Niki Knight successfully defended her dissertation on Friday. Her study explored the relationship of two comparison-based traits (envy and contingent self-esteem) and two cognitive vulnerabilities (fear of negative evaluation and anger rumination) to indirect and displaced aggression. While there was reason to suspect that these variables would be related to aggression in general, little empirical evidence linked them directly to these particular forms of aggression.

Niki found that envy and anger rumination were positively related to indirect and displaced aggression. Fear of negative evaluation had a more limited role in that it was associated with some components of displaced and indirect aggression but not others. Surprisingly, contingent self-esteem did not appear to play a role in indirect or displaced aggression. Overall, her findings suggest that envy, fear of negative evaluation, and anger rumination likely have utility in understanding more subtle forms of aggression.

Congratulations to Niki on her successful defense!

Niki is currently completing her predoctoral internship at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System and has accepted a psychology postdoctoral residency next year at the Kansas City VA Medical Center.

Tags: anger rumination, envy, indirect aggression, self-esteem