PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Ian A. Walti
MA-Research
January 2008

The Role of Trait Displaced Aggression on Social Support and Social Network Composition

    Recent work has shown a negative relationship between trait displaced aggression and a specific general measure of social support.  The current study replicates and extends those findings.  Specifically, the negative relationship between trait displaced aggression and social support was confirmed via three independent measures.  Furthermore, the subscales tied to those measures revealed that these effects were explained primarily by emotional support, both received and perceived, from important support sources (specifically family members).  Analyses of social network functioning revealed a significant positive relationship between trait displaced aggression and loss of social support sources, suggesting as trait displaced aggression increases so too does the amount of people lost from an individual’s social network.  Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses showed this to be a strong effect over and above the contributions of trait general aggression.  Effects on mental and physical well-being were replicated.  Study limitations and future research are discussed.

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