Abstract
Through two studies that utilized pin counts in the voodoo doll aggression task, we tested how compassionate and self-image goals in relationships were associated with aggressive inclinations. Participants in Study 1 (N = 381) recalled and wrote about an experience of being accepted or rejected and participants in Study 2 (N = 391) imagined themselves in hypothetical scenarios of being rejected either by a romantic partner or a supervisor. Regardless of the type of event (Study 1) or rejecter (Study 2), compassionate goals were related to higher self-compassionate reactions that were in turn linked to lower aggressive inclinations, whereas self-image goals were associated with higher aggressive inclinations through lower self-compassionate reactions. Study 2 showed that nonzero-sum beliefs accounted for positive associations between compassionate goals and self-compassionate reactions. Considered together, our findings implied that people who pursue compassionate goals might hold nonzero-sum beliefs that their well-being is connected with those of others and, thus, might display self-compassionate reactions that are linked to lower aggressive inclinations.