Implicit Theories in Relationship with Social Judgments and Aggression Behaviors. Evidence Starting from Carol Dweck's Theoretical Framework

Abstract

Implicit theories of personality fall under social-cognitive theories and underlie studies that have examined the perspectives, beliefs, and judgments that people make about certain phenomena or behaviors. Although the theoretical model of implicit beliefs was originally categorized as theories about the self, the authors Dweck and Leggett (1988) extended it, applying it to the fild of social judgments about the characteristics of other people. In the present paper we aim to illustrate children's and adolescents' entity and incremental beliefs about aggression. In accordance with this purpose, we conducted a theoretical foray into implicit theories and their implications in the area of ​​social judgments in an attempt to capture how implicit beliefs about aggression are projected into the social interactions of children and adolescents. We believe that our remarks and findings can be important resources for educational factors in the effort to improve the effectiveness of programs to prevent aggressive behaviors and attitudes in children and youth.