CARDIFF UNIVERSITY Self-Esteem and Aggression: The Relationships between Explicit-Implicit Self-Esteem, Narcissism, and Reactive-Proactive Aggression Suzana Amad A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Psychology Cardiff University 2015 I dedicate this thesis to my parents Dato’ Prof. Amad Aman and Datin Norzila Ibrahim, to my soulmate Zaki Aini, and to my daughter Nina Adrianna i DECLARATION This work has not been submitted in substance for any other degree or award at this or any other university or place of learning, nor is being submitted concurrently in candidature for any degree or other award. Signed ………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Signed ………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by explicit references. The views expressed are my own. Signed ………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 4: PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BAR ON ACCESS I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loans after expiry of a bar on access previously approved by the Academic Standards & Quality Committee. Signed………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In The Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful Alhamdulillah with His countless blessings, His showers of love and the courage He granted me throughout this life, especially in driving me towards the completion of this thesis. Earning a Ph.D. in Psychology has been a lifelong dream. I would have not done this without the help and guidance from Him, and most importantly the sustenance and opportunity to embrace on this journey that is full of turmoils. It has indeed been a long and toughest ride so far, but finally has come to an end. I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Robert Snowden for all his supports and patience in guiding me throughout my time at Cardiff University. Thank you for believing in me, not giving up on me, your understanding and for your words of encouragement. You have taught me to trust my own abilities. You are an inspiration and I admire your intelligence. Not forgetting Professor Rob Honey and Professor Nicola Gray for their invaluable help and advice. I could not have completed this process without you. Special thanks to Rick Budd, Lyndsay Jackson, and Naader Abbasi from SOLAS, also Siti Intan Liyana and Arief Afandi for their help during data collection and processing. I would have not done it without you. Thank you to Dr. Rebecca Pepper, Dr. Bethan Fulford, Dr. Rumaya Juhari, Dr. Nida Khambari, and Dr. Azira Adzis for sharing the knowledge and experiences. To my fellow PhDers – Dayu, Suzila, Anuar, Marlon, and Annie. Thanks for lending me your ears and cheering me up with the wonderful words iii that kept me going. To all the participants who contributed their time to my research, and to all those who have been involved either directly or indirectly in this journey. Finally, my deepest appreciation goes to my family, thank you for your endless love and prayers for my endeavours and success in life. To my parents, thank you for raising me and constantly providing me with encouragements and all the supports that I needed. Thank you for pushing me to the top. To my sisters – Marina, Dr. Zarina, and Dr. Aisha, thank you for being there when my world has gone crazy. Thank you my beloved husband, Zaki, who has endured this journey with me. We both know it was definitely not easy having to go through a number of obstacles, yet you amazed me with your optimistic outlooks in life that gave me the courage. You helped me to cope and supported me no matter what. Thank you for not losing faith in me. To my baby girl Nina Adrianna, my precious gift, mummy can now spend more time watching you grow. I value each and every one of you. Thank you. iv THESIS SUMMARY Aggression can be detrimental to both victims and perpetrators. Recent research on the theoretical risks for aggressive behaviours fail to demonstrate consistent links with the human’s evaluation of self-worth, hence the nature of this relationship remains unclear. Specifically, the purpose of the investigation was to examine the differential association between multidimensional self-esteem using both explicit and implicit measures, narcissism, and reactive and proactive aggression across three samples of different cultures and characteristics. Chapter 1 discusses the general background of the study and a brief review of the possible issues that might have contributed to the ambiguous findings on the relationships between self-esteem and aggression. Chapter 2 discusses the theoretical links between self-esteem and aggression, which includes the limitations of self-report assessments (i.e., explicit measures) and how the alternative of indirect assessment tools (i.e., implicit measures) may help to overcome this issue by assessing more automated forms of processes involved in the development of aggressive behaviours. The investigation examines whether the use of the current Single-Target Implicit Association Test (ST-IAT) would provide a greater empirical support for the links between multidimensional self-esteem with reactive and proactive aggression, relative to self-report questionnaires. Chapter 3 describes the evidence surrounding the role of multidimensional self-esteem in different types of aggression in a different culture of similar characteristics, through a replication of the aforementioned investigation. The cross-cultural comparisons were inspected based on the individualistic-collectivistic perspectives. Chapter 4 further explores the relationship of interest by taking into account the content dimensions of self-esteem, namely agency and communion. These dimensions were assessed using both explicit v and implicit measures on a high-risk population sample within the community. Across each chapter, the current results concerning explicit self-esteem demonstrated consistent evidence to show that low self-esteem is associated with high reactive aggression, whereas narcissism is positively related to aggression, and proactive aggression in particular. Unfortunately, the use of the IAT paradigms in this current investigation did not improve prediction of group membership or estimated risk of aggression. Chapter 5 describes how such findings may be of benefit in unravelling the inconsistency within the self-esteem and aggression relationships. Through further replication and methodological refinement, the current findings could be utilised in support of forensic risk assessment needs within the violence/aggression treatment programmes. vi CONTENTS List of Tables ......................................................................................................... xi Introduction ......................................................................................1 1.1 Overview .........................................................................................................1 1.2 Problems and Challenges .................................................................................3 Aggression versus Violence: Conceptualisations and Variations ................3 Definitions ..........................................................................................4 Varieties of Aggression.......................................................................5 Theoretical Perspectives of Aggression ............................................. 