Ego-resiliency and perceived aggressive behavior in Chinese college students: the roles of employment anxiety and gender

Given the rising incidence of campus violence and conflicts, aggressive behavior among college students has drawn considerable scholarly attention. Few studies, however, has examined the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying the relationship between ego-resiliency and aggressive behavior. The current study examined the mediating effect of employment anxiety and the moderating effect of gender. A total of 925 Chinese college students (384 males; M age = 19.48) completed questionnaires regarding ego-resiliency, employment anxiety, and aggressive behavior. Results showed that ego-resiliency was significantly and negatively associated with perceived aggressive behavior. This relationship was a partially mediated by employment anxiety. Furthermore, the indirect effect was moderated by gender. The simple slope tests showed that the relationship between ego-resiliency and employment anxiety was stronger for females, relative to the males. These findings highlight gender differences and support the importance, as noted in the existing literature, of incorporating ego-resiliency and employment anxiety into interventions and prevention efforts targeting perceived aggressive behavior.