THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR AND NEGATIVE AUTOMATIC THOUGHTS IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: THE MEDIATOR ROLE OF HOPELESSNESS LEVEL

Abstract

Violence is increasing day by day. In order to prevent these actions, the reasons underlying the violence of a person against another person should be investigated. In this study, it is aimed to examine the mediating role of hopelessness in the relationship between the negative automatic thoughts that are known and the tendency of aggression.

Automatic Thoughts are accepted as the most superficial cognitive level affecting our emotions and behaviors. According to Aaron Beck's cognitive model, negative automatic thoughts occur as a result of the life events which are activating schemas that are formed in our childhood. There are many studies in the literature that relate negative automatic thoughts with emotional regulation. Studies on the relationship between negative automatic thoughts and level of hopelessness are also found in the literature.

The aggression tendency is one of the explanations about the reason for the aggression that is caused by the inability to control and suppress emotions. In this context, aggression can be considered as a result of emotional dysregulation. Considering the fact that negative automatic thoughts convey our emotions and behaviors without conscious judgment, a relationship between aggressive tendency and negative automatic thoughts is expected. Here, the effect of the hopelessness, which is known to be related to automatic thoughts, on this relationship will be discussed.

In this study, ‘Negative Automatic Thoughts Scale’, ‘Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire’ and, ‘Beck Hopelessness Scale’ were applied to university students.

A total of 112 participants were included in the study. The results of 19 participants were substracted because of unanswered questions in the scales. The average age of the participants in the sample was 19.9. The participants consisted of Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar University undergraduate and associate degree students. 28% of respondents state that they are constantly thinking that there is a need of change.  29% of the respondents say that “Sometimes I feel like a bomb ready to explode”.

It can be seen that there is a relationship between aggression and negative automatic thoughts. In this context, it is possible to focus on the effects of cognitive behavioral therapies on the aggressive tendency.