Gender,the Perception of Aggression,and the Overestimation of Gender Bias

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the gender of aggressor, target, and observer influences the perception and evaluation of aggression. One hundred seventy-one university students (predominantly White) read 1 of 8 vignettes that described an aggressive act. The aggressor–target gender combinations and the aggressive act were varied. Data did not support the hypothesis that, because of the impact of gender stereotypes, participants would perceive more aggressiveness in men's aggression than in women's aggression. Participants rated women's aggression as more acceptable than men's aggression, and male participants considered the aggression more acceptable, apparently because they saw the act as less aggressive. In addition, participants estimated how most men/women would perceive and evaluate the aggression. Results suggest that people overestimate how biased others are toward members of their own gender.     

Media and Violence: Intervention Strategies for Reducing Aggression

In this article, we review research that explores how the effects of media violence on aggression may be diminished and how media productions may be used to reduce aggressive attitudes and behaviors. Studies show that adults' comments before or during media exposure can reduce the impact of violent programming on children's aggressiveness under some circumstances. Experiments involving more extensive media literacy curricula show that some approaches can alter attitudes toward media violence and, in a few cases, intervene in aggressive behavior. Studies of the impact of antiviolence media productions reveal that although such efforts can be effective, unanticipated "boomerang" effects are prevalent. Overall, the effectiveness of the 3 types of interventions was highly variable, and age and gender differences were prominent. The findings suggest that more research is needed to determine the best approaches to developing parental interventions, media literacy strategies, and prosocial media presentations for reducing youth violence.     

Culture,Gender, and Men's Intimate Partner Violence

This article reviews research on cultural beliefs and expectations about gender and romantic relationships that are related to male intimate partner violence. We link beliefs about men (manhood is tenuous and must be proven, men must protect women, and honor must be defended), about women (good women put sacrifice and family loyalty first and good women are morally and sexually pure), and about relationships (jealousy is a sign of passionate love) to show how they create a cultural context in which intimate partner violence is tolerated, accepted, or rejected. We end by discussing avenues for future research that take an expansive approach to examining culture's influence on intimate violence.     

Youth Exposure to Community Violence: Association with Aggression,Victimization, and Risk Behaviors

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between exposure to community violence and aggression, victimization, and risk-taking behaviors among young adolescents. Secondary analysis was conducted on data from a cross-sectional survey of 8,259 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students from eight urban schools in Texas. Results indicated that students exposed to a high level of community violence were 7.7 times more likely to carry a handgun, 5.2 times more likely to be involved in a gang were 6.4 times more likely to use marijuana, 5.3 times more likely to binge drink, and 2.8 times more likely to be injured as a result of fighting. This suggests the need for an interdisciplinary approach to violence prevention that targets all the environments of youth, including schools, homes, neighborhoods, and other community units.     

外显和内隐攻击性表现方式的性别差异实验研究

本研究同时运用问卷法和内隐联想测验(IAT)来研究我国大学生的攻击性。结果发现:1.整体外显攻击性不存在性别差异,但在身体攻击因素上男性显著高于女性。2.内隐攻击性在表现方式上存在性别差异,男性与身体攻击联系更紧密;女性与言语攻击联系更紧密。3.外显攻击性和内隐攻击性间的关系不能简单地根据相关系数来判断。     

An Examination of Violence and Gender Role Portrayals in Video Games: Implications for Gender Socialization and Aggressive Behavior

Using content analysis, this research examinesthe portrayal of women and the use of violent themes ina sample of 33 popular Nintendo and Sega Genesis videogames. It is proposed that video games, like other media forms, impact the identity ofchildren. This analysis reveals that traditional genderroles and violence are central to many games in thesample. There were no female characters in 41% of the games with characters. In 28% of these, womenwere portrayed as sex objects. Nearly 80% of the gamesincluded aggression or violence as part of the strategyor object. While 27% of the games containedsociallyacceptable aggression, nearlyhalf included violencedirected specifically at others and 21% depictedviolence directed at women. Most of the characters inthe games were Anglo.     