12 Multidimensional Self-Esteem: Conceptualisations and Variations .......... 17 Definitions of Self-Esteem ................................................................ 18 Self-Esteem Dimension: Global versus Domain Specific .................. 19 Self-Esteem Dimension: Explicit versus Implicit Self-Esteem........... 22 Stability of Self-Esteem .................................................................... 26 Heterogeneity of High Self-Esteem ................................................... 27 Narcissism: Conceptualisations and Variations ........................................ 31 Definitions ........................................................................................ 31 The Association of Self-Esteem and Narcissism ............................... 33 Adaptive versus Maladaptive Narcissism .......................................... 35 1.3 The Current Research ..................................................................................... 38 1.4 Thesis Plan ..................................................................................................... 44 Multidimensional Self-Esteem, Narcissism and Aggression ......... 45 2.1 Introduction.................................................................................................... 45 2.2 Aggression and Self-Esteem ........................................................................... 46 Low Self-Esteem Leads to Aggression .................................................... 46 High Self-Esteem Leads to Aggression .................................................... 50 Narcissism and Aggression ...................................................................... 52 Adaptive and Maladaptive Narcissism with Aggression .................... 56 2.3 Self-Esteem Domains and Dimensions ........................................................... 58 Global Self-Esteem .................................................................................. 58 Measures of Global Self-Esteem ....................................................... 58 Limitation of Explicit Measures ........................................................ 60 Implicit Self-Esteem ................................................................................ 61 Measures of Implicit Self-Esteem ..................................................... 62 Implicit Association Test (IAT) ........................................................ 63 Implicit Self-Esteem and Aggression ....................................................... 64 Defensive Self-Esteem/Discrepancies of Self-Esteem .............................. 65 Fragile Self-Esteem .......................................................................... 65 Damaged Self-Esteem ....................................................................... 66 2.4 Aggression: Reactive and Proactive................................................................ 68 2.5 Aims of this Chapter ...................................................................................... 70 2.6 Methods ......................................................................................................... 71 Sample .................................................................................................... 71 Measures ................................................................................................. 72 vii Demographic Measures .................................................................... 72 Self-Report Measures ....................................................................... 73 Implicit Measure ............................................................................... 74 Procedure ................................................................................................ 78 Analyses .................................................................................................. 79 2.7 Results ........................................................................................................... 81 Sample Averages and Gender Differences ............................................... 81 Relationships between Explicit Self-Esteem and Aggression ................... 83 Relationships between Implicit Self-Esteem and Aggression ................... 87 2.8 Discussion ...................................................................................................... 90 Limitations .............................................................................................. 92 2.9 Conclusions.................................................................................................... 93 Cross-Cultural Comparisons ......................................................... 94 3.1 Introduction.................................................................................................... 94 3.2 Different Cultural Values ............................................................................... 94 Individualism versus Collectivism ........................................................... 95 Individualism .................................................................................... 95 Collectivism ..................................................................................... 97 3.3 Levels of Aggression in Different Cultures ..................................................... 98 3.4 Different Levels of Self-Esteem ................................................................... 102 Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Explicit Self-Esteem ............................. 102 Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Implicit Self-Esteem ............................. 105 3.5 Cross-Cultural Comparisons: Self-Esteem and Aggression ........................... 107 3.6 Aim of the Chapter ....................................................................................... 109 3.7 Methods ....................................................................................................... 110 Sample .................................................................................................. 