Aggressive Students Research Articles

Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure of the Aggressive Student Culture Scale Administered to the Age 8 Growing Up in NZ Cohort

Background The Aggressive Student Culture Scale (ASCS) is a survey designed to measure the extent to which New Zealand (NZ) students experience aggressive behaviours within the school environment. The aim of this study is to assess the psychometric properties of the ASCS in the multidisciplinary Growing Up in NZ longitudinal study. Methods We used data from 4938 children from the Growing Up in NZ study to examine the psychometric properties of ASCS for 8-year-old children. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted, and measurement invariance was tested across sex, ethnicity, and deprivation levels. Results The ASCS tool comprises a single latent factor: aggressive student behaviour. The ASCS provides an adequate and satisfactory measure for student aggression experiences. Full measurement invariance was supported for child’s sex, but only configural invariance was confirmed across ethnicity and area-level deprivation. Males reported higher levels of aggressive experiences than females. Conclusions The one-factor model structure offers an excellent fit to our data with good internal consistency. Comparisons across sex are valid; however, direct comparisons across ethnicity and deprivation levels should be approached with caution. We recommend replication studies and encourage further research involving participants from different age groups to better understand the factor structure across diverse demographic variables.

MEREDUKSI AGRESIFITAS DENGAN COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL ART TERAPY PADA SISWA SMPN 14 PONTIANAK

The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of group counseling with cognitive behavioral art therapy in reducing aggression using a mixed methods model embedded in an experiment. The scale used is the Buss and Pery aggressiveness scale (Garofalo, 2018) with a total of 30 statement items. Based on data analysis, the average pretest value was 83.7 and after being given CBAT treatment the posttest value was 57.8 with a Wilcoxon sign-rank test Z value of -2.201, with a p value of 0.028, which means the p value is smaller than 0.05. So it can be concluded that Ha is accepted and Ho is rejected, which means that cognitive behavioral art therapy group counseling is effective in reducing student aggression. Viewed qualitatively analysis of counseling conversations with high aggressiveness Referring to harsh words, being angry, negotiating, does not reduce emotional control. The changes that occur are in the moderate to low category, this shows that cognitive behavioral art therapy group counseling has a therapeutic impact on group members who are counselees.

The confounding and problematic nexus of defined and perceived bullying

BackgroundTo assess the prevalence of bullying and identify victims in need of support, it is important that researchers, administrators, policy makers and people involved in bullying, all have the same conceptual understanding of bullying. It is not uncommon for individuals to perceive that they have been bullied when, according to the operational definition, they have not technically been bullied. Categorised according to the alignment of perceived and technical bullying, five peer aggression groups were examined for differences in the level of harm experienced. The importance of elements in the definition of bullying for perceived and technical bullying was also investigated. MethodsUsing a cross-sectional survey design, 843 Australian students aged 11–16 completed the Student Aggression and Victimisation Questionnaire (SAVQ – Skrzypiec, 2015). The SAVQ measures the intent, harm, repetition, and relationship and power imbalance between victim and perpetrator, associated with experiences of peer aggression, as well as the perception of being bullied. It enables the identification of perceived and technical bullying experiences. ResultsOnly a small group of youth consistently perceived bullying when they were, by definition, being bullied. Approximately one in three students reported that, based on their perception of being bullied, they were bullied even though they were not according to the criteria defining bullying in the academic literature. Youth consistently reported experiencing harm, even if they were not technically bullied, though technically being bullied was perceived to be especially harmful. Similarly, students who did not recognise their experience of peer aggression as bullying when technically it was, also reported being harmed. ConclusionsThis study addresses an important debate in the literature concerning how best to define bullying; moreover, findings have the potential to inform bullying interventions. Students harmed by peer aggression in any form (technically bullied or not) should not be neglected because of the nature of definitions and tools of measurement being used.

The developmental characteristics of proactive and reactive aggression in late childhood: The effect of parental control.

