Relational Forms Of Aggression Research Articles

Aggression and Irritability in Middle Childhood: Between- and Within-Person Associations

ABSTRACT Objective This study tested predicted bidirectional associations between irritability and physical and relational forms of aggression, disentangling theorized within- and between-person effects using latent curve models with structured residuals (LCM-SR) over one year in middle childhood. Gender differences and robustness of results when controlling for other externalizing problems (i.e., attention problems, delinquency) were also considered. Method Children in third, fourth, and fifth grade (N = 704, 49.9% female) were recruited from schools in a large midwestern city. The sample was diverse in regard to race/ethnicity (31% Black, 29% White, 13% Hmong, 14% Latinx, 4% Native American, 4% Asian, 5% other races/ethnicities). Irritability, attention problems, and delinquency were measured using teacher-report, and physical and relational aggression were measured using self-report at three time points over one calendar year. Results At the between-person level, higher mean levels of irritability predicted higher initial levels of physical and relational aggression. Irritability continued to predict higher levels of physical aggression across the course of the study, whereas the effect of irritability on relational aggression diminished. Boys showed higher starting levels of physical aggression, but no other significant gender differences emerged. No significant within-person associations were found. Conclusions The present study suggests that irritability may represent a between-person risk factor for high levels of physical and relational aggression in middle childhood, although effects on physical aggression may be more persistent. This highlights the importance of considering affective processes to understand the development of aggression trajectories.

The Roles of Clique Status Hierarchy and Aggression Norms in Victimized Adolescents' Aggressive Behavior.

The healthy context paradox indicates that in "healthy" contexts, with lower bullying or victimization norms, victimization experiences would unexpectedly exacerbate adolescents' adjustment difficulties, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear, particularly from the clique perspective. The current 2-year longitudinal multilevel study attempts to examine the conditional effects of both clique structure (i.e., status hierarchy) and clique norms (i.e., aggression norms) on the relationship between individual victimization and aggressive behavior. The sample consisted of 691 Chinese junior high school students (Mage = 12.74, SD = 0.43; 55.6% boys), who were identified to belong to 153 cliques with sizes varying from 3 to 12 students (Msize = 5.08, SD = 1.89), according to the social cognitive map. Participants completed peer-nominated measures at two time points, two years apart. The multilevel models revealed that it was in less hierarchical cliques with lower aggression that victimized adolescents would exhibit more relational forms of aggression (rather than overt forms) two years later. More intriguingly, contrary results were found in all-girls cliques and all-boys cliques. Specifically, victimized girls' overt and relational aggression was higher in cliques with less hierarchy and lower aggression, whereas, in cliques with more hierarchy and higher aggression, victimized boys' relational aggression was higher, which conforms to the healthy context paradox and the peer contagion hypothesis, respectively. These findings highlight that egalitarian cliques with low aggression would promote aggressive behavior of victimized adolescents, especially for girls rather than for boys, which in turn has crucial implications for anti-bullying interventions.

Development and Validation of the Teen Dating Aggression Measure Among Canadian Youth.

Teen dating violence (TDV) victimization is a traumatic experience that can have adverse consequences for adolescents. Current measures that assess TDV do not fully distinguish between psychological and relational forms of aggression, nor do they capture aggressive acts that are common within adolescent relationships. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Teen Dating Aggression Measure (TeDAM) using a sample of 730 Canadian adolescents (M = 15.88 years, SD = 1.23). The measure is an expansion of the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory and includes items that describe other forms of violence such as coercion and control, along with more traditional indicators of dating violence (e.g., sexual aggression). Factor analyses yielded three factors, namely psychological aggression, sexual and physical aggression, and relational aggression, which were correlated with more frequent cannabis and alcohol use as well as rape myth acceptance. These results provide initial support for the utility of the TeDAM for assessing TDV with adolescents.

Parental Corporal Punishment and Peer Victimization in Middle Childhood: A Sex-Moderated Mediation Model of Aggression.

There is a peak in peer victimization during middle childhood, with multiple negative consequences. Parental use of corporal punishment and child aggression are the most widely studied predictors of this phenomenon. The aim of the present study was to analyze whether parental use of corporal punishment affects peer victimization through child aggression. This mediation model was explored for both mothers and fathers and for both physical and relational forms of aggression and peer victimization. Furthermore, we also analyzed whether the mediation models were moderated by the sex of the child. Participants were 234 third graders (46% girls). Child aggression and victimization were measured by peers using the Mini Direct Indirect Aggression Inventory. Independent measures of mother’s and father’s use of corporal punishment were obtained from a PCA of items from the Parental Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ). Conditional process modeling was carried out using a macro for SPSS developed by Hayes (2013). Results indicated that aggression mediated the relation of parental corporal punishment to peer victimization. Some interesting moderating effects of sex in this mediation model were found; specifically, physical, and relational aggression mediated the relation of maternal corporal punishment to peer victimization only in boys. Few studies to date have addressed the connection between aggressive behavior and peer victimization as outcomes of corporal punishment, taking into consideration the role of parent’s and child’s sex, and both physical and relational forms of aggression and victimization during childhood.

