The Effects of Trait Anger on Proactive and Reactive Online Aggression: The Mediating Role of Hostile Attribution Bias and the Moderating Role of Self-Control

Individuals’ involvement in reactive and proactive online aggression has garnered widespread concern from various societal sectors, marking it as a critical indicator of individual social development. The influencing factors that might exist for both reactive and proactive online aggression have been little explored. Understanding these could help us develop more effective intervention strategies, targeting individuals who exhibit both types of aggression. Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine the relationship between trait anger and hostile attribution bias on reactive and proactive online aggression. A total of 1075 college students (M age = 19.96 ± 1.54 years) completed assessments related to trait anger, hostile attribution bias, self-control, and reactive and proactive online aggression. Hostile attribution bias partially mediates the association between trait anger and both forms of aggression, while self-control moderates the association between trait anger and hostile attribution bias and both types of aggression. Illustratively, individuals with high self-control can better buffer both the direct effects of trait anger and the indirect effects of hostile attribution bias on reactive and proactive online aggression. This result provides empirical support for the Integrative Cognitive Model, ICM. Our findings may provide educational practitioners with important information regarding intervention design.