Previous research has confirmed that parental control is related to children's aggressive behavior. However, few studies have focused on proactive and reactive aggression to distinguish the different effects of parental psychological and behavioral control. Moreover, additional longitudinal evidence is needed to understand these links. In the current paper, a three-wave longitudinal study was conducted to examine the developmental characteristics of proactive and reactive aggression and the role of parental control in China. A total of 484 4th- and 7th-grade students participated at wave 1 (51.65% in 4th-grade, Mage = 11.66 ± 1.52 years), 465 students (52.04% in 4th-grade) at wave 2, and 447 children (51.90% in 4th-grade) at wave 3. The results showed that: (1) Proactive aggression in late childhood remained stable overall, while reactive aggression displayed a clear upward trend. (2) In proactive aggression, boys and girls had a consistent developmental trend. The initial level of boys was higher than that of girls. In reactive aggression, the growth rate was inversely associated with their initial level and the initial level of boys in 7th-grade was significantly higher than that of girls. (3) Both parental psychological and behavioral control positively predicted students' reactive aggression in 4th- and 7th-grade, whereas only parental behavioral control positively predicted proactive aggression in 7th-grade students, with no gender differences.

EFFECT OF ACADEMIC STRESS, LONELINESS AND LIFE SATISFACTION ON AGGRESSION LEVELS OF STUDENTS: A COVID-19 CONTEXT

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced students to stay in prolonged social isolation and attend online classes, giving rise to newer academic challenges, enhanced feelings of loneliness, and hence, decreased life-satisfaction. These can further heighten aggression in students. Empirical evidence suggests that academic stress has a positively-significant correlation with aggression although, studies inspecting the correlation of these factors with loneliness and life-satisfaction, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic are scarce. Present study therefore aims to investigate the effect of Academic Stress, Loneliness and Life-Satisfaction on Aggression Levels of Students, from a Covid-19 context. Data were collected in the year 2021, from 215 students (Mean age=20.69, SD=3.60 59.5% females), attending both online and offline classes by administering (a) Aggression Questionnaire by Bus and Perry (1992), (b) Educational Stress Scale by Sun et al. (2011), (c) UCLA Loneliness Scale by Russell et al. (1978), and (d) Satisfaction with Life Scale by Diener et al. (1985). Data were collected using Google Forms after obtaining consent from participants. Statistical Analysis included Descriptive Statistics, Correlation Analysis, Regression Analysis, and One-Way ANOVA. Findings indicate that aggressionof the students is positively associated with educational stress, and loneliness and negatively associated with life satisfaction level. Educational stress and loneliness significantly predict aggression in students, but life satisfaction does not predict aggression. Present findings provide empirical evidence of the contribution of educational stress and loneliness in enhancing aggression in students. Findings have implications in developing intervention modulesfor behavioural problems among students attending online classes.

Investigation of aggression levels of anatolian and vocational high school students

In this study, it is aimed to examine the aggression levels of high school students studying in Anatolian and Vocational High Schools and competing in teams according to some parameters. Aggression scale was applied to 296 students in total. Student-t test, one-way Anova and LSD tests were used to determine the differences in branches. The differences between the aggression scale scores of the students according to gender and age were not statistically significant (p>0.05). In the comparison of aggression levels in Anatolian and Vocational High Schools, there was a significant difference in the assertiveness sub-dimension (p<0.05), while the difference in destructive aggression, passive aggression and total aggression scores was insignificant (p>0.05). The differences in destructive aggression, assertiveness, passive aggression sub-dimensions and total aggression scores were found to be statistically significant (p<0.05 and p<0.001). Conclusion: It was concluded that while the aggression status of the students studying in Anatolian and Vocational high schools and doing active sports are similar according to gender and age, it varies according to the school they attend, the income status of their families and the sports branch they compete in. Passive aggression of students with high destructive aggression was also high. It can be suggested to investigate the aggression tendencies of high school students according to their sports background. It may be beneficial to conduct similar studies with students from different socio-demographic regions.

Role of Positive Adolescent Development and Self-compassion in the Aggression Tendency of Female High School Students in Yazd City

Introduction: The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the role of positive adolescent development and self-compassion in the aggression tendency of female students of high schools in Yazd City.
 Methods: The research design in this study was descriptive and correlational. The participants in this research were 362 female students in the second grade of high school in Yazd City in the academic year of 2020-2021, who were selected based on random cluster sampling In order to collect data, Goldhoff et al.'s Positive Development Questionnaire (2014), Self-Compassion Questionnaire (2003) and Bass and Perry's Aggression Questionnaire (1992) were used. Data analysis and correlation method based on the approach Structural equation modeling was done using AMOS software, version 21.
 Results: The results showed that the positive transformation of adolescence has a direct, positive and significant effect on self-compassion (β = 0.66 and P < 0.01) and a direct, negative and significant effect on aggression (β = -0.33 and P < 0.01) and self-compassion have a direct, negative and significant effect on aggression (β = -0.29 and P < 0.01) in the female students of the second grade of high school in Yazd City.
 Conclusion: self-compassion plays a mediating role in the relationship between the positive development of adolescence and aggression of female students in the second grade of high school in Yazd City and by increasing the positive development of adolescence and self-compassion in adolescents, their tendency to aggression can be reduced.

