I Want You to Feel Bad: Understanding the Role of Anger in Extrinsic Interpersonal Affect Worsening with Ecological Momentary Assessment

Previous research has demonstrated how people are motivated to induce negative feelings in others, a phenomenon known as extrinsic interpersonal affect worsening. This process has been linked to decreased well-being for those involved in regulating these emotions. However, prior studies have primarily centered on experimental scenarios, neglecting the emotions (such as anger) experienced by those regulating extrinsic affect worsening as possible predictors. To address this gap, a study involving 166 British adults (Mean age = 35.09, SD = 12.94) was conducted from the end of 2019 to February 2020. Participants reported their general disposition to engage in extrinsic interpersonal affect worsening and subsequently recorded their levels of momentary anger and momentary extrinsic affect worsening through ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) for 28 days at three different daily time points. The findings unveiled a reciprocal relation with nuanced differences between occurrence and intensity of affect worsening. While for occurrence, we only observed an effect where the occurrence of affect worsening led to a heightened experience of anger in the regulator; for intensity, we observed a detrimental cycle in which anger can serve as both a cause and a consequence of the higher intensity of extrinsic affect worsening. These results are discussed within the context of aggression and abuse theories.