggression in target-shooters are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 43:3-13, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