A longitudinal study of the mediating role of resilience in the impact of trait mindfulness on anxiety and aggression in Chinese college students with left‐behind experiences

AbstractThe present study investigated how trait mindfulness is related to anxiety and aggression by considering the mediating role of resilience with the longitudinal data among Chinese college students with left‐behind experience. A total of 391 Chinese college students with left‐behind experiences completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, the Connor‐Davidson Resilience Scale, the Chinese college students’ version of the Buss‐Perry Aggression Questionnaire, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales at two‐time points. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data, and the results indicated that resilience (T1) mediated the relationship between trait mindfulness (T1) and anxiety (T2) (indirect effect = −0.053, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [−0.119, −0.005]) as well as aggression (T2) (indirect effect = −0.070, 95% CI = [−0.127, −0.029]). Therefore, trait mindfulness had direct and indirect negative associations with anxiety and aggression, and resilience mediated the relationship between trait mindfulness and both anxiety and aggression. The findings of the study provide valuable insights into the potential benefits of trait mindfulness and resilience in improving mental health outcomes and suggest clinical potential in the improvement of mental health among college students with left‐behind experiences.

Effects of Animated Movies on the Aggression and Behavior Performance of Primary School Students and Their Control Using a Cognitive Behavioral Anger-Control Training (CBACT) Program.

This work is a combination of two studies, Study I and Study II, which aimed to examine the impact of animated movies on the aggression and behavioral performance of primary school students, as well as their control using the CBACT program. In Study I, the influence of animated movies on 300 students from ten primary schools in Pakistan with gender differences (50% male), family systems, and viewing time duration was examined. This study was performed on 7- to 9-year-old children on four subscales of the Buss-Perry aggression questionnaire (BPAQ), three subscales of the child behavior questionnaire (CBQ), and toy selection. Following that, in Study II the CBACT intervention was applied to aggressive students (n = 46) selected from Study I. Students were randomly divided into CBACT treatment (50%) and control groups. The results of Study I indicated that violent animated movies had a greater impact on the aggressive behavior of male students than on that of females, while girls were more affected by watching nonviolent movies. Furthermore, male viewers from nuclear families and females from joint families showed more aggressive problems. It was also observed that aggression in students significantly increased (p < 0.001) with increasing viewing animation time duration (10 to 30 min). The results of Study II showed that aggression in the treatment group was significantly reduced (p = 0.000) with the CBACT program but remained constant for the control group. The findings of Study I showed that violent animation is strongly linked with aggression and behavioral performance in primary school students. The CBACT program in Study II indicates that students may not be completely eliminated from watching violent movies, but their aggression levels were reduced when they watched animated movies. Therefore, the CBACT program opens a new window into behavioral problem treatment, which is casually influenced by violent media.

“You block yourself from the emotion:” A qualitative inquiry into special education teachers' use of discordant emotional strategies in coping with student aggression

Current research has explored teachers' use of expressive suppression and surface acting; however, research on these strategies, in the context of student aggression, is limited. A qualitative study was conducted to better understand female special education teachers' (SETs') use of discordant emotional (DE) strategies in student aggression. Analyses of the 16 semi-structured interviews revealed emotional distancing as a new DE strategy that consists of emotional detachment and emotional separation. Findings suggest SETs' use of emotional distancing differed by their years of teaching experience and “mental work.” Implications for professionals in practice are discussed to improve SETs’ emotional wellbeing.

