Understanding Romantic Relational Aggression in Emerging Adults Using Latent Profile Analysis of Jealousy and Hostile Attribution Bias

Abstract

The present study sought to identify profiles of 753 emerging adults (62.5% females) with different levels of hostile attribution bias (HAB) and jealousy dimensions (i.e., cognitive, emotional, behavioral) and examined differences in their levels of romantic relational aggression (RoRAgg) across profiles. Participants were recruited from Greek universities and completed and online survey. Using a person-centered approach, Latent Profile Analysis indicated the presence of three profiles of participants: a) jealous and hostile intent attributers who had high scores on jealousy dimensions and HAB, b) low risk who scored low on jealousy and HAB, and c) emotionally jealous and moderate hostile intent attributers with moderate cognitive and behavioral jealousy as well as HAB, and high emotional jealousy. As predicted, jealous and hostile intent attributers scored higher on RoRAgg compared with emotionally jealous and moderate hostile intent attributers and low risk. The findings confirm previous research and are discussed in terms of their implications. Interventions targeting relational aggressor’s hostile attributions, cognitive suspicions, and negative thoughts should be implemented to reduce RoRAgg.