NCJ Number
246484
Journal
Aggressive Behavior Volume: 40 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2014 Pages: 1-11
Date Published
January 2014
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Although intergenerational patterns of punitive physical punishment garner considerable research attention, the mechanisms by which historical, cognitive, and contextual factors interplay to influence disciplinary responding remains poorly understood.
Abstract
Disciplinary attitudes have been shown to mediate the association between disciplinary history and disciplinary responding. The present study investigated whether frustration influences these mediation effects. Half of a sample of 330 undergraduates was randomly assigned to frustration induction. Structural equation modeling confirmed that, for participants in the frustration condition, the relation between disciplinary history and physical discipline decision-making was fully mediated by attitudes approving physical discipline. In contrast, for respondents in the no-frustration condition, the pathway from disciplinary history to discipline decision-making was only partially mediated by attitudes. Under conditions of frustration, attitudes may become a more central means by which personal disciplinary history is associated with disciplinary decision-making. Abstract published by arrangement with Wiley.