The Role of Emotion Dysregulation in the Association Between Men's Restrictive Emotionality and Use of Physical Aggression

To test the mediating effect of emotional dysregulation on the association between men's restrictive emotionality and the use of aggression toward another, 128 undergraduate men were asked to complete a Response Choice Aggression Paradigm (RCAP), a competitive reaction time task in which participants were given the choice to shock or refrain from shocking an ostensible opponent. Aggression was measured as the average intensity of shocks delivered by the participant throughout the task, restrictive emotionality was measured using a subscale of the Gender Role Conflict Scale ( O'Neil, Helms, Gable, David, & Wrightman, 1986 ), and emotional dysregulation was measured by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale ( Gratz & Roemer, 2004 ). Findings from a structural equation model showed that emotional dysregulation does mediate the association between restrictive emotionality and aggression. Specifically, this relationship appeared to be largely driven by a lack of acceptance and inability to tolerate emotional experiences, rather than by overall inability to regulate internal experiences. Conceptual and clinical implications for addressing men's aggressive behavior are discussed.