title: Associations between obsessive-compulsive symptoms, revenge, and the perception of interpersonal transgressions.
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.
authors.affiliation: Affective Neuroscience and Psychology of Emotion, Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Cluster of Excellence "Languages of Emotion", Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: ramzi.fatfouta@fu-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Ramzi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fatfouta
authors.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.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Merkl
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D000786:Anger; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D010465:Perception; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Interpersonal transgressions; Latent aggression; Obsessions; Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD); Revenge