Sex differences in relational and overt aggression in the late elementary school years

Sex differences in relational and overt aggression among 3rd (n=176), 4th (n=179), and 5th graders (n=145) from three public schools (n=500; 278 girls) were examined. Nominations of relational aggression increased over time among 4th and 5th grade girls, but not among boys or 3rd grade girls. Among 3rd graders, boys received more nominations for relational aggression than girls. By the end of the 5th grade, girls received more relational aggression nominations than boys. There was also a significant rise in nominations of overt aggression among 5th grade girls, but not among 5th grade boys or younger boys and girls. As expected, boys were more likely than girls to be nominated for overt aggression at all grade levels. The findings are helpful for explaining inconsistencies of earlier research pertaining to sex differences in relational aggression and for advancing our understanding of the causes of aggression. Aggr. Behav. 36:282–291, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

初中一,二年级学生的亲子冲突

本研究选取北京市两所普通中学１９２名初一和初二学生为被试,通过学生对８个方面亲子冲突的评价,探讨初中生亲子冲突的特点。研究发现,（１）初中生早期的亲子冲突处于较低水平;（２）与母亲的冲突多于与父亲的冲突,女生尤其如此;（３）多数亲子冲突随年级而增加;（４）在多数冲突上,男生与父母的冲突多于女生;（５）亲子冲突最多的三个方面为日常生活安排、学业和家务,而冲突最少的为隐私。     

Confounding effects of individualism in children's cooperation — Competition social motive measures

The exact nature of cooperation — competition differences among children has remained obscure because the effect of individualistic motivation has important but unanalyzed influence on the frequency of cooperative and competitive responding. In order to clarify the nature of cultural differences in cooperation — competition, a novel social motive game was developed that provides distinct cooperative, competitive, and individualist alternatives. The measure was administered to 120 fourth-through sixth-grade Anglo-American and Mexican-American children of lower- and upper-middle-income levels. Consistent with previous research, Mexican-American children were generally more cooperative than Anglo-American children. Contrary to previous conclusions, however, individualism, not competition, was the strongest social motive among children, and Anglo-American children were generally more individualistic but not generally more competitive than Mexican-American children. Culture findings challenge both the methods and the results of previous cooperation — competition studies.The present research was partially supported by a University of California Intramural Research Grant No. 5-538404-19900-5. The authors are grateful to Jan Allison, Allen Binegar, and Robert Green for their assistance in the data collection.     

Gender, academic achievement, and preferences for cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning among African-American adolescents.

In this study, we investigated the relationships among gender, academic achievement, and student preferences for cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning in a sample of 136 African-American adolescents enrolled in sixth and seventh grades in a school in Georgia. We used the Learning Preference Scale for Students (LPSS; Barnes, Owens, & Straton, 1978) to measure cooperative, competitive, and individualistic preferences. Three two-way ANOVAs (Gender x Academic Achievement) were conducted, in which the three learning preferences were the dependent variables. Gender had a significant effect on the preference for cooperative learning, with girls reporting a higher preference for this method than boys did. For the other two learning preferences, no significant gender differences were found. Academic achievement did not correlate significantly with any of the three learning preferences. A two-way interaction between gender and academic achievement was observed for competitive learning preferences. Girls' preferences for competition increased as academic achievement increased; boys' preferences for competition decreased as academic achievement increased.     

Effects of Cooperative Learning on Perceived Status of Male and Female Pupils

Abstract

The effects of cooperative and individualistic learning experiences on the status of male and female American pupils were compared. Expectation states theory predicts that male pupils would have higher status than female pupils and, therefore, be more active and more influential. Social interdependence theory predicts that interaction within cooperative learning groups would result in a process of acceptance characterized by equal status of male and female pupils. Seventy-five sixth-grade boys (n = 43) and girls (n = 32) were randomly assigned to three cooperative conditions and one individualistic condition stratifying for sex, ability level, and original classroom. They participated in the study for 55 min per day for 14 instructional days. Cooperative learning resulted in greater retention and higher level learning than did individualistic learning. Although there were initial achievement differences between boys and girls, and although boys gained in status over girls in the individualistic condition, at the end of the study in the cooperative conditions there were no differences between them in achievement, verbal participation in the group, perceived leadership, and status. These results are consistent with the predictions of social interdependence theory and inconsistent with the predictions of expectation states theory. The results were basically the same in male-majority, female-majority, or equal-sex groups.     

