January 27, 2010

Who Hits Batters?

Via Marginal Revolution, Barking up the Wrong Tree quotes the abstract of a psychology paper investigating theories of aggression as they apply to pitchers hitting batters with pitches.

Higher order interactions revealed that the likelihood of being hit by a pitch in these situations depended on the background of the pitcher and the race of the batter. Consistent with the culture of honor theory, pitchers from the southern United States were more likely to hit batters in these situations, but primarily if the batter was White.

Notice it doesn’t have anything to do with the race of the pitcher. The article is for purchase, but if any readers have access to the original I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

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