The Differing Roles of Cognitive Empathy and Affective Empathy in the Relationship Between Trait Anger and Aggressive Behavior: A Chinese College Students Survey

Abstract

Empathy is essential for effective social interaction. People often express the belief that empathy is closely related to aggressive behavior, but empirical data has challenged this assumption. However, there is a lack of research that focuses on the role of empathy in the relationship between trait anger and aggressive behavior. The current research focuses on the roles that different components of empathy have performed in the combinations of trait anger-hostile cognition-aggressive behavior link and attempt to identify, with reference to Integrated Model of Emotion Processes and Cognition in Social Information Processing, at which step this may occur. Participants included 663 undergraduate students who completed self-report measures of Trait Anger Scale, Aggressive Behavior Questionnaire, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire. Results from correlation analysis show that there is no significant correlation between cognitive empathy and aggressive behavior ( r = −.06) but do however suggest a significant correlation between affective empathy and aggressive behavior ( r = −.19). Results from structural equation modeling reveal that different components of empathy perform different roles in relation to aggressive behavior. The moderated mediating model analysis results show that cognitive empathy played a moderating role in both the direct effect and the first stage of the mediating model of trait anger-hostile cognition-aggression behavior. The results of multiple mediation model analysis demonstrate that affective empathy only played a partial mediating role between hostile cognition and aggressive behavior. This study contributes to understanding of Social Information Processing Models (SIPMs) and provides insight into the relationship between empathy and aggressive behavior.

How is Trait Anger Related to Adolescents’ Cyberbullying Perpetration? A Moderated Mediation Analysis

“…Similarly, empathy can moderate the relationship between moral disengagement and aggression, such that the positive link between moral disengagement and aggression is weaker at higher levels of empathy (Bussey, Quinn, et al, 2015). Moreover, empathy could moderate the direct and indirect effects of trait anger on aggressive behavior via hostile cognition (Jiang et al, 2019). To our knowledge, however, no previous study has examined whether empathy is a protective factor that buffers the adverse effects of trait anger and moral disengagement on adolescents’ cyberbullying perpetration.…”

How is Online Disinhibition Related to Adolescents’ Cyberbullying Perpetration? Empathy and Gender as Moderators

“…To account for the potential confounding effects, three individual factors (i.e., age, trait anger, and cyber-victimization) and one family environmental factor (i.e., families’ economic stress) were considered as control variables when the hypotheses were examined. Prior studies indicate that cyberbullying perpetration is positively associated with these variables (Antoniadou & Kokkinos, 2018; Jiang et al, 2019; Kowalski et al, 2014; Lapa et al, 2013; Schieman & Van Gundy, 2000; Walrave & Heirman, 2011; Wang et al, 2017, 2019b; Wright & Wachs, 2020; Yang et al, 2020; Zych et al, 2019). For instance, the results show that cyberbullying perpetration is often significantly associated with cyber victimization (Zych et al, 2019), and trait anger is significantly and positively associated with cyberbullying perpetration (Wang et al, 2017; Yang et al, 2020).…”

Does Aggressive Commentary by Streamers during Violent Video Game Affect State Aggression in Adolescents?

“…It appears that trait sympathy may play a protective role during exposure to violent content. Cognitive empathy was not related to state aggression (similarly to, for instance, Jiang et al, 2019; and affective empathy was associated with higher state hostility. The positive association of affective empathy and state aggression contrasts previous extensive research of aggressive behaviour (e.g., Jiang et al, 2019;Yeo et al, 2011;Vossen & Fikkers, 2020).…”