Rejection Sensitivity, Self-Compassion, and Aggressive Behavior: The Role of Borderline Features as a Mediator

Abstract

This study used mediation analyses to examine the assumption that the presence of borderline personality features mediates the relationship between rejection sensitivity (RS), self-compassion, and aggressive behavior. Sixty adults consisting of 31 participants diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and 29 participants with no diagnosis of borderline personality disorder were assessed for RS, self-compassion, aggressive behavior, and borderline personality features. Mediation was found for the total aggression score, anger score, and hostility score regarding both self-compassion and RS. Mediation was also found regarding RS and verbal and physical aggression, and regarding self-compassion and verbal and physical aggression. These findings provide evidence that the presence of borderline personality features is an important factor in explaining the associations linking RS and self-compassion to aggressive behavior. High RS and low self-compassion are associated with greater borderline personality features, which in turn relate to increased aggressive behavior.

As long as you are self‐compassionate, you will never walk alone. The interplay between self‐compassion and rejection sensitivity in predicting loneliness

“…This mediating effect that we found suggests that self-compassion is associated with decreased rejection sensitivity, which translates into a lower level of loneliness. This result is in line with previous studies, which showed a relationship between self-compassion and rejection sensitivity (Sommerfeld & Shechory Bitton, 2020;Watson & Nesdale, 2012), and with studies pointing to rejection sensitivity as a risk factor for loneliness (Gao et al, 2017).…”

“…In addition, we ran a Monte Carlo power analysis for mediation models using Schoemann et al's (2017) algorithm. Based on the results of previous studies, we expected moderate correlations between self‐compassion and loneliness (Liu et al, 2020) and high correlations between rejection sensitivity and both self‐compassion and loneliness (Sommerfeld & Shechory Bitton, 2020; Watson & Nesdale, 2012). The results suggested that, with an alpha of .05 and a power of .95, a sample of 81–84 participants was needed to detect effects of the predicted size.…”

Testing effects of social rejection on aggressive and prosocial behavior: A meta‐analysis

“…This is a crucial future direction as prior experimental and sociological studies have found reliable gender differences in self‐reported and actual peer‐based aggressive behavior, especially in adolescence (Bettencourt & Kernahan, 1997; Björkqvist, 2018; Card et al, 2008; Harrendorf et al, 2010; Österman et al, 1998). Additionally, we were unable to test for the moderating effects of trait‐related differences known to influence rejection‐elicited aggression, such as self‐esteem (Kirkpatrick et al, 2002), narcissism (Twenge & Campbell, 2003), and rejection sensitivity (Ayduk et al, 1999, 2008; Sommerfeld & Shechory‐Bitton, 2020). Therefore, future studies should test if personality traits and susceptibility to rejection moderate the effects of rejection on aggressive/prosocial behavior.…”

Role of self-compassion and online/offline integration on internet addiction, aggression, and psychological well-being: A mediation analysis

“…[ 9 ] According to the suggested model in this study, the mediating influence of self-compassion seems to lower aggression levels among youth and may impact their psychological well-being positively. [ 37 38 ] This implies that when individuals begin lessening their online/offline divide, become mindful during online activities, feel connected to other humans and commence focus on self-care, then they may be able to restrain their overtly aggressive online behavior, such as, cyberbullying raucous commenting, trolling or cyber stalking; and consequently improve their mental health. [ 11 36 39 ]…”