An empirical test of social information processing theory and emotions in violent situations

Abstract

Criminological research has favored the rational choice perspective in studying offender decision making. However, this theoretical approach does not take into account the complex interplay of situational, cognitive, emotional, and person factors that likely influence criminal decision making. To that end, the current study examines decision making in high-risk-for-violence situations focusing on social information processing and emotional state variables. The current study utilizes a sample of 236 newly incarcerated jailed inmates who provide personal level data and situational reports of violent and avoided violence situations (n=466). Hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM) is applied to analyze the data and the findings show that several situational, social information processing, and emotion variables, such as intent interpretation, goal, and response generation, are significant predictors of the escalation of violence.