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The societal, economic and personal costs of aggression are indisputable. Impulsivity and childhood trauma (CT) play a role in aggression but less is known about the potential mechanisms underlying these associations. This study aimed to investigate the influence of CTs and impulsivity on aggression in the general population.

A total of 178 participants (aged 18–86, M = 30.93, SD = 14.50) including 65 men (36.5%), 110 women (61.8%), 3 participants self-identified (1.7%)(n = 2 nonbinary, n = 1 gender fluid) of the UK adult population completed an online survey. Questionnaires measured impulsivity (Short UPPS-P), adverse childhood experiences (CT Questionnaire) and aggression (Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire).

Emotional neglect and abuse were the most endorsed CTs (abuse and neglect). As predicted, results showed the impulsivity facet “negative urgency” was associated with the behaviour, emotions and cognitions of aggression. Findings showed a distinct effect of both impulsivity and emotional abuse on physical aggression, which may reflect a pathway in which impulsivity influences adverse childhood experiences and future violence. Types of aggression may have potentially distinct pathways. This study discusses the reasons for these observed results and future research.

The originality/value of the paper lies in the acknowledgement of the role of negative and positive urgency in behaviours related to emotional dysregulation. It also highlighted the importance of examining different types of aggression. There was a distinct effect of both impulsivity and CTs on physical aggression and hostility. Further research in larger samples should examine pathways in which impulsivity mediates the effects of adverse childhood experiences and adulthood aggression. These collective insights can help further our understanding of the role adverse and traumatic events in childhood and impulsivity has on aggression and may be relevant to tailored support and intervention strategies for individuals expressing aggressive behaviours.

Since the criminalisation of coercive control (CC), there have been a growing number of cases in the UK; however, there continues to be minimal research, understanding and education about this type of abuse. Hence, it is unsurprising that young people are at the highest risk of CC as they enter their first intimate relationships with limited awareness of the risks. The aim of this study is to explore how 16- to 24-year-olds in the UK understand CC in intimate relationships.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 young people to explore their knowledge of CC, sources of knowledge and learning opportunities. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to examine the interviews.

A total of 14 participants had heard of CC. Participants attributed victims and perpetrators behaviour to individual and environmental factors, including societal and gendered expectations. Young people explained that their knowledge came from experiences, online sources and family and friends. However, participants recognised the importance of credible messengers and sources, and some were sceptical of information shared online. Most had not learnt about CC in formal education but expressed the importance of incorporating it into the secondary curriculum.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore how young people understand CC in the UK. The findings highlight the need for better understanding and formal education around CC, provide a platform for future work and encourage the incorporation of young voices in developing interventions.

This study aims to address the question of why managers make different decisions in employee downsizing when their firms face external threats. Our research intends to shed light on whether and how CEOs' cognition (motivational attributes associated with regulatory focus) influences their decision-making and firms’ strategic actions on downsizing under high resource scarcity in the industry environment.

We used a longitudinal panel of 5,544 firm-year observations of US firms from 2003 to 2015 to test our conceptual model. The data was obtained from various sources, including corporate earnings call transcripts and archival databases. We used panel logistic regressions with both fixed and random effects in our research design.

Our results suggest that CEOs' motivational attributes could influence their employee downsizing decisions in response to external threats. We find that CEOs who are more promotion-focused (a stronger drive towards achieving ideals) are less likely to lay off employees during high resource scarcity. Conversely, CEOs with a higher prevention focus (a greater concern for security) do not have a meaningful impact on employee downsizing during periods of external resource scarcity.

Previous research has argued that a significant external threat would diminish individuals' impact on firm strategies and outcomes. Our findings challenge this idea, indicating that CEOs with a stronger drive towards achieving ideals are less inclined to lay off employees when resources are scarce in the environment. This study contributes to behavioral strategy research by providing new insights into how upper echelons’ cognition can influence their decision-making and firms’ employee downsizing.