Anger and effortful control moderate aggressogenic thought–behaviour associations

Abstract

The effects of anger and effortful control on aggressogenic thought–behaviour associations were investigated among a total of 311 Finnish fifth and sixth graders (mean age = 11.9 years). Self-reported aggressive cognitions (i.e., normative- and self-efficacy beliefs about aggression) were expected to be associated with higher peer-reported aggressive behaviour. Teacher reported anger and effortful control were hypothesised, and found, to moderate the effects of aggressive cognitions on aggression, such that the effects were strongest for children who were high in anger and low in effortful control, as compared to other conditions. Furthermore, under the conditions of high anger and high effortful control, self-efficacy was negatively related to aggression. Thus, aggression is a result of a complex, hierarchically organised motivational system, being jointly influenced by aggressive cognitions, anger and effortful control. The findings support the importance of examining cognitive and emotional structures jointly when predicting children’s aggressive behaviour.

Keywords:

• Anger
• Effortful control
• Aggressive cognitions
• Aggressive behaviour

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Academy of Finland [grant number 134843] awarded to Christina Salmivalli.