Psychotic-like experiences and aggressive behavior in a non-clinical sample

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the occurrence of various types of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and their relationship with self-reported aggressive behavior, while controlling for some personality factors and confounding variables. A total of 759 students participated and filled out various questionnaires on PLEs, aggressive behavior, and personality characteristics. Results indicated that the majority of the sample showed at least some signs of PLEs. Most importantly, a clear relationship was found between PLEs and aggressive behavior, with hallucinatory behavior emerging as the most robust correlate. This type of PLEs accounted for a significant and unique proportion in the variance of aggressive behavior, even after controlling for the influence of neuroticism, dispositional anger and anxiety, and drug use. These results provide further evidence for the association between psychosis and aggression in non-clinical samples.