Abstract
Through two studies that utilized pin counts in the voodoo doll aggression task, we tested how compassionate and self-image goals in relationships were associated with aggressive inclinations. Participants in Study 1 (N = 381) recalled and wrote about an experience of being accepted or rejected and participants in Study 2 (N = 391) imagined themselves in hypothetical scenarios of being rejected either by a romantic partner or a supervisor. Regardless of the type of event (Study 1) or rejecter (Study 2), compassionate goals were related to higher self-compassionate reactions that were in turn linked to lower aggressive inclinations, whereas self-image goals were associated with higher aggressive inclinations through lower self-compassionate reactions. Study 2 showed that nonzero-sum beliefs accounted for positive associations between compassionate goals and self-compassionate reactions. Considered together, our findings implied that people who pursue compassionate goals might hold nonzero-sum beliefs that their well-being is connected with those of others and, thus, might display self-compassionate reactions that are linked to lower aggressive inclinations.
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Data availability
The datasets for this study are available on request to the corresponding author.
Notes
To remove double registration and impersonation registration, Rakuten Insight checks all the monitors and their registered information every month. Additionally, to increase the quality of panel data, the company conducts research using attention check items six times a year and removes dishonest responders (https://insight.rakuten.co.jp/member/).
Entering feeling rejected and closeness into this regression did not change the results. Even when these two variables were entered, self-compassionate reactions were still negatively associated with pin counts, B = − 0.402, SE = 0.158, p = .011. Conditions did not moderate the associations between interpersonal goals, self-compassionate reactions, and pin counts (ps > .117).
We conducted a post hoc power analysis of the mediation model using the Monte Carlo simulation (Zhang, 2014). We found that the sample size in see section “Study 1" provided a power of 0.93 to detect the indirect effect of compassionate goals on pin counts through self-compassionate reactions. On the other hand, the power to detect the indirect effect of self-image goals was 0.76 in the current sample.
We conducted a post hoc power analysis of the serial mediation model using the Monte Carlo simulation (Zhang, 2014). We found that the sample size in Study 2 provided a power of 0.91 to detect the serial indirect effect of compassionate goals on pin counts through nonzero-sum beliefs and then self-compassionate reactions. Similarly, this sample provided a power of 0.91 to detect the serial indirect effect of self-image goals.
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Our work was funded by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 20K14147.
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Miyagawa, Y., Taniguchi, J. Sticking fewer (or more) pins into a doll? The role of self-compassion in the relations between interpersonal goals and aggression. Motiv Emot 46, 1–15 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-021-09913-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-021-09913-2