Mindfulness and romantic relationship quality: mediating effects on different facets of anger

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the role of anger expression and control in the relationships between mindfulness and romantic relationship quality. 237 emerging adults (167 females and 70 males) who had been in a relationship for at least three weeks (range = 3 weeks − 84 months) completed a set of questionnaires that assessed mindfulness, anger expression and control, and romantic relationship quality. Mediation analysis demonstrated that anger control strategies, which involve attempts to remain calm and reduce angry feelings mediated the relationship between mindfulness and romantic relationship quality. Bootstrap analyses also revealed that anger expression did not play a mediating role in the association between mindfulness and romantic relationship quality. A higher level of mindfulness may contribute to romantic relationship quality via increased anger control, but not via expressing anger externally or internally. The importance of examining different facets of anger and mindfulness and the implications for intervention programmes are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Mindfulness
• anger expression
• anger control
• romantic relationship quality

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authorship contribution

Martina Smorti and Carmen Berrocal Montiel contributed to the study conception and design. Material data collection was performed by Francesco Soffio. Cansu Alsancak-Akbulut performed data analysis. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Martina Smorti, Francesco Soffio, and Cansu Alsancak-Akbulut. Carmen Berrocal Montiel revised the manuscript and contributed to discussion section. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Publication ethics

This study was performed in line with the principles of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments (2001). Approval was granted by the Institutional Review Board of the Pisa University. The 2016 American Psychological Association Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (APA, 2017) was also applied. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.