The Role of Negative Emotions and Emotion Regulation in Aggressive Behavior: Insights from Eye-tracking

Aggressive behavior and the rising number of violent incidents significantly impact social security. Such behavior is influenced by various factors, including emotions, social environment, and cultural background. Many studies explore aggressive behaviors from sociological and psychological aspects. However, some research on aggression and aggressive emotions has been lacking in empirical data. This study aimed to investigate the link between negative emotions, cognitive emotion regulation, and aggressive behavior. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) are used to assess the participants’ levels of negative emotions and their cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Additionally, we indirectly measured their responses by tracking their eye movements as they observed aggressive behaviors with an eye-tracker. The data analysis revealed that individuals with higher levels of negative emotions had a significant attentional bias towards aggressive behavior, indicated by longer total fixation durations and higher fixation counts. Likewise, those with higher scores on the Negative Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire exhibited a greater aggressive attentional bias. The study’s findings highlight the importance of negative emotions and cognitive emotion regulation strategies in shaping attentional biases towards aggressive stimuli. The results show the importance of interventions that target cognitive emotion regulation to reduce aggressive responses and enhance emotional balance. These insights not only fill gaps in the existing social aggression theory but also could assist psychotherapists and behavior modifiers in applying this knowledge to treat aggressive behavior. Future research could consider more diverse samples and examine long-term effects to better understand these relationships and develop more effective strategies for reducing aggression through improved emotion regulation.