Relational Aggressors’ Coping: The Moderating Role of Empathy

ABSTRACT

This study explored the role of empathy (cognitive, emotional) as a moderator in the link between coping and proactive and reactive relational aggression (RA) among 328 Greek preadolescents. The results indicated positive associations between emotion-focused coping (i.e., minimization), maladaptive coping, including resignation, passive avoidance, rumination, and aggression, and proactive and reactive RA. Negative associations were found between cognitive and emotional empathy and both RA functions. The findings also revealed that both components of empathy moderated the associations between rumination and aggressive coping and reactive RA. With regards to proactive RA, its link with rumination was moderated by low cognitive and emotional empathy. This evidence confirms prior research and sheds more light on the socio-emotive characteristics of relational aggressors.

KEYWORDS:

• Proactive
• reactive
• RA
• empathy
• coping
• preadolescents

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.