Aggression, Pleasure, and Cognitive Dissonance

Abstract

The relationship between aggression, pleasure and decision-making is analyzed applying a mediation model of structural equation modeling (SEM). The study explored it in two samples of similar age: young offenders and university students. A close relationship between aggression and pleasure was found in both populations. But, whereas in the case of university students, this congruence leads to a normal or adjusted behavior, in the case of young offenders, however, a mismatched evaluation of conflict and provocation leads them to make unacceptable violence decisions.