The effect of trait victimhood on perceptions of, and responses to, interpersonal stress and trauma: a daily diary and cross-sectional evaluation

Abstract

The tendency for interpersonal victimhood (TIV) denotes a disposition to see oneself as a victim across interpersonal relationships. Individuals who score highly on this construct tend to ruminate on perceived offenses and be generally distrusting. There is a dearth of research, however, on the relationship between TIV and the real-word experience and perception of interpersonal events. This includes both large, impactful life events like trauma, and more minor everyday interpersonal stress. To fill this gap, in one study (Trauma Study), 400 participants recruited from Prolific completed measures of TIV, childhood maltreatment and lifetime trauma, posttraumatic cognitions, and an evaluation of trauma concept breadth. In a second study (Daily Stress Study), 447 undergraduate students completed a two-week daily diary study measuring the occurrence of interpersonal stressors, rumination, and perceived stress, as well as participants’ predictions and recollections regarding stressors. Across both studies, retrospective report of childhood maltreatment positively predicted TIV, but paradoxically, minimization of this maltreatment was also a significant, positive predictor. Lifetime trauma showed no such association. TIV was also related to psychological distress and ethnicity, as well as sex but to a less consistent degree. In the Trauma Study, TIV predicted negative posttraumatic cognitions about others even when controlling for the experience of trauma and PTSD; however, contrary to hypotheses, it was unrelated to self-blame or self-worth. TIV was also associated with holding a wider concept of trauma (that is, rating a greater number of possible events as being “trauma”), although there was no such effect when people rated an event from their own lives. With respect to the Daily Stress Study, TIV had a negligible relationship with interpersonal stress; specifically, it had a weak correlation with the occurrence of daily interpersonal stress and no relationship to whether one’s worst event of the day was interpersonal in nature. It was, however, positively associated with participants’ predictions and recall of the amount of interpersonal stressors they would/did experience. It was also related to rumination following interpersonal stressors, which was subsequently related to the level of victimhood-relevant details included in a written reflection about an interpersonal stressor at follow-up. Overall, findings were somewhat mixed with respect to hypotheses. TIV does not appear redundant with the experience of victimization itself (historical and/or at the level of more minor daily hassles). Rather, to some extent, it may relate to these experiences by influencing how one anticipates, reflects on, and forms beliefs about them.