Agreeableness and Aggressive Behavior Among College Students: The Mediating Effect of Positive Outcome Expectancy

ZHANG Junhui; WEI Jiaming; MA Yingyu; DONG Liyang; HU Wen; WANG Zihao; LYU Cui

doi:10.12100/j.issn.2096-5494.226015

Psychological Communications >

2026 , Vol. 9 >Issue 2: 88 - 94

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12100/j.issn.2096-5494.226015

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Agreeableness and Aggressive Behavior Among College Students: The Mediating Effect of Positive Outcome Expectancy

ZHANG Junhui ,
WEI Jiaming ,
MA Yingyu ,
DONG Liyang ,
HU Wen ,
WANG Zihao ,
LYU Cui

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¹College of Education, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei 235000, China;
²Department of Students' Affair, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei 235000, China

^*LYU Cui,1850323695@qq.com

Online published: 2026-10-23

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Abstract

Objective: To explore two relationships among agreeableness, positive outcome expectancy, and aggressive behavior among college students: (1) agreeableness predicts aggressive behavior through the mediating effect of positive outcome expectancies; (2) agreeableness moderates the predictive effect of positive outcome expectancies on aggressive behavior.
Methods: A convenience sampling method was adopted to distribute questionnaires across universities in Anhui, Shandong, Jiangsu, and other provinces. The Brief Big Five Inventory, the Positive Outcome Expectancy Scale, and the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire were used, yielding 1 229 valid responses. SPSS 27.0 was employed for descriptive statistics and correlation analyses among agreeableness, positive outcome expectancy, and aggressive behavior, and to test the mediating effect of positive outcome expectancy between agreeableness and aggressive behavior, as well as the moderating effect of agreeableness on the relationship between positive outcome expectancy and aggressive behavior.
Results: (1) The mediation analysis showed that positive outcome expectancy partially mediated the relationship between agreeableness and aggressive behavior, with a mediation effect value of -0.053 (95%CI: -0.073 to -0.036). (2) The moderation analysis indicated that agreeableness significantly negatively moderated the relationship between positive outcome expectancy and aggressive behavior (β=-0.123, p< 0.001).
Conclusion: Agreeableness not only predicts college students' aggressive behavior through the mediating role of positive outcome expectancy, but also serves as a moderator that attenuates the positive predictive effect of positive outcome expectancy on aggressive behavior. Enhancing agreeableness may contribute to the reduction of aggressive behavior.

Key words： agreeableness; aggressive behavior; positive outcome expectancy; college students

Cite this article

ZHANG Junhui , WEI Jiaming , MA Yingyu , DONG Liyang , HU Wen , WANG Zihao , LYU Cui . Agreeableness and Aggressive Behavior Among College Students: The Mediating Effect of Positive Outcome Expectancy[J]. Psychological Communications, 2026 , 9(2) : 88 -94 . DOI: 10.12100/j.issn.2096-5494.226015

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