Effect Of Mindfulness Training On Reactive Aggression

Reactive aggression refers to the aggressive response that people naturally make to the threat situation when facing the threat situation,that is,retaliation,which is often accompanied by very strong anger.Reactive aggression is an unavoidable topic in social life,which has been concerned by psychologists for a long time.Mindfulness training is a special training method which focuses on the current experience ability with the basic elements of awareness and acceptance and the attitude of cultivating individual non-judgment.In recent years,researchers have proved that mindfulness training has a good effect in regulating negative emotions,improving self-control and emotional regulation ability.So do we assume that higher levels of mindfulness correspond to lower levels of anger,better self-control and emotional regulation,and are therefore associated with lower levels of reactive aggression?This study answers these questions from two levels.Firstly,as a psychological trait with individual differences,is there a correlation between higher mindfulness trait and lower level of reactive aggression?Secondly,can short-term mindfulness training reduce the level of individual reactive aggression?Furthermore,this study attempts to explore the internal pathway of mindfulness-reactive aggression connection and the internal mechanism of mindfulness.Study 1 explores the relationship between trait mindfulness and reactive aggression,and whether the relationship is based on emotional regulation or self-control.A total of 107 subjects(48 males,average age 19 years)participated in the study.Through the Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale,the level of mindfulness traits was measured from two dimensions of perception and acceptance,and the level of responsiveness to aggression was measured by Taylor's aggression paradigm.Meanwhile,the level of anger,emotional regulation and self-control were also measured.The results showed that there was a negative correlation between the acceptance dimension of mindfulness trait and reactive aggression(r=-0.28,p<0.01).Although higher acceptance level was associated with lower anger(r=-0.24,p<0.05)and lower reactive aggression level(r=-0.28,p<0.01),the relationship between acceptance and reactive aggression in this paradigm may not be due to emotional regulation.Ability or self-control.There may be a more direct relationship between mindfulness and reactive aggression.Study 2 explored whether short-term mindfulness intervention aimed at improving mindfulness level could reduce individual's level of reactive aggression on the basis of study 1,and explored the reasons why mindfulness training could reduce the level of reactive aggression by separating the perception and acceptance elements in mindfulness training.120 subjects(52 males,average age 19 years)were randomly divided into standard mindfulness training group(acceptance training+perception training),perception training group,relaxation training group and control group.The results showed that for the level of reactive aggression,the standard mindfulness training group containing the elements of perception and acceptance was significantly lower than that of the perception group F(1,47)=12.5,p=0.001,?_p~2=0.22,the relaxation group F(1,47)=7.99,p=0.007,?_p~2=0.15 and the control group F(1,47)=8.29,p=0.006,?_p~2=0.16,but no difference was found between the latter three groups.The training group was significantly lower than the control group(F(1,47)=14.54,p<0.001,?_p~2=0.24).There was no significant difference between the other two groups.It shows that the increase of acceptance level is the reason for the decrease of reactive aggression level,and the difference between groups of reactive aggression level and anger does not match,suggesting that in the result of"mindfulness training reduces reactive aggression level",the decrease of anger is not necessarily the only way.This study revealed the relationship between mindfulness and reactive aggression and its possible pathways:the dimension of acceptance in mindfulness may have a role in alleviating reactive aggression,and this role is not necessarily due to the lower level of anger or higher self-control and emotional regulation ability brought by acceptance.There may be a more direct relationship between mindfulness and reactive aggression,besides affecting mood and self-control.The main contribution of this paper is to determine the mechanism of the connection between mindfulness and reactive aggression by accepting elements at the specific level.Furthermore,through a short-term mindfulness training with a clear structure,it further proves that improving the level of mindfulness acceptance can reduce the level of individual reactive aggression.It provides evidence for the theory of positive surveillance acceptance and enriches the research on reactive aggression.