Explicit Beliefs about Aggression, Implicit Knowledge Structures, and Teen Dating Violence

This study examined whether explicit beliefs justifying aggression and implicit knowledge structures theorized to facilitate aggression both contributed to between-subjects differences in teen dating violence (TDV). In addition, this research examined the contribution of explicit and implicit cognitions in the prediction of within-subjects changes in TDV over a 6-month period. Participants were 147 14- to 17-year-olds (48 % female) recruited from courts and agencies providing services to adolescents in trouble because of antisocial behavior. Teens completed a measure of explicit beliefs justifying aggression, a speeded word-completion task designed to measure aggressive content in implicit knowledge structures, and a measure of TDV. Measures were completed at 3 assessments, spaced 3 months apart. Results indicated that explicit beliefs justifying aggression and implicit knowledge structures theorized to facilitate aggression both contributed independently to between-subjects differences in TDV. However, only explicit beliefs about aggression were associated with within-subjects changes in TDV over the 6-month study period. These findings highlight the importance of considering both explicit and implicit cognitions in attempting to understand the perpetration of TDV.     

Gender and Aggression in Marital Relationships: A Life-Span Perspective

This study examines the relationship between age, gender, and marital aggression by comparing conflict resolution strategies, physical aggression, and injury across 6,185 married young, middle and older aged men and women. We found a consistent age effect such that younger participants used more maladaptive conflict resolution strategies, engaged in more physical arguments, and sustained more injuries than older participants. In terms of gender differences, women compared to men used calm discussions less (the least reported by women who were young) and heated arguments more. Analyses on the relation among age, gender, and injuries showed that more young and middle-aged women than men reported that they had sustained injuries at the hands of their spouse and more young men than women reported inflicting injury on their spouse. The results are discussed in relation to research on gender differences in intimate violence and the association of age and intimate aggression in general.     

Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence: Race and Gender Issues

Previous research has notextensively addressedhow attitudes toward domestic violence vary betweenethnicities and genders. This experiment utilizeddomestic violence scenarios with the husband's andwife's ethnicities varied to form four combinations ofEuropean-American and African-American couples.Participants were 156 European-American (87 female and69 male) and 109 African-American (73 female and 36 male)undergraduate introductory psychologystudents aged 18-24 years. Participants read thescenario and completed 7 questionnaires about theirattitudes toward the scenario, domestic violence, andwomen. Analyses showed that women relative to menblamed the husband more for the abuse, sympathized morewith the wife, and rated the incident as more serious,and African-American participants sympathized more with African-American victims. In addition,participants blamed the African-American husband lessfor the abuse than the EuropeanAmerican husband. Bothwomen and European-Americans, relative to men and African-Americans, had more positive views ofwomen and disapproved more strongly of wife beating.This research demonstrates that participant gender andethnicity, as well as abuser and victim ethnicity, do have an effect on attitudes toward domesticviolence.     

Evaluation of Violence Prevention Approaches Among Early Adolescents: Moderating Effects of Disability Status and Gender

High prevalence rates of aggression during adolescence and associated adjustment difficulties for perpetrators and victims highlight the need for effective violence prevention programs. School-based prevention programs are advantageous as they occur in a key setting for youths' social and emotional development. The current study compared the efficacy of a combined universal violence prevention approach that included individual-level skill-building (i.e., lessons from Second Step) and school environment (i.e., Olweus Bullying Prevention Program; OBPP) interventions to OBPP alone. Participants were 231 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders (ages 11–15; M?=?12.6, SD?=?1.0) in middle school (48?% male, 67?% African American). A total of 14 classrooms were randomly assigned to the combined intervention (seven) or OBPP only comparison (seven) condition, split evenly across grades. Intervention effects were moderated by disability status and gender. Among students without disabilities those who received the combined intervention reported greater increases in anger regulation coping skills than those in the comparison condition. In contrast, among youth with disabilities greater increