Studying aggression in the field:influences of dynamics of the setting on atmosphere and aggressive behavior

Aggression in an urban nightlife setting is morethan just a physical fight or a verbal insult. Aggressionis also the tension floating in the air; changesin which are noticed by visitors, police officers andsecurity guards. It seems that when this tension inthe atmosphere increases so does, the likelihood of aggressive behavior in the crowd. Althoughmost researchers acknowledge that aggression isa highly context dependent behavior, to date it haspredominantly been studied in controlled laboratorysettings. These studies have been advancingour understanding of how psychological variables(e.g., affect, frustration) and environmental stimuliand conditions (e.g., presence of weapons, ortemperature) affect tendencies to aggress, howeverthe lack of research in situ has not allowed a systematicstudy of interaction between environment(e.g. “atmosphere” and “tensions”) and behavior.In the De-escalate project we investigate applicationsof dynamic lighting to prevent aggressionand diffuse escalations in naturalistic settings(an urban nightlife area, which is also serving asa living lab in Eindhoven, the Netherlands). Ourresearch differs from existing field research on aggressionas the unit of analysis is not the individualacts of aggression, but the changing dynamics ofthe setting of which “atmosphere” is but a part. Sofar, we have conducted two field studies. The firstqualitative, ethnographic study got us acquaintedwith the context and the role of tension in aggressiveoutbreaks. In a second field experiment weadapted conventional methods (observations, subjectivemood reports, frustration-aggression tests)and tested the effect of a lighting manipulation onaggression and the tension in the atmosphere. InEDRA we would like to share our reflections on thesuitability of these methods to study aggressionin a naturalistic setting, and discuss possible improvementsupon these methods and alternativeapproaches suited for this type of field research