Aggression and self-derogation: Moderating influences of gender, race/ethnicity, and stage in the life course

Abstract

Informed by a general theory of deviant behavior, it was hypothesized that (1) the effect of aggression on later self-derogation will vary with stage in the life course, and (2) the effect will be moderated by gender and race/ethnicity. Structural equation models are estimated for approximately 4,000 subjects tested in the seventh grade, in the third decade of life, and again in the fourth decade of life. The models were estimated separately for males and females, and for white-Anglo, African-American, and Mexican-American participants. Multigroup tests of invariance were performed to assess differences in parameters among groups while within group invariance tests allowed assessment of stability of the parameters over time. As expected, for females only, aggression in early adolescence anticipated decreases in self-derogation in young adulthood; and, aggression increased self-derogation between the third and fourth decades of life. For white-Anglo and African-American subjects aggression in early adulthood was related to increased self-derogation in later adulthood, but for Mexican-American subjects, early adult aggression decreased self-derogation by later adulthood. The results are interpretable in terms of self-enhancing implications of aggression for disempowered groups, and in terms of subcultural differences in acceptability of aggressive adaptations to stress at different stages in the life course.