Explaining the Paradoxical Rejection-Aggression Link: The Mediating Effects of Hostile Intent Attributions, Anger, and Decreases in State Self-Esteem on Peer Rejection-Induced Aggression in Youth

Abstract

People are strongly motivated to feel accepted by others. Yet when faced with acute peer rejection they often aggress against the very peers they desire acceptance from, which may lead to further rejection. The present experiment tests three potential mediators of aggressive responses to acute peer rejection in the critical developmental stage of early adolescence. Participants (N=185, M(age)=11.5 years) completed personal profiles that were allegedly evaluated online by peers. After receiving negative or neutral peer feedback, participants could aggress against the same peers who had evaluated them. Rejected participants attributed more hostile intent to the peers, were angrier, showed a greater reduction in state self-esteem, and were more aggressive. Mediational analyses showed that hostile intent attributions mediated the acute peer rejection-aggression relationship, whereas increases in anger and decreases in state self-esteem did not. Thus, acute peer rejection evokes hostile intent attributions that, in turn, lead to aggressive reactions.

Measurement Invariance and Convergent Validity of Anger and Sadness Self-Regulation Among Youth From Six Cultural Groups

“…A few intriguing studies have been conducted in other countries. These studies suggest that hostile attribution biases are related to aggression among German adolescents (Möller & Krahé, 2009) and Dutch children (Reijntjes, Thomaes, Kamphuis, Bushman, Orobio de Castro, & Telch, 2011). Although these studies offer support for the universality of attribution biases, they do not make cross-cultural comparisons of the equivalence of attribution biases.…”

Ethnic Harassment and Immigrant Youth's Engagement in Violent Behaviors: Understanding the Risk Factors

“…Despite an accumulating body of research on the link between victimization and youth's engagement in aggressive and violent behaviors (Reijntjes, Kamphuis, et al., ; Reijntjes, Thomaes, et al., ), to our knowledge only two studies have examined the link between ethnic victimization and immigrant youth's involvement in aggressive and delinquent behaviors. Both of these studies were conducted in Canada, but yielded inconsistent findings.…”

Depression mediates the relationship between social performance impairment and hostility

“…A second possibility is that depression increases the likelihood of rumination, which involves repetitive and perseverative thoughts fixated on symptoms of distress and the possible causes or consequences of those symptoms (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2000). It is possible that a tendency towards perseveration increases chances of depressive rumination, which if focused on notions of rejection and injustice done by others (i.e., hostile attribution biases), could increase the risk for hostility and resentment (e.g., Reijntjes et al, 2011). Finally, depression could reflect a more pervasive problem with regulation of distressing emotions, thus increasing negative affect overall and explaining the occurrence of multiple emotional and behavioral difficulties (Gross & Jazaieri, 2014;Mazefsky et al, 2013).…”