Bias in visual attention behavior in a normal school-aged population

Hemi-field visual-spatial attention was studied on a timed letter cancellation task in proficient readers from 7th to 9th grades. Participants maintained greater accuracy in identifying targets in the left quadrants (top/bottom) when compared with the right quadrants (top/bottom), revealing a leftward bias in their responses. Effects of gender and age were evident on performance; females scored significantly higher than males, and 9th graders scored significantly higher than 7th and 8th graders. Thus, a substantial shift in brain maturation may take place from 8th to 9th grades or from the ages of 13.0 to 14.11. Discriminative characteristics of the task are analyzed by assigning greater value to targets located in the top left quadrant. The 9th graders, as compared to the younger students, and the girls, as compared to the boys, evidenced a reading-direction-related bias toward systematic preference for the upper-left to lower-right quadrants.     

Interests and Leadership among Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether there is a differential relationship in the socialization of children with respect to gender identification when responses of children were examined with respect to race and sex (N = 596 fifth and sixth grade boys and girls). Strong father preference was found to have no effect on the choice a boy will make when choosing between male and female peers, during preadolescence, while a strong mother preference by a girl is related to the sex of the peers she chooses. Preadolescent girls who identify with their mothers chose girls with whom to interact in a variety of activities more frequently than they chose boys. A greater proportion of girls preferred to engage in activities with their mothers than boys preferred to engage in activities with their fathers. No differences were observed between racial groups in terms of girls' choices involving peers. Black boys, however, preferred to engage in activities with opposite-sex rather than same-sex peers to a greater extent than white boys.     

同伴常规压力、直接压力与青少年抽烟、饮酒行为的关系

随机从小六、初二、高一选择有效被试８２８名,检验同伴对抽烟和饮酒的常规压力、直接压力及其与青少年抽烟、饮酒行为的关系。研究使用纸笔测验,团体施测的方法测查了被试抽烟、饮酒的累计次数,同伴对抽烟、饮酒的常规压力和直接压力,其ＣｒｏｎｂａｃｈＡｌｐｈａ值分别为０．８６１５,０．８２１２和０．９５００。结果表明：①在抽烟和饮酒之间,同伴常规压力、直接压力存在明显差异;同伴常规压力、直接压力与青少年抽烟、饮酒次数有显著相关;②同伴常规压力、直接压力存在明显的性别差异;对男生抽烟、饮酒次数的影响超过女生;③同伴常规压力、直接压力存在明显的年级差异;对初二学生抽烟、饮酒次数的影响超过其他两个年级的学生。     

Single-Sex School Girls Outperform Girls Attending a Co-Educative School in Mental Rotation Accuracy

Do girls attending a single-sex school outperform their same-sex counterparts attending co-educative schools when solving a mental rotation task known to produce substantial gender differences favoring males? In total, 252 German pupils (126 8th/12th graders each) attending single-sex (84 girls) or co-educative (84 boys and girls each) high-schools in North-Rhine Westphalia (west Germany) participated. All pupils completed the ??Mental Rotations Test?? (MRT). We found that in grade 12 girls attending a single-sex school outperformed their same-sex counterparts attending co-educational schools. In grade eight no differences between both groups were observed. As expected, the well known gender difference between 12th grade boys and co-educative girls had been found. Expectations as well as possible consequences are discussed.     

Ecology of depression in late childhood and early adolescence: a profile of daily states and activities

This study investigated daily states and time use patterns associated with depression. Four hundred eighty-three 5th to 9th graders reported on their experience when signalled by pagers at random times. Depressed youth reported more negative affect and social emotions, lower psychological investment, lower energy, and greater variability in affect. These differences were weaker for 5th and 6th graders, suggesting that self-reported feeling states are a poor indicator of depression prior to adolescence. No differences were found in the daily activities of depressed youths nor in the amount of time spent alone, but depressed youths experienced other people as less friendly and more often reported wanting to be alone, especially when with their families. They also spent less time in public places and more time in their bedrooms. Finally, depressed boys, but not girls, spent much less time with friends, particularly of the same sex, suggesting that social isolation is more strongly associated with depression for boys.     

