Article

The method by which individuals control aggressive inclina-tions is important in today’s society. A small but growing research literature shows that reappraisal can improve emo-tional reactions to provocations (e.g., Mauss, Cook, & Gross, 2007). However, there is little research testing whether reap-praisal reduces aggressive behavior and, if so, how. Numer-ous theoretical models of aggression include processes that might be used to reappraise an initial understanding of a situ-ation or of one’s current affective state (e.g., general aggres-sion model; Anderson & Bushman, 2002). The current article further develops these theoretical links between reappraisal and aggression and tests hypothesized links among reap-praisal processes, vengeance motivation, and aggression. Reappraisal and Aggressive Affect/Behavior Regulation Emotion theorists define reappraisal as cognitively altering a negative situation to decrease its emotional impact (termed cognitive reappraisal; Gross, 1998). Attribution (Anderson, Krull, & Weiner, 1996) and aggression theorists (Anderson & Bushman, 2002) define reappraisal as a process by which individuals seek more information to clarify their feelings and the current situation, often with a bias toward a particu-lar outcome that satisfies certain goals such as affect regula-tion, self-esteem enhancement, or public image maintenance.1 A rich literature shows that emotional and attributional reap-praisal can lower anger (e.g., Mauss, Cook, Cheng, & Gross