Verbal and Symbolic Aggression Female in The Madurese Culture

This research explores the verbal and symbolic aggression of Madurese women students. These two things will be examined as the leading models by looking at the oral and symbolic aggression models for Madurese women. Women’s aggression is a complex form of behavior. This complexity is essential to the cyclical activities of the self and its environment. Madurese women ‘do not have a voice’ in voicing their own opinions including in rural electoral power politics and household economic autonomy. This research uses mixed methods, quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative research uses statistical analysis using confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA), while qualitative research uses descriptive data about the types and forms of verbal aggression in women. Both explore verbal and symbolic tendencies of aggression in Madurese women. The women involved were students at universities in Madura. The research results show that women prefer symbolic aggression to verbal aggression. Women with higher education prefer symbolic aggression to verbal aggression. Types and forms of verbal aggression include cha’-nguca’e, hitting, pulling, harming, and injuring. This oral does not lead to the loss of another person's life. Another finding is that a symbolic attack always follows every verbal aggression. Meanwhile, symbolic aggression involves gossip, talking about bad things about other women with slander and backbiting, spitting on other people’s property rights, inviting other people to hate other women, constantly talking about other people’s bad things, looking for reasons to hate other people, not coming meeting with hated people.

Group Guidance Through Internalization of Indigenous Knowledge Values to Reduce Student Aggressiveness at Madrasah Tsanawiyah

Students in the learning process often experience social problems such as rampant aggressive behaviour. An environment that rarely instils local cultural values can trigger the erosion of ethics and morals. Through the cultivation of local wisdom, it is hoped that it will be able to reintroduce students to the cultural values that belong to Indonesia. Efforts to overcome student aggressiveness can be made with group guidance through the internalization of local wisdom values. This study aimed to describe the differences in student aggressiveness before and after being given a treatment of group guidance services through the internalization of local wisdom values (Indigenous Knowledge). The method used is pre-experimental with the One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design approach. The population of this study were all students of class IX at a Madrasah Tsanawiyah. Samples were taken by purposive sampling technique. Data collection techniques using a questionnaire with a Likert scale. The data analysis technique using the T-test showed a value of t = 10.774 and sig (2-tailed) 0.000, meaning 0.000 ˂ 0.05. Based on score data, group guidance through the internalization of indigenous knowledge values is effective in reducing student aggressiveness.

Peace Sociodrama: A Strategy to Reduce Junior High School Aggression

Aggression behavior is one of the negative behaviors caused by the absence of self-control and emotional control. Another cause of aggression is the existence of conflicts both between individuals and between groups. Conflict occurs because of a sense of unpeace in individuals, so in this study aims to instill a sense of peace through sociodrama combined with the component of peace which is then called peace sodiodrama. Peace sociodrama is developed through research and development methods. The procedure used in this study was the borg and gall development procedure. Before developing the product, researchers measured the level of aggression and the results of these measurements showed a variety of aggression at the level of aggression at the level of rerndah at 30.9%, at a level less than 29.1%, at a moderate level of 43.6%, at a high level of 5.5%. Although low, aggression still exists in students in Yogyakarta and researchers believe that aggression behavior must be reduced, therefore peace sociodrama is developed as a strategy in reducing aggression. Peace sociodrama is developed in the form of manuals and implementation procedures. The results after product validity tests by material experts, media experts and peace sociodrama service experts fall into the category worthy of being used as a counselor strategy in reducing student aggressiveness

Associations between stress, resources, and hair cortisol concentration in teachers

Challenging interactions are the main source of teacher’ stress in the classroom. We investigated the association of chronic stress and characteristics of teacher-student interactions with teachers’ Hair Cortisol Concentration (HCC). Forty-one teachers (27 women; Mage = 39.65 ± 12.14 years; Mlesson number = 23.15 ± 3.99 lessons per week; grade: elementary, secondary, high, and vocational school teachers) participated in the present study, with participation lasting over the length of one year. HCC was assessed from a 3 cm hair segment near the scalp. Self-reported chronic stress in the last three months was further assessed using the ‘Trier Inventory for Chronic Stress’ (TICS). Additionally, four consecutive, same-day lectures of each teacher were videotaped and coded offline in an event sampling procedure by trained external observers. The videos were analyzed for two stressors, i.e., classroom disruptions and total student aggression, as well as two resources, i.e., teacher-student relationship and classroom management. Overall, hair samples were collected M = 120.34 days (SD = 84.39) after the distribution of the questionnaires, and M = 67.63 days (SD = 18.40) prior to the observations. Lesson number, classroom disruptions, as well as total student aggression were all significantly positively correlated with HCC. In addition, both teacher-student relationship and classroom management were significantly negatively related to HCC. With regard to self-rated chronic stress, only the TICS subscale ‘Pressure to perform’ was positively related to HCC. Exploratory moderation analyses revealed that an increasingly good, observed teacher-student relationship buffered the positive association between lesson number and HCC. Our findings show significant associations between HCC and mainly objectively assessable stress, supporting HCC as a biological indicator of chronic stress. In this association, a good relationship between teachers and students acts as a buffer. While the findings underline the importance of examining objective and behavioral data for better understanding the psychobiology of stress, they also support the importance of boostering teachers’ (social) resources to increase their overall resilience.

