Do moral emotions buffer the anger-aggression link in children and adolescents?

Colasante, Tyler and Zuffianò, Antonio and Malti, Tina (2015) Do moral emotions buffer the anger-aggression link in children and adolescents? Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 41. pp. 1-7. ISSN 01933973

Text JADP R1 04.20.2015.doc - Accepted Version Download (236kB)

Abstract

Given the prevalence of anger-related aggression in school and out-of-school contexts, research on counteracting the anger-aggression link in children and adolescents is likely to have implications for educators and practitioners. Here, we tested moral guilt and sympathy as potential moderators of the anger-aggression link in a sample of 4-, 8-, and 12-year-olds (N = 242). Caregivers reported their children’s aggression and anger levels with a questionnaire. Children reported their moral guilt (in response to vignettes depicting intentional harm) and sympathy levels in an interview. Moral guilt and sympathy interacted with anger in relation to aggression. Controlling for age, sex, socio-economic status, and inhibitory control, high anger was significantly related to high aggression, but not when children and adolescents had high guilt or sympathy. We discuss the potential roles of moral guilt and sympathy in mitigating the anger-aggression link.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	“NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, VOL 41, (November-December 2015), DOI#10.1016/j.appdev.2015.06.001¨
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User:	Antonio Zuffiano
Date Deposited:	09 Jun 2017 08:34
Last Modified:	09 Aug 2017 00:15
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/978

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