110 Measures ............................................................................................... 111 Demographic Measures .................................................................. 111 Self-Report Measures ..................................................................... 112 Implicit Measure ............................................................................. 112 Procedure .............................................................................................. 113 Analyses ................................................................................................ 114 3.8 Results ......................................................................................................... 116 Sample Averages and Gender Differences ............................................. 116 Relationships between Explicit Self-Esteem and Aggression (Part 1a) ... 118 Relationship between Implicit and Explicit Self-Esteem and Aggression (Part 1b) ................................................................................................ 123 Cross-Cultural Comparisons (Part 2) ..................................................... 126 Levels of Aggression ...................................................................... 126 Levels of Self-Esteem ..................................................................... 127 Relationships between Explicit Self-Esteem and Aggression .......... 128 Relationships between Implicit and Explicit Self-Esteem and Aggression...................................................................................... 132 Relationship between Explicit Self-Esteem and Aggression (Moderated by Gender and Culture) ................................................ 134 Relationship between Implicit and Explicit Self-Esteem with Aggression (Moderated by Gender and Culture) ............................. 137 3.9 Discussion .................................................................................................... 139 Limitations ............................................................................................ 145 viii 3.10 Conclusions ................................................................................................ 146 Self-Esteem and Aggression in a High Risk Population Sample 147 4.1 Introduction.................................................................................................. 147 4.2 Limitations of Global Self-Esteem Measures: The Need to Include Interpersonal Content of Self-Esteem ........................................................... 148 4.3 Agency and Communion as Dimensions of Self-Esteem .............................. 151 4.4 Measurements of Agency and Communion .................................................. 155 Explicit Measure: The Use of Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) 155 Implicit Measures of Agency and Communion ...................................... 156 4.5 Agency and Communion and Relationships with Aggression ....................... 159 4.6 Aims of the Chapter ..................................................................................... 161 4.7 Methods ....................................................................................................... 162 Sample .................................................................................................. 162 Measures ............................................................................................... 164 Demographic Measures .................................................................. 164 Self-report Measures ....................................................................... 164 Implicit Measures ........................................................................... 166 Procedure .............................................................................................. 167 Analyses ................................................................................................ 169 4.8 Results ......................................................................................................... 170 Sample Averages and Gender Differences ............................................. 170 Relationships between Explicit Self-Esteem and Aggression ................. 173 Relationships between Implicit Self-Esteem (and Explicit Self-Esteem) and Aggression ...................................................................................... 177 Relationships between Explicit Measures of Agency and Communion with Aggression..................................................................................... 180 Relationships between Implicit Measures of Agency and Communion with Aggression..................................................................................... 181 Agency Measures Predicting Aggression ............................................... 181 Communion Measures Predicting Aggression ........................................ 183 4.9 Discussion .................................................................................................... 184 Limitations ............................................................................................ 190 4.10 Conclusions ................................................................................................ 191 General Discussion ....................................................................... 192 5.1 Aims of this Thesis....................................................................................... 192 5.2 Summary of Findings ................................................................................... 193 Self-Esteem and Aggression .................................................................. 193 Narcissism and Aggression .................................................................... 194 Implicit Self-Esteem and Aggression ..................................................... 196 Interaction between Explicit and Implicit Self-Esteem and Aggression .. 198 Agency and Communion with Aggression ............................................. 199 5.3 Clinical Implications .................................................................................... 202 5.4 Current Research Limitations ....................................................................... 203 Potential Issues with Research Design ................................................... 203 Potential Issues with Current Self-Report Measures ............................... 204 Potential Issues with Current IAT Measures .......................................... 204 5.5 Future Direction ........................................................................................... 206 ix