Prediction of Anger Suppression Based on Obsessive Beliefs and Anxious Preoccupied Attachment Style among the Non-Clinical Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Various psychological factors can affect the type of emotions. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to predict anger suppression based on obsessive beliefs and preoccupied attachment style among non-clinical population. Methods: The research method was a descriptive-correlation type. The statistical population included all undergraduate students of the humanities faculties of Universities of Tehran in the academic year of 2022-2023, who were selected through Cluster sampling of 312 students.Usage: State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2), Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ-44) and Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) were used. Finally, the data were analysed by Pearson correlation and multiple regression methods. Results: The results of step-by-step regression analysis showed that both scales of preoccupied attachment style and obsessive beliefs are able to significantly predict anger suppression. In the first step, the preoccupied attachment style (β = 0.54, P 0.001) explained 29.3% of the variance of anger suppression, and in the second step, the obsessive beliefs scale (P 0.001, 0.13) = β) was also added to the model and increased the explained variance to 30.9% and actually increased the explanation coefficient by 1.6%. Conclusion: The findings of the study confirm the relationship between preoccupied attachment style and obsessive beliefs for anger suppression. Separating the role of attachment styles and incompatible beliefs can have a significant effect on expressing or not expressing anger.