Verbal and nonverbal mitigating communication on information processing and anger

Frustration, anger, and aggression have been linked in the literature. Studies have shown that participants are capable of using verbal and nonverbal communication to display and interpret emotions. One interesting communication phenomena is mitigating information, this would include an apology or an explanation. The fundamental attribution error posits that people attribute an individual\u27s behavior to dispositional characteristics more often than situational components. In the current study participants were undergraduate psychology students recruited for a study investigating social interaction. Participants engaged in a frustrating interaction and encountered one of four communication conditions. These included verbal or nonverbal communication, with and without mitigating information. It was found that communication and mitigation influenced attribution. Frustration was correlated to anger, and more anger was reported in the verbal nonmitigating condition. Internal attribution was reported in nonverbal nonmitigating and verbal mitigating conditions. Furthermore, external attribution was reported in verbal communication. Conclusions and implications are discussed