Original article Coffee consumption and propensity to experience aggressive feelings in provoking and frustrating situations

Abstract

The present study focused on examining whether coffee intake is related to the intensity of aggressive feelings in reaction to various provoking or frustrating situations, along with consideration of sex and culture. Previous studies focused mainly on the dose of caffeine (not the habit of coffee drinking) and aggressive behavior. Many of these studies showed a positive relation between the amount of caffeine consumed and aggression, so it was expected that also habitual coffee consumption would be positively related to propensity for aggressive feelings in situ ations of provocation and frustration. Participants from Greece (n = 299) and Poland (n = 300) declared whether they were coffee drinkers (at least 1 mug of coffee per day) and completed the Situational Triggers of Aggressive Responses questionnaire. The results showed that in females, coffee drinkers had higher scores in Sensitivity to Provocation (SP) and Frustration (SF) than nondrinkers, while no differences between drinkers and nondrinkers appeared in males. Moreover, amongst coffee drinkers, females had higher scores in SP and SF than males, while no sex differences were found in nondrinkers. Furthermore, in Poland coffee drinkers had higher SP scores than nondrinkers. Poles also had higher SP scores than Greeks, but only when coffee drinkers were compared.

Keywords

• aggression
• coffee
• cross-culture
• gender
• sex