Effects of relative deprivation on change in displaced aggression and the underlying motivation mechanism: A three-wave cross-lagged analysis.

Displaced aggression refers to pernicious acts against innocent people. To date, little is known about mechanisms underlying dynamic changes in displaced aggression. The present study constructed a cross-lagged model to examine the dynamic effects of relative deprivation on displaced aggression and the mediation mechanisms underlying these effects. A total of 1130 undergraduate students participated in this three-wave longitudinal study. The results showed that relative deprivation predicted changes in displaced aggression through concurrent changes in levels of hostile attribution bias and moral disengagement. Hostile attribution bias and moral disengagement could predict each other longitudinally. The relationships between relative deprivation and displaced aggression, and relative deprivation and hostile attribution bias were mutual. This multiple mediation model with two mutually predicting mediators was explained from the aggressive motivation perspective. The findings help inform aggression theories and have implications for the prevention of and interventions against displaced aggression.

Relational model of relative deprivation, revenge, and cyberbullying: A three-time longitudinal study.

Cyberbullying is a new form of aggression and can have serious consequences. Although the influencing factors of cyberbullying have been explored in the literature, less is known of the longitudinal effects of relative deprivation on cyberbullying and the mediating mechanisms underlying the effect. In this study, we explored these problems. A total of 1143 undergraduates (62.9% women, mean age = 19.46, standard deviation [SD] = 0.95) participated in three rounds of a longitudinal survey with an interval of 6 months and completed a series of self-reported questionnaires assessing relative deprivation, revenge, and cyberbullying. The results of random intercept cross-lagged panel model showed that at between-person level, the random intercepts of relative deprivation, revenge, and cyberbullying were positively associated with each other. At within-person level, relative deprivation and revenge could predict each other over time, and revenge longitudinally predicted cyberbullying. Moreover, revenge mediated the longitudinal effect of relative deprivation on cyberbullying. The results support and develop the view of the general aggression model and deepen our understanding of the development mechanism of cyberbullying.