Maladaptive perfectionism's link to aggression and self‐harm: Emotion regulation as a mechanism

Abstract

The negative affect that results from negative feedback is a substantial, proximal cause of aggression. People high in maladaptive perfectionism, the tendency to focus on the discrepancy between one's standards and performance, are characterized by an exaggerated negative affective response to negative feedback. This exacerbated affective response to failure may then dispose them to hurt others and themselves as aggression and self-harm are often perceived as a means to regulate negative affect. In Study 1, we demonstrated that maladaptive perfectionism was linked to greater aggressive behavior towards others after receiving negative feedback. Suggesting the presence of an emotion regulation strategy, this effect was mediated by the motivation to use aggression to improve mood. In Study 2, maladaptive perfectionism was linked to self-harm, an effect exacerbated by negative feedback and mediated by negative affect. These findings suggest that maladaptive perfectionists are at risk for greater harm towards others and the self because negative feedback has a stronger affective impact and harming others and the self is perceived a means to alleviate this aversive state.

The role of emotional intelligence and negative affect as protective and risk factors of aggressive behavior: A moderated mediation model

“…We also found that the perceiving branch negatively correlated with the sub‐scales of hostility and physical aggression, while the managing branch negatively correlated with the sub‐scales of hostility, with physical and verbal aggression. In addition, supporting our third hypothesis and previous findings in the literature, we found NA to be positively correlated with total aggression and the four sub‐scales of the BPAQ (Chester et al, ; Ebesutani et al, ; Fettich et al, ; Shorey et al, ). Therefore, our results are in line with previous studies analysing EI and NA as risk and protective factors of aggression.…”

“…NA is defined as the extent to which a person reports feeling upset or unpleasantly aroused (Watson & Tellegen, ). The literature has revealed how higher levels of NA are related to higher aggression throughout the life span as well as in clinical and nonclinical populations (Chester, Merwin, & Dewall, ; Ebesutani, Kim, & Young, ; Fettich, Mccloskey, Look, & Coccaro, ; Megías, Gómez‐Leal, Gutiérrez‐Cobo, Cabello, & Fernández‐Berrocal, 2018; Shorey, McNulty, Moore, & Stuart, ). NA should be included at the second stage of the GAM as an individual negative internal state that can be influenced by the situational (or personal) variables of Stage 1 (e.g., exposure to violence; Ebesutani et al, ).…”

The Voodoo Doll Self-Injury Task: A New Measure of Sub-Clinical Self-Harm Tendencies

“…Since its validation as an aggression measure, the VDAT has proven effective at measuring aggression towards participants' children (McCarthy, Crouch, Basham, Milner, & Skowronski, 2016), marital partners (Bushman, DeWall, Pond, & Hanus, 2014), provocateurs (Chester, Merwin, & DeWall, 2015), and rejecters (Chester & DeWall, 2016, 2017. These findings demonstrate the VDAT's flexibility and the extent to which humans can readily bestow personhood upon a simple, virtual representation of a human-like doll.…”

Collective Narcissism: Political Consequences of Investing Self‐Worth in the Ingroup’s Image

“…It asks participants to imbue an inanimate doll with features of actual individuals. This task has shown excellent reliability over time, corresponding to other measures of aggressive behavior and exhibiting appropriate responsiveness to laboratory provocations (Chester, Merwin, & DeWall, ; DeWall et al, ). The responses to the voodoo‐doll task do not signify “actual” aggression because the victim does not experience direct harm.…”