Mindfulness and aggression: the mediating role of emotion regulation

• Main Author: Tan, Rong Hui
• Other Authors: Olivia Choy
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Social Sciences; Mindfulness; Aggression; Emotion regulation; Cognitive reappraisal; Expressive suppression
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/175543
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Mindfulness involves observing one’s thoughts and emotions with acceptance and non- judgement, and is a growing field given its ability to promote well-being and reduce aggression. However, while extant studies found that mindfulness is negatively associated with aggression, only few have examined its relationships with proactive and reactive aggression despite differences between both subtypes. Past research on the links between mindfulness and emotion regulation have also rarely been studied in Singapore, albeit cultural variations in use of emotion regulation strategies. Hence, our study addresses these gaps while exploring the mediating role of emotion regulation in the mindfulness-aggression relationship, as the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. 123 healthy adults aged 21 and above self-reported their dispositional mindfulness levels, aggression levels (i.e., proactive, reactive), and use of two emotion regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression). Findings revealed that mindfulness was negatively related to reactive aggression, and not proactive aggression. Contrary to hypotheses, mindfulness was non-significantly related to both emotion regulation strategies. Cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression also did not mediate the relationship between mindfulness and reactive aggression. Overall, our study contributes to the scant research on associations between our key measures, especially on the mechanistic role of emotion regulation in the mindfulness-aggression relationship.