Peace Education: Peace Counselling Training (PCT) to Reduce Student Aggressiveness towards School Counsellors

Students' mental health is disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic due to an unstable economy and unprepared education in online learning facilities. Aggression appears in students because of the students' internal and external impacts, so school counsellors need to be equipped with counselling strategies. A peace counselling training program (PCT) is an effort to provide school counsellors with skills in helping students reduce aggression with a peaceful character. Peace counselling is a strategy to form a peaceful mindset without violence on students. The purpose of the PCT program for school counsellors is the skills of school counsellors to apply peace counselling to reduce student aggression. The PCT program is implemented through group discussion forums, information provision, training, mentoring. The target of the PCT program is school counsellors in Indonesia by involving guidance and counselling teacher consultation organizations. Evaluation of the process and results of the PCT program through mentoring impacts reducing aggression as measured by the aggressiveness scale. The implementation of the peace counselling program through FGDs, information provision, training, and mentoring is evaluated in each activity as a process evaluation. The results of the FGD are the emergence of the problem of student aggression which is very urgent to be reduced. The result of the counselling activity is the counsellor's understanding of peace counselling with urgency in the perspective of religion and self of peace. Counsellors can have skills in the implementation of peace counselling with six stages. Peace counselling can apply to a set of individual and group counselling. Implementing the program decreases student aggression with an average initial condition of 65.59, down to 58.64. The conclusion is the peace counselling program can reduce student aggression. A peace counselling program can be applied as a strategy to reduce student aggression by school counsellors.

Childhood trauma and aggression among Chinese college students: The mediation of self-compassion and moderation of left-behind experience.

Previous studies have found that college students with left-behind experience presented high levels of aggression, and childhood trauma may be one of the contributors. This study aimed to examine the relationship between childhood trauma and aggression in Chinese college students, and to explore the mediating role of self-compassion and the moderating role of left-behind experience. 629 Chinese college students completed the questionnaires at two time points: childhood trauma and self-compassion were assessed at baseline, and aggression was assessed at baseline and 3-month follow-up. Among these participants, 391 (62.2%) had left-behind experience. Emotional neglect of college students with left-behind experience in childhood was significantly higher than that of college students without such experience. Childhood trauma predicted aggression after 3 months among college students. Self-compassion mediated the predictive effect of childhood trauma on aggression after controlling for gender, age, only-child status, and family residential status. However, no moderating effect of left-behind experience was found. These findings indicated that childhood trauma is an important predictor of aggression among Chinese college students regardless of their left-behind experience. The reason for the higher aggression of left-behind college students may be that their left-behind situation increased the possibility of childhood trauma. In addition, whether in college students with left-behind experience or without such experience, childhood trauma may increase aggression by reducing the level of self-compassion. Furthermore, interventions incorporating components to improve self-compassion could be effective in decreasing aggression of college students who perceived high childhood trauma. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Effects of Rhythm and Dance Games on Aggression in Students with Mild Mental Disabilities

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of rhythm and dance on the aggression levels of students with mild mental disabilities. The sample group of the study consists of 40 students with mild mental disability, 20 of whom are in the experimental group and 20 in the control group, who continue their education in schools affiliated with the Kilis Provincial Directorate of National Education. Buss-Perry&amp;rsquo;s (1992) aggression scale was applied as pre-test and post-test to both groups, and rhythm and dance training was given to the experimental group for 2 hours, 2 days a week for 8 weeks. In the analysis of the data obtained, frequency and percentage analysis were performed by using the SPSS 22.0 program, and dependent and independent t-test was used in the analysis of the pre-test and post-test data. No significant results were obtained in the pre-test scores of the experimental and control groups (p &amp;gt; 0.05). In the evaluation made between the experimental group and the control group, a significant result was reached in the post-test scores in favor of the experimental group (p &amp;lt; 0.05). In conclusion, based on the data obtained, we can say that rhythm and dance games positively reduce the aggression levels of children with mild mental disabilities.

