The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Master's Theses Summer 2020 Anger, Relational Victimization, and Vengeance in the Context of Relational Aggression Alison Poor Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses Part of the Counseling Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Poor, Alison, "Anger, Relational Victimization, and Vengeance in the Context of Relational Aggression" (2020). Master's Theses. 714. https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/714 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ANGER, RELATIONAL VICTIMIZATION, AND VENGEANCE IN THE CONTEXT OF RELATIONAL AGGRESSION by Alison Poor A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Education and Human Sciences and the School of Psychology at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved by: Dr. Eric Dahlen, Committee Chair Dr. Melanie Leuty Dr. Bonnie Nicholson ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ Dr. Eric Dahlen Dr. Sara Jordan Dr. Karen S. Coats Committee Chair Director of School Dean of the Graduate School August 2020 COPYRIGHT BY Alison Poor 2020 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT Relational aggression involves the aggressor harming the victim’s social status, reputation, and/or relationships. This form of aggression is a relatively new topic in the literature that would benefit from additional research with emerging adults. The present study examined two models involving relational aggression in a college student sample (N = 247). First, we predicted, based on the general aggression model, that anger rumination would partially mediate the relationship between trait anger and relational aggression. Second, based on the rejection-aggression link, we predicted that vengeance would partially mediate the relationship between relational victimization and aggression. We tested each model separately via hierarchical multiple regression using Hayes’ (2018) PROCESS macro for SPSS. As expected, trait anger predicted relational aggression, and anger rumination partially mediated this relationship. While relational victimization was a positive predictor of relational aggression, vengeance did not partially mediate this relationship as we expected. The implications of these findings for future research, as well as prevention and intervention efforts, are addressed. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge Dr. Eric Dahlen, my committee chair, for his support, patience, and guidance throughout this research project. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Melanie Leuty and Dr. Bonnie Nicholson, for their invaluable input. Finally, special thanks are given to Taylor Nocera and Philip Stoner for their research and writing help. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................ vii - INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 Relational Aggression and Victimization ....................................................................... 2 Trait Anger ...................................................................................................................... 5 Anger Rumination ........................................................................................................... 6 Vengeance ....................................................................................................................... 8 The Present Study ......................................................................................................... 10 - METHODS .............................................................................................. 12 Participants .................................................................................................................... 12 Instruments .................................................................................................................... 12 Demographic Questionnaire ..................................................................................... 12 Self-Report of Aggression and Social Behavior Measure (SRASBM) .................... 12 Anger Rumination Scale (ARS)................................................................................ 13 Vengeance Scale ....................................................................................................... 14 Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) ............................................................................... 14 Procedure ...................................................................................................................... 15 iv - RESULTS ............................................................................................... 17 Data Screening .............................................................................................................. 17 Preliminary Analyses .................................................................................................... 17 Primary Analyses .......................................................................................................... 18 Anger Rumination as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Trait Anger and Relational Aggression ............................................................................................... 18 Vengeance as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Relational Victimization and Relational Aggression ............................................................................................... 20 – DISCUSSION........................................................................................ 22 Implications for Prevention and Intervention ............................................................... 24 Limitations and Future Directions ................................................................................ 25 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 26 APPENDIX A – CONSENT FORM ................................................................................ 28 APPENDIX B – INSTRUCTIONS AND DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE ......... 31 Introductory Instructions ............................................................................................... 31 Demographic Questionnaire ......................................................................................... 31 APPENDIX C –IRB Approval Letter ............................................................................... 34 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 36 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Means, Standard Deviations, and Intercorrelations of Measures ........................ 18 Table 2 Model Examining Anger Rumination as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Trait Anger and Relational Aggression ............................................................................ 19 Table 3 Model Examining Vengeance as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Relational Victimization and Relational Aggression ........................................................ 20 vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Observed Simple Mediation Model, Hypothesis 1 ........................................... 19 Figure 2. Observed Simple Mediation Model, Hypothesis 2 ........................................... 21 vii - INTRODUCTION Aggression occurs across all aspects of life- on a playground, in a classroom, driving in traffic, during social events, and in numerous other situations. Because of its prevalence and harmful nature, research has examined multiple and distinct forms of aggression. Although overt aggression in general, and overt physical aggression in particular, have generated the most attention (Lento-Zwolinski, 2007), it is becoming increasingly clear that relational aggression warrants study. Relational aggression is a more subtle and covert form of aggression that involves efforts to harm another’s reputation, status, or feelings of social connectedness through behaviors such as social exclusion, withholding attention, and spreading malicious rumors (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995; Werner & Crick, 1999). Relational aggression has a number of adverse mental health correlates (e.g., anxiety and substance use; Dahlen, Czar, Prather, & Dyess, 2013) as well as broader social concerns (e.g., overt physical aggression; Lento, 2006; Werner & Crick, 1999). Although we are learning more about the nature and correlates of relational aggression, many gaps remain with respect to the mechanisms through which variables that predict relational aggression may operate (i.e., other factors that may be important in moderating or mediating the relationships of various predictors to relational aggression) and the pathway through which relational victimization may lead to relational aggression