Abstract
The present study attempted to examine the effects of emotional route and cognitive route on negative interpersonal affects (NIA) formation, and to propose the cognitive intervention procedure in cognitive route. In Study 1, 238 high school students rated the perceived negative emotional reactions, attributions of responsibility, and NIA for three hypothetical situations describing avoidance, rejection, and authoritative interpersonal conflicts with classmates. The findings indicated that the effect of cognitive route was stronger than that of emotional route in avoidance and authoritative situations. There was also evidence suggesting that the causal attributions of intentional — acceptable and unintentional — unavoidable affected NIA formation more than those of intentional — unacceptable and unintentional — avoidable. In Study 2, avoidance and authoritative situations were presented to 244 high school students. In both situations, one of four attributional information elements was presented, then the subjects rated NIA. The result was consistent with that of Study 1 that the attributions of intentional — acceptable and unintentional — unavoidable prompted NIA formation.