Men who practice risky hobbies are more physically masculine

The aim of the study was to investigate specific morphological and psychological characteristics of representatives of leisure communities focused on taking high risks, compared to the control group of men. We studied facial and body anthropometric parameters - presumable markers of prenatal androgenization and masculinization - as well as the tendency to search for sensations and aggression in race car drivers (n=36), alpinists (n=52) and students (n=56). We were also interested in possible associations between the studied morphological and psychological parameters. It was revealed that the faces of the representatives of all three groups differed significantly in the facial shape. All three groups differed from each other in the fWHR index (the bizygomatic width/the height of the middle part of the face), with the race drivers having the lowest values and the highest for the controls. Race drivers differed significantly from controls in the relative lower jaw height. The maximum average values for the handgrip strength on both hands were noted in the race drivers, and the minimum in the control. We did not find significant differences in the digit ratio on the right and left hands between the groups. The result of the analysis of psychological profiles showed that alpinists are more prone to risk and sensation seeking, as well as more sensitive to the monotonous daily activities compared to race drivers and the control group, while the maximum level of hostility was found for the control group.

Factors associated with victimization and perpetration of sexual aggression in Chilean university students

Introduction: Sexual aggression is a type of violence considered a public health problem that can affect people at any time of their lives. This investigation had three objectives: 1) to know the prevalence of victimization and perpetration of sexual aggression and its subtypes in the Chilean university context, 2) to identify the association of sex on the prevalence of victimization and perpetration of sexual aggression and its subtypes, and 3) to identify the association of alcohol consumption and victim-perpetrator relationship in the subtypes of victimization and perpetration of sexual aggression based on sex. Materials and methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study, with a sample of 1728 students (65.3% women) with a median age of 22 years. Results: 42.6% and 8.3% of the students reported at least one incident of victimization and perpetration of sexual aggression respectively in the last 12 months; an association of sex with the victimization of sexual aggression χ2 (1, N = 1728) = 101,425, p &lt; .001 and its subtypes was identified; no sex association was identified with the perpetration of sexual aggression, but with sexual coercion χ2 (1, N = 1728) = 5,122, p &lt; .05. In the case of alcohol consumption and victim-perpetrator relationship, they were associated with some subtypes of victimization and perpetration of sexual aggression. Conclusion: the findings contribute to the estimation of the magnitude of sexual aggression and associated factors in the university context, which should be explored in depth in order to create preventive programs for victimization and perpetration of sexual aggression.

Teachers' perception of aggressive student behavior through the lens of chronic worry and resignation, and its association with psychophysiological stress: An observational study

Aggressive student behavior is considered a leading risk factor for teacher stress. However, teachers' coping styles may affect how they perceive and respond to aggressive student behavior. This study tests whether teachers' perceptions of aggressive student behavior mainly mirror objectively observed aggression in presence of the teacher (as coded by external observers) or whether teachers' perception of aggressive student behavior primarily reflects teachers' avoidant coping styles, such as chronic worry and resignation. Finally, we examine whether observed and teacher-perceived aggression relates to increased vital exhaustion and psychophysiological stress among teachers (i.e., higher hair cortisol concentration). In an ambulatory assessment study, we administered self-reports to 42 Swiss teachers to assess perceived student aggression, chronic worry, resignation, and vital exhaustion. Additionally, four consecutive lessons per teacher were filmed, and aggressive student behavior in presence of the teacher was coded by four trained external observers. The concentration of cortisol was assessed in hair samples. Results showed that teacher-perceived and observed aggression were moderately associated. Observed aggression was related to teacher perceptions to a much lesser extent than teachers' avoidant coping styles, that is, chronic worry and resignation. While teacher-perceived student aggression was associated with teachers' self-reported vital exhaustion, we did not find any significant association with hair-cortisol concentration. Our findings suggest that teachers perceive student aggression through the lens of their coping styles. Teachers' dysfunctional coping styles are associated with an overestimation of student aggression. Teachers' overestimation of student aggression relates to higher levels of vital exhaustion. Therefore, it is crucial to identify and change teachers' dysfunctional coping styles to prevent a vicious cycle of dysfunctional teacher–student interactions.