Attitudes Toward Corporal Punishment of Children

Abstract

Abstract. Despite corporal punishment being associated with negative developmental outcomes for children, it is commonly practiced in Malaysian courts, schools, and homes. This study examined the relationships among the Dark Tetrad personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, sadism), anger rumination, and attitudes toward corporal punishment of children. Two hundred sixty-three participants from a university and community sample in Malaysia completed measures of attitudes toward child corporal punishment, the Short Dark Tetrad, and the Anger Rumination Scale. Participants also answered questions about whether they received corporal punishment at home and school as children. Correlation analyses showed that Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism were positively associated with acceptance of corporal punishment. Further regression analyses revealed that having received corporal punishment at home – but not at school – during childhood as well as trait Machiavellianism and sadism predicted accepting attitudes toward corporal punishment. Identifying factors that influence people’s attitudes regarding corporal punishment and discipline behaviors could yield new insights into parenting education programs and policies.

Forgiveness, rumination, and self‐control as the predictors of adolescent life satisfaction: A comparison of two serial mediational models

“…Rumination can be understood as the tendency to focus on internal state‐related thoughts. It has been shown to undermine self‐control (Chung et al, 2022; Denson et al, 2011). The reason for rumination predicting reduced self‐control is likely that rumination may maintain or increase negative affect (Kim & Newman, 2023), negative cognition (Watkins & Roberts, 2020), and arousal (Lewis et al, 2019), which lead to the increase of impulsive behavior, such as reactive aggression (Denson, 2009; Denson et al, 2011; Li et al, 2019).…”