Fight and flight: Examining putative links between social anxiety and youth aggression

Abstract Somewhat surprisingly, social anxiety has been linked with aggressive behavior in adults. Among youth, this connection has been demonstrated with anxiety symptoms more broadly. This review extends previous work by evaluating this association specifically with social anxiety in the child and adolescent literature. Given the complexities of aggressive behavior, the review is organized by its various forms (relational and physical) and functions (reactive and proactive). Findings from sixteen identified studies are suggestive of links between social anxiety and reactive and relational forms of aggression. Albeit more tenuous, there appear to be associations with physical aggression as well. Overall, though suggestive of connections between social anxiety and aggression, confidence in the findings is attenuated by the relatively small number of relevant studies combined with inconsistent gender findings. Before suggesting directions for further study, we propose putative dysfunctional biological, emotional, and cognitive processes as factors that may underlie associations between social anxiety and these particular forms of aggression. Future research should target differences in age, gender, relationship type, and anxiety subtype. Determining the extent to which these associations may be attributable to comorbid pathology such as depression or a broader internalizing syndrome is also important.

Five-Factor Model of Personality, Social Anxiety, and Relational Aggression in College Students

Five-Factor Model of Personality, Social Anxiety, and Relational Aggression in College Students Daniel L. Deason (bio), Eric R. Dahlen (bio), Michael B. Madson (bio), and Emily Bullock-Yowell (bio) Relational aggression involves behaviors intended to harm others’ social relationships, reputation or status, and feelings of belonging (Linder, Crick, & Collins, 2002). Relationally aggressive behaviors (e.g., social exclusion, malicious gossip, ignoring someone) are likely to interfere with college students’ well-being and success. Examples of the adverse correlates of relational aggression include peer rejection, anxiety and depression, poor psychological adjustment, problematic alcohol use, and dysfunctional anger (Dahlen, Czar, Prather, & Dyess, 2013; Goldstein, 2011; Werner & Crick, 1999). Campus professionals regularly encounter the impact of relational aggression. University housing offices receive complaints about relationally aggressive living situations, resident assistants are asked to settle disputes involving relationally aggressive students, and counseling center staff encounter students experiencing emotional distress due to relational victimization. By improving our understanding of relational aggression, we will be better equipped to mitigate its impact on campus. We investigated the relationship of the Five-Factor Model (FFM; Goldberg, 1990) of personality and social anxiety to peer relational aggression among college students. The FFM conceptualizes personality as involving five latent domains: intellect/imagination (i.e., openness to experience), conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability (i.e., the inverse of neuroticism). The FFM has been used to understand the role of personality in overt aggression where the strongest relationships involve low emotional stability, low agreeableness, and low conscientiousness (Hosie, Gilbert, Simpson, & Daffern, 2014; Miller, Zeichner, & Wilson, 2012). While less is known about the relationships of FFM traits to relational aggression, most of the traits should be relevant. Low emotional stability involves an increased tendency to experience unpleasant emotional states (e.g., anger), and low agreeableness involves antagonism and hostility. Students high in extraversion enjoy groups and social events, suggesting they may be more likely to participate in group activities where relational aggression occurs. The role of conscientiousness is less clear, but the inverse relationship between conscientiousness and impulse control suggests that it might be inversely related to at least some forms of relational aggression. Burton, Hafetz, and Henninger (2007) found that low emotional stability, low agreeableness, and low [End Page 110] conscientiousness were related to relational aggression. Similarly, Hines and Saudino (2008) found that low emotional stability was positively related to psychological aggression in students’ intimate partnerships, while conscientiousness and extraversion were positively related to psychological aggression, and agreeableness was inversely related to psychological aggression only among women. Learning more about the relationship of personality traits to relational aggression may be useful in improving our understanding of why some students are more relationally aggressive than others. A relationship between social anxiety and relational aggression has long been posited, but research investigating it has been sparse. Socially anxious students who fear negative evaluation may engage in relationally aggressive behaviors to deflect attention from themselves, removing from their peer group those from whom they anticipate negative evaluation (Loudin, Loukas, & Robinson, 2003). The limited research connecting social anxiety to relational aggression is generally supportive. For example, Storch, Bagner, Geffken, and Baumeister (2004) found that relational aggression was positively associated with social anxiety in a college student sample, and Loudin and colleagues (2003) found that students who feared negative evaluation were more likely to engage in relationally aggressive behaviors. Thus, there is reason to expect that social anxiety is relevant to understanding relational aggression. It remains unclear whether social anxiety has the potential to explain unique variance in relational aggression beyond the FFM. We explored the relationships among the broad domains of personality represented by the FFM, social anxiety, and relational aggression in a college student sample. We expected that emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness would be inversely related to relational aggression while extraversion would be positively related to relational aggression. In addition, we expected that social anxiety would be positively related to relational aggression, explaining additional variance over and above gender and the full FFM. METHOD Participants and Procedure Undergraduate volunteers (N = 342: 143 men and 199 women) of traditional college age were recruited from a midsized Southeastern university in the United States using the Department of Psychology’s web-based research system. Of the...