Developmental differences in reactions to children labeled mentally retarded

In an attempt to examine age-related differences in response to the mental retardation label, 48 4th and 5th graders and 48 11th and 12th graders were told of a child of their own age and sex who was either labeled mentally retarded or unlabeled and who performed either competently or incompetently in giving a report. Incompetent target children were viewed more negatively than competent ones at both grade levels. The mental retardation label had less generalized impacts, leading girls but not boys (a) to cite lack of ability as the reason for a retarded child's failure, and (b) to hold low expectations that retarded targets would hold jobs, marry, or have children. A developmental shift in responses to the label was evident only on a trait perception measure; younger children stigmatized retarded targets, while older children granted special dispensation of a failing retarded child by viewing him or her more positively than a similarly incompetent but unlabeled child. Since only adolescent boys showed special dispensation, even though girls were more generally attentive to the label, both sex and age differences warrant further examination.     

Age and Gender Differences in Teen Relationship Violence

Research shows that abuse in adolescence can start early and current literature regarding gender differences in teen relationship violence (TRV) is inconsistent. Age and gender differences in TRV were examined. Measures assessing TRV and its correlates were completed by 231 teens from 7th-, 9th-, and 11th-grade classes. A 2 (gender) by 3 (grade) multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant effects for grade and gender indicating that 7th graders have lower perpetration and victimization of TRV, less anger control, and fewer positive conflict resolution behaviors than 9th and 11th graders. Furthermore, girls perpetrate more physical and emotional abuse, whereas boys perpetrate more sexual abuse. Results have implications for timing and content of prevention programs addressing dating violence in adolescence.     

Cross-cultural aspect of the Group Embedded Figures Test: norms for Turkish eighth graders

The Group Embedded Figures Test was administered to 206 Turkish (123 boys versus 83 girls) eighth grade students. Distribution characteristics, item analysis, reliability, and internal consistency are presented. No sex differences on subsections or the full scale were found. Socioeconomic status as indicated by parental education was significantly associated with the cognitive style scores of the students. Subjects whose fathers had a higher education outperformed those whose fathers had less education. No significant differences in students' means were found among groups whose mothers had low, middle, and high education. The Turkish sample showed the same performance as a 5th grade American sample, and Canadian 8th graders outperformed the Turkish participants. The practice effects are also discussed.     

走向双赢:动机倾向和信息分享质量在整合性谈判过程中的作用

研究的主要目的是考察谈判组的动机倾向、信息分享数量和质量、对优先考虑事项和利益一致事项的判断准确性和联合收益之间的关系,以及信息分享质量在谈判过程中的重要性。采用一对一的买卖式谈判任务,由226名被试组成113个谈判组进行面对面的谈判。结果表明,动机倾向、信息分享数量和质量以及谈判双方对优先考虑事项的判断准确性都对联合收益有显著影响,而且信息分享质量比信息分享数量更有预测力。中介作用分析结果显示,信息分享质量在动机倾向和联合收益之间起完全中介作用,对优先考虑事项的判断准确性在信息分享质量和联合收益之间起部分中介作用。研究揭示了整合性谈判的整个过程,验证了信息分享质量在谈判过程中的重要作用。     

Body dissatisfaction,eating disorders,and depression: A developmental perspective

McCarthy (1990) contends that a cultural ideal of thinness (the thin ideal) causes depression and eating disorders to occur more frequently in women than men. She believes eating disorders are a way of coping with depression and hypothesizes that the thin ideal has its greatest impact during puberty when sexual attractiveness becomes important and changes in physical appearance increase the discrepancy between the adolescent girl's actual and ideal body image. The present study used a cross-sectional design of 5th, 8th, and 12th grade males and females (N = 599) to test several predictions from McCarthy's model. As expected, 8th and 12th grade females preferred a thinner than average body shape. They were more dissatisfied with their bodies than males and scored higher on measures of disordered eating. In contrast, before puberty (5th grade) boys were more depressed than their female peers but this pattern was reversed in 8th grade boys and girls. Paralleling changes in depression, disordered eating scores were highest in 8th and 12th grade girls. Both of these findings underscore the role of maturational factors in the onset of eating disorders. Although the sample was ethnically diverse and mainly from middle and low socioeconomic groups, there was a surprisingly high incidence of body dissatisfaction and symptoms of disordered eating. This illustrates the pervasiveness of thinness as a standard of feminine beauty in our society and the damaging effects it can have.     

