Affective Dependence and Aggression: An Exploratory Study

Emotionally dependent subjects may engage in controlling, restrictive, and aggressive behaviours, which limit theirpartner’s autonomy. The underlying causes of such behaviours are not solely based on levels of aggression, but act as a mean ofmaintaining the subject’s own sense of self-worth, identity, and general functioning. Objective.Theaimof the paper is to explore thecorrelation between affective dependency and reactive/proactive aggression and to evaluate individual differences as predisposingfactors for aggressive behaviour and emotional dependency. Methods.TheSpouse-SpecificDependency Scale (SSDS) and the ReactiveProactive Questionnaire (RPQ) were administered to a sample of 3375 subjects. Results. In the whole sample, a positive correlationbetween emotional dependency and proactive aggression was identified.Differences with regard to sex, age group, and geographicaldistribution were evidenced for the scores of the different scales. Conclusion. A fundamental distinction between reactive andproactive aggression was observed, anchoring proactive aggression more strictly to emotional dependency. Sociocultural anddemographical variables, together with the previous structuring of attachment styles, help to determine the scope, frequency, andintensity of the demands made to the partner, as well as to feed the fears of loss, abandonment, or betrayal.