Ostracism and Aggression among Chinese Adolescents: a Moderated Mediation Model of Trait Anger and Forgiveness

Abstract

Although ostracism has been shown to play an important role in aggression, little is known about mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relation. Drawing from the frustration-aggression model and organism-environment interaction model, this study examined whether trait anger mediated the relation between ostracism and aggression, and whether the mediating effect was moderated by forgiveness. Our theoretical model was examined with 378 Chinese adolescents (15 to 18 years old). Participants completed measures of ostracism, trait anger, aggression, and forgiveness. Results indicated that ostracism was positively associated with aggression, and trait anger partially mediated this relation. Moreover, forgiveness moderated the relation between ostracism and trait anger as well as the relation between trait anger and aggression. Specifically, the path from ostracism to trait anger only existed among adolescents with low forgiveness, while the path from trait anger to aggression became weaker for adolescents with low forgiveness. Limitations and contributions of this study were discussed.