Overt and Relational Aggression Participant Role Behavior: Measurement and Relations With Sociometric Status and Depression.

This study is the first to measure participant role behavior across overt and relational forms of aggression. The Overt and Relational Aggression Participant Role Behavior Scales were designed to measure aggression, assisting, reinforcing, defending, victimization, and outsider behavior during acts of peer aggression in an ethnically diverse sample of 609 adolescents (M age=12years). The data fit the hypothesized 12-factor model, and measurement invariance was established across gender. Relational victimization, but not overt victimization, was positively associated with all other relational aggression roles. Each participant role subscale was positively associated with depressive symptoms with the exception of the overt and relational outsider subscales. Future research and intervention efforts should consider overt and relational aggression participant roles, separately.

Just “harmless entertainment”? Effects of surveillance reality TV on physical aggression.

Reality TV programs are extremely popular, though little research has examined how they affect viewers. In particular, many reality TV programs contain acts of aggression, mainly verbal or relational forms of aggression. The current study evaluates how different content within reality TV affected viewer aggression. Participants watched a surveillance reality program containing verbal and relational aggression, a surveillance reality program containing supportive family interactions, or a violent crime drama. To see whether surveillance reality programs increase aggression by increasing narcissistic responding, half the participants received an ego threat. Aggression was measured using the intensity and duration of noise administered to an ostensible opponent on a competitive reaction time task. Surveillance reality viewers exposed to relational aggression were more aggressive than those watching either a supportive family surveillance reality program or a violent crime drama. Viewers of the violent crime drama were also more aggressive than those watching the family themed surveillance reality program. Ego threat did not moderate the increase in aggression seen in negative surveillance reality program viewers, suggesting that these programs did not increase narcissistic responding. This is one of the first studies to use an experimental method to document causal effects of reality TV viewing on viewers of these programs. Surveillance reality programs that include relational aggression are not simply “harmless entertainment”—they increase physical aggression.

Associations Between Physical and Relational Forms of Peer Aggression and Victimization and Risk for Substance Use Among Elementary School-Age Youths

ABSTRACTThis study examined associations between physical and relational forms of aggression and victimization and risk for willingness to engage in substance use and actual use in a sample of 231 (50% male) second- through fourth-grade students (mean age = 8.3 years). Physical aggression was more strongly associated with risk for substance use outcomes than physical victimization. Neither relational aggression nor victimization were linked to risk for substance use. Specifically targeting physical aggression for the prevention of early substance use among elementary school-age youths appears to be warranted.

Peer Victimization and Forms of Aggression During Middle Childhood: The Role of Emotion Regulation.

The current short-term longitudinal study evaluated whether anger and sadness regulation moderated the associations between peer victimization and physical and relational forms of aggression over a 6-month period. Participants included 278 predominantly Caucasian children (51.8% female) between 8 and 12 years of age (M = 9.33, SD = 0.99). Peer victimization was assessed at Time 1 using child- and teacher-reports, and teachers provided ratings of children's aggressive behavior at Time 1 and Time 2. Children also completed self-report measures of anger and sadness regulation at Time 1. Results from multilevel models provided support for the notion that children's ability to effectively regulate their feelings of anger and sadness influences the relations among peer victimization and forms of aggression over time. As anticipated, high levels of anger regulation attenuated the link between child-reported peer victimization and physical aggression. Further, when levels of anger regulation were high, teacher-reported peer victimization predicted subsequent decreases in physical aggression. Contrary to expectations, however, high levels of anger and sadness regulation exacerbated the association between child-reported peer victimization and relational aggression, and teacher-reported peer victimization predicted decreases in relational aggression over time when levels of anger regulation were low. Directions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.

