Browsing by Author "Paukku, Kirsi"

Aims. Shame-prone people have been found to be prone to both cognitive externalization of blame and aggressive behavior. Aggression and externalization of blame have also been linked to narcissistic personality in several studies. The present study sought further evidence on the mediating role of externalization of blame with regards the relationship between shame proneness and aggression and narcissism and aggression. Methods. Total of 564 volunteer students, aged from 18 to 57 years of age, participated in this study. The participants had answered an e-form, including background information, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), TOSCA-3 meter for measuring shame proneness and tendency to externalize blame, and the Anger Response Inventory (ARI). Explorative factor analyzes were used for analyzing the data. The relationships between shame proneness, narcissism, externalization of blame and verbal and physical aggression were further studied using mediation analysis with bootstrapping. Results and Conclusions. In the present study, the earlier results regarding the presence of both direct and indirect links of shame proneness and narcissism to verbal aggression were repeated. In contrast to earlier studies, where externalization of blame was shown to mediate the connection between shame proneness and physical aggression entirely, also a direct link between these constructs was found in this study. In addition, the study provided also indications of the presence of both direct and indirect links between narcissism and physical aggression. The results thus show that externalization of blame mediates the relationship of both shame proneness and narcissism to both verbal and physical aggression. Overall, the study has its contributions to the research of shame proneness and narcissism and provides a partial answer to the question why aggression occurs.