Citation

Fatfouta R, Merkl A. Psychiatry Res. 2014; 219(2): 316-321.

Affiliation

Cluster of Excellence "Languages of Emotion", Freie Universität Berlin, Germany; Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology, Charité-Univerisitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow Klinikum, Germany; Department of Psychiatry, Charité-Univerisitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.psychres.2014.05.038

PMID

24928759

Abstract

Anger and aggression have only recently gained center stage in research on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). An investigation of obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms focusing on the outcome of unresolved anger (i.e., revenge), however, is absent from the literature. The objective of the present research was therefore to provide a first step towards filling this gap and, hence, to systematically examine the associations between OC symptoms and different aspects of revenge (i.e., attitudes, dispositions, motivations). In three independent studies with nonclinical participants (N=504), we tested the hypothesis that OC symptoms relate to greater revenge. Individuals high in OC symptoms reported more positive attitudes toward revenge (Study 1), scored higher on a measure of trait revenge (Study 2), and reported increased revenge motivation regarding a real-life transgressor (Study 3). Furthermore, Study 4 (N=175) demonstrated that individuals high in OC symptoms perceived interpersonal transgressions more frequently in their daily lives. OC symptoms were positively related to the number of transgressions that respondents disclosed. Our results suggest that revenge and interpersonal hurt play a significant role in OCD.

Language: en