Prospective Associations between Peer Aggression and Victimization: The Moderating Roles of Physiological Stress Reactivity and Gender

AbstractThe present investigation examined whether heightened skin conductance reactivity (SCLR) to peer stress strengthened the prospective associations between physical and relational aggression and victimization, and whether associations were stronger for physical forms of aggression and victimization among boys and relational forms of aggression and victimization among girls. A total of 91 children [M age = 10.18 years, standard deviation (SD) = .68] were assessed twice over 1 year. At the first assessment, SCLR in response to recounting a relational stressor (e.g., exclusion; SCLR‐R) and an instrumental stressor (e.g., property theft; SCLR‐I), and teacher‐reported aggression were measured. Parents reported on child victimization at both time points. Among youth with heightened SCLR‐I, physical aggression was associated with increases in physical victimization for boys and decreases in physical victimization for girls. Among youth with heightened SCLR‐R, relational aggression was associated with increases in physical victimization for girls only. Results were largely consistent with the hypothesis that aggressors with a propensity to exhibit negative displays of emotion, as indexed by heightened sympathetic nervous system (SNS) reactivity to peer stress, may be especially likely to suffer peer victimization. Gender‐specific effects highlight the importance of including both physical and relational forms of aggression and victimization to capture victimization risk among aggressive boys and girls.

Instrumental and reactive functions and overt and relational forms of aggression

This study examined the development of adolescent self-reported instrumental-overt, instrumental-relational, reactive-overt, and reactive-relational aggression during middle school (N = 384; 12–14 years; 53% boys). Growth modeling indicated average increases in instrumental-relational aggression, and decreases in reactive-overt and reactive-instrumental aggression over time. Further, overt and relational aggression driven by reactive reasons (functions) predicted gains in aggression driven by instrumental reasons, and overt form of aggression predicted increases in relational form of aggression across time.

Rumors And Gossip As Forms Of Bullying: Sticks And Stones?

When most people hear the word bullying, they often envision a physical form of aggression—often between schoolchildren. And yet, much of the bullying and other forms of relational aggression occur not only in the schoolyard, but among those schoolchildren's parents, as well as in boardrooms, in faculty lounges, and in other places where adults congregate. The transmission of rumor and gossip is an enduring feature of power dynamics in any small or large group, as both a way of trying to make sense of ambiguous situations and as a form of social control. This article examines the construction, maintenance, proliferation, and management of rumors, gossip, and hearsay from a psychoanalytic perspective.

Two sides to the same coin: relational and physical aggression in the media

PurposeThis review aims to examine how aggression is portrayed in the media and how it can influence behavior and attitudes regarding aggression.Design/methodology/approachThe authors reviewed the relevant literature and examined both physical and relational forms of aggression in multiple media forms (television, film, video games, music, books).FindingsAcross media types, evidence is found that both physical and relational aggression are portrayed frequently and in ways that may contribute to subsequent aggression. Furthermore, though there are studies finding no effect of exposure to media aggression, evidence is found that watching physical and relational aggression in the media can contribute to aggressive behavior. Prominent media aggression theories are reviewed and some of these theories are applied to relational aggression media effects.Research limitations/implicationsResearchers should no longer ignore relational aggression in terms of the media, in terms of content and associations with aggressive behavior. Researchers should also focus on understudied media forms, such as music and books.Practical implicationsPolicy makers should take careful note of the research on media and aggression when deciding on public policy and clinicians should inquire about media habits when clients show problematic aggressive behavior (physical or relational).Originality/valueThis paper is a valuable source of information regarding current research on media and aggression. Unlike other reviews, it focuses on multiple types of aggression (physical and relational) and multiple media types (TV, movies, video games, music, and books).

Relationships of Smiling and Flirtation to Aggression and 2D:4D, a Prenatal Androgen Index

Smiling has been reported to be a signal of submission/lower status, or a sign of cooperation. In the present study, use of smiling and flirtation to "make people receptive to my ideas" was conceptualized as mild aggression, since it is mildly manipulative of the perception of others as to one's internal emotional status. For 91 participants (55 female, 36 male), use of smiling and flirtation to make others receptive to one's ideas were associated with relational aggression and a more male-typical (smaller) right 2D:4D finger length ratio. The only significant relationship in the male sample alone was the relationship between smiling and relational aggression. In the female sample alone, use of smiling and flirtation to "make people receptive to my ideas" was associated with a more male-typical 2D:4D finger length ratio pattern, and there was a trend for flirtation to be associated with greater physical aggression. Both 2D:4D and physical aggression have been associated with higher prenatal androgen level. It is concluded that deliberate smiling and flirtation are mild forms of relational aggression, and are related to prenatal androgenic activity in a manner similar to physical aggression. These findings are discussed in terms of the different evolutionary strategies of men and women to control their social environments.

