Hovland and Sears (1940) Found a Negative Correlation Between the Price

Hovland and Sears (1940) found a negative correlation between the price of cotton in 14 Southern states from 1882 to 1930 and the number of lynchings of African Americans. Their interpretation of this was

A) as the price of cotton increased, people became more aggressive and therefore committed more lynchings.
B) the more financial pressure (based on a decreasing price of cotton) on people, aggression became displaced and more lynchings occurred.
C) as people became frustrated over the number of lynchings, the more financial pressure increased.
D) as people became more aggressive through lynchings, the price of cotton increased bringing additional financial burdens.