中小学生人际信任、成就动机及其与合作倾向的关系研究

目的：旨在揭示中小学儿童的人际信任、成就动机水平及其与合作倾向之间的关系。方法：运用马基量表、人际信任量表、成就动机量表和合作倾向评价表对553名3-8年级学生进行测查。结果：1,初中男女生在人际信任水平上出现明显分化。2,男生追求成功的动机和避免失败的动机随年龄增长出现下降趋势,女生追求成功的动机下降,避免失败的动机上升。3,追求成功的动机与合作倾向有显著正相关。结论：与人际信任水平相比,成就动机在儿童合作倾向的评价中发挥了更大的作用。     

Context and companion's behavior as determinants of cooperation and competition in school-age children

Information about the social context and a companion's actions were studied as determinants of cooperation and competition in middle childhood. In Experiment 1, first-, third-, and fifth-grade children were told that they would play a board game with another same-age, same-sex child (actually a bogus companion). The experimenter's instructions established shared rewards or winner-take-all as outcome conditions. Preprogrammed responses—100% cooperative or 100% competitive—provided information about the companion's actions. Results revealed that the companion's responses alone determined cooperation and competition among the first graders. Third graders used both types of information. Fifth graders, however, demonstrated a bias to respond cooperatively whenever a cooperative cue was present. In Experiment 2, first-grade subjects were given extra rehearsal of the game strategies, a scorekeeping procedure for use during the game, or a combination of the two. Results indicated that, under these conditions, younger subjects were able to use the instructions about reward distribution as well as the companion's actions in guiding their social behavior.     

A test of the Piagetian water-level task with Chinese students.

A sample of 486 children in Beijing, China, were tested on the water-level task (WLT; J. Piaget & B. Inhelder, 1948/1956). The participants were 256 boys and 230 girls from 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 11th grades. Three levels of mastery of the WLT were found. Level 1 consisted of 4th and 5th graders, who averaged about 71% correct. Level 2 consisted of 6th and 8th graders, who averaged about 83% correct. Level 3 consisted of 11th graders, who averaged 97% correct. The results provide partial support for the Piagetian theory of age-related developmental differences in performance on the WLT. The findings depict an interactive relationship of maturation with culture and education in the development of the ability to solve the WLT.     

青少年期亲子冲突的特点

从北京市四所普通中学选取829名初一、初二、高一和高二学生为被试,采取匿名的方式让被试报告与父亲和母亲在8个方面冲突的频率和强度,以及与父亲和母亲冲突的形式,冲突时的应对策略,以此探讨青少年期亲子冲突的特点。结果发现;(1)青少年与父母的冲突处于较低水平,发生冲突最多和最激烈的三个方面依次为学业、日常生活安排和做家务,而发生冲突最少和最弱的是隐私;言语冲突和情绪冲突是青少年与父母冲突的主要形式;在与父母发生冲突时,青少年使用最多的策略是回避,使用最少的策略是第三方干预;(2)除家庭成员关系外,青少年与母亲发生冲突的频率和强度均显著高于与父亲发生冲突的频率和强度;(3)女生与母亲在做家务方面的冲突频率和强度显著高于男生,而男生与父亲在花钱方面的冲突频率显著多于女生;男生与父母的身体冲突显著多于女生,而女生与父母的情绪冲突显著多于男生;在应对策略的使用上,男生使用第三方干预策略的情况显著多于女生;(4)随年级升高,青少年与父母冲突的频率和强度呈倒U型曲线发展,初二年级处于顶峰;青少年使用协商、回避和干预策略的情况呈现显著下降的趋势。