Affect Spin and Aggressive Behavior in Colleague Students: The Moderation of Emotional Regulation Strategies

Zhang Shanshan; Li Yalin; Li Tianlu; Li Yuru; Ju Rui; Liu Ting

doi:10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240425

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Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2024, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (4) : 966-972. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240425

Clinical Psychology & Consulting

Affect Spin and Aggressive Behavior in Colleague Students: The Moderation of Emotional Regulation Strategies

Zhang Shanshan^1,2, Li Yalin¹, Li Tianlu¹, Li Yuru¹, Ju Rui¹, Liu Ting^1,2

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Abstract

Affect has been widely recognized as a primary cause of aggressive behavior. However, our understandings of affective variability on aggression remains incomplete. Although many studies have examined how aggressive behavior is linked to affective instability, such research has largely focused on between-individual differences in affect and not on the within-individual fluctuations in affective states. In recent years, empirical studies on affect variability have found substantive individual differences in the extent to which people's affective experiences vary over time. Consequently, the fluctuation of affect variability has a significant influence on individuals' mental health. From this developing line research, the concept of affect spin has emerged. It is defined as the circular standard deviation of responses and represents how much a person moves between different trajectory constructs within the core affect space. Hence, affect spin reflects purely qualitative changes of the affect state. However, the directionality of the relationship between affect spin and aggressive behavior is unclear. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of affect spin on aggressive behavior, and the moderating role of emotion regulation strategies.
A phased tracking test methodology was adopted in our study. First, we used the emotion regulation scale to measure the participants' cognitive reappraisal and expression suppression strategies. The sample consisted of 189 Chinese undergraduates, who completed the emotion regulation scale during the recruitment stage. One week later, we used experience sampling method (ESM) to collect individuals' affective experience by utilizing 12 affective terms that were scheduled to be assessed three times a day for 14 consecutive days, following which we computed individual affect variability, namely affect spin. The following week participants completed the aggressive behavior scale to assess their aggressive behaviors. By the end of the study, a total of 139 participants completed all the assessments. All procedures were conducted online via a free App.
The results showed that affect spin did not have significant impact on aggressive behavior, However the relation between affect spin and aggressive behavior showed a positive correlation trend. Meanwhile, cognitive reappraisal had a negative predictive effect on aggressive behavior, while the effect of expression suppression was not significant. The most important result was that cognitive reappraisal played a moderating role in the effect of affect spin on aggressive behavior. Specifically, for individuals with low cognitive reappraisal, the higher their affect spin, the more their aggressive behavior revealed itself. As for individuals with high cognitive reappraisal, the effect was not significant.
This study provides evidence for the superiority of cognitive reappraisal in alleviating aggressive behavior, and the impact of affect spin on aggressive behavior. It reveals that adaptive emotion regulation strategies that enhance individuals' understanding or change their cognition of affective stimuli may be an effective way to reduce external aggressive behavior. At the same time, the finding regarding the moderating effect of cognitive reappraisal also provides practical guidance for the aggressive behavior intervention of high affect spin. For example, individuals with low cognitive reappraisal can reduce their aggressive behavior by participating in intervention programs that help them cope with negative affective experience.

Key words

affect spin / aggressive behavior / cognitive reappraisal / expression suppression

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Zhang Shanshan, Li Yalin, Li Tianlu, Li Yuru, Ju Rui, Liu Ting. Affect Spin and Aggressive Behavior in Colleague Students: The Moderation of Emotional Regulation Strategies[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2024, 47(4): 966-972 https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240425

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