Teenage girls' perceptions of the functions of relationally aggressive behaviors

AbstractAdolescent girls reported on their experiences both as perpetrators and as victims of several distinct forms of relational aggression. Details of these incidents were gathered from 114 ethnically diverse ninth and tenth graders via a secure online survey. The frequency with which girls perpetrated or were targeted for particular acts of relational aggression was assessed and, based on the responses, a computer program randomly selected one item (i.e., gossip, ignoring, or exclusion) for which each girl was asked to recall a specific experience and answer follow‐up questions. Perceptions of the goals and functions of specific relationally aggressive acts were assessed, as well as how the perpetrator or victim felt at the time of the incident. Ignoring or “giving the silent treatment” appeared to be a unique form of relational aggression inasmuch as the girls perceived different motives, or functions, for ignoring compared with gossip and exclusion and felt worse at the time of the ignoring incident, both when they were reporting as aggressors and as victims. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

It’s “Mean,” But What Does It Mean to Adolescents? Relational Aggression Described by Victims, Aggressors, and Their Peers

Early adolescent girls and boys ( N = 33) with known histories of relational aggression and/or victimization gave detailed accounts of the nature, frequency, intensity, course, and impact of relational aggression among their peers. They also described reasons for, and forms of, aggression after being prompted by a series of hypothetical vignettes. Despite identifying many forms of aggression that were similar for girls and boys, some sex differences were found; girls were described as experiencing more victimization within close friendships than boys, with a focus on maintaining exclusivity. Boys described exclusion from larger groups with themes of masculinity, athletic skill, and/or perceived sexual identity. Girls’ and boys’ perceptions about the motivations for these different forms of relational aggression were quite similar. These included power, popularity, and wanting to fit in as well as the aggressors’ emotional states and the victims’ characteristics.

Neuroendocrine regulation and physical and relational aggression: The moderating roles of child maltreatment and gender.

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the association between circadian rhythms of cortisol and physical and relational aggression. Morning arrival, prelunch, and afternoon predeparture salivary cortisol were assessed among 418 maltreated and nonmaltreated children (52% maltreated; 49% female) attending a summer day camp. Counselors and peers rated participants' involvement in physically and relationally aggressive behaviors. Results indicated that physical aggression was associated with heightened cortisol following morning arrival and relatively steep declines in cortisol over the day, whereas relational aggression was associated with low cortisol following morning arrival and blunted diurnal change in cortisol. Moreover, maltreatment was a significant moderator of this relationship such that aggression was related to greater cortisol dysregulation among nonmaltreated than among maltreated children. The findings suggest that physiological correlates of aggression may differ for physical and relational forms of aggression and among maltreated versus nonmaltreated populations.

Gender differences in the association between cardiovascular reactivity and aggressive conduct

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the association between cardiovascular reactivity to provocation and physically and relationally aggressive conduct. Blood pressure and heart rate were assessed among seventy-seven 5th-grade participants during a period of rest and while discussing a relational provocation. In addition, teachers reported on participants' physically and relationally aggressive behavior. Results provided support for the hypothesis that heightened cardiac reactivity to provocation would be associated with relational forms of aggression among girls. In contrast, for boys, lower cardiac reactivity was associated with physical aggression. These results suggest that the association between cardiovascular reactivity and aggression differs for males and females and that reactivity following relational provocation may be an especially important predictor of relational aggression among girls. Implications for interventions among aggressive children are discussed.

Victim and peer group responses to different forms of aggression among primary school children

Both behaviourist and social learning theory emphasise the importance of the consequences of a behaviour on its subsequent frequency of occurrence [e.g., Bandura, 1973, 1977; Skinner, 1953]. Despite this, very little is known about the types of consequences children receive when they aggress towards other children. The present study employed a wireless microphone and hidden camera to record victim and peer responses to primary school children's physical, verbal, indirect, and relational forms of aggression. The results showed that the most frequent consequences of aggression were victim retaliation or withdrawal, and peer support. In addition, the results showed limited support for the suggestion that sex differences in the use of different types of aggression arise due to differential reinforcement from victims and/or peers. The implications of the results for the development of interventions aimed at reducing aggression are considered along with alternative explanations for sex differences in aggression. Aggr. Behav. 31:00–00, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.