An Investigation of the Relations between Aggression and Spirituality

Abstract

This study examined the direction and extent of associations between five forms of aggression and five dimensions of spirituality. The forms of aggression were measured by the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) and Revised Self-Report of Aggression and Social Behavior Measure (SRASBM) and included physical, verbal, cognitive, emotional, and relational aggression. The dimensions of spirituality were measured by the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory (ESI) and included Cognitive Orientation toward Spirituality (COS), Existential Well-Being (EWB), Experiential-Phenomenological Dimension (EPD), Paranormal Beliefs (PAR), and Religiousness (REL). Data was collected from a mid-western university student sample, and bivariate and partial correlations (controlling for age, gender, and social desirability), multiple regressions, confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), and structural equation models (SEM) were all calculated. For correlations, results indicated most dimensions of spirituality significantly inversely and negatively correlated with most forms of aggression (except PAR had only significant positive correlations and EPD had no correlations). For regressions, the combination of all dimensions of spirituality significantly predicted each form of aggression, and vice versa for aggression to spirituality (except EPD). For CFA, several models were tested and compared, including four and five factor models of the ESI (due to high inter-correlation between COS and REL, a combined COS/REL variable versus separated COS and REL variables), two and four factor models of the AQ (combined cognitive/emotional forms as a psychological aggression variable and combined physical/verbal forms as a behavioral aggression variable versus each form of aggression as a separate variable), and one and two factor models of the SRASBM (general relational versus proactive and reactive relational aggression). Results indicated satisfactory goodness of fit for all models of the AQ and SRASBM, although the four factor AQ and the two factor SRASBM had somewhat better fit than their counterparts, whereas neither ESI model had a better fit and both had mixed support for their goodness of fit. For SEM, both mediation and moderation path analyses were conducted with AMOS software, but the dimensions of spirituality were not found to mediate or moderate the pathways between psychological aggression (cognitive or emotional forms) and behavioral aggression (physical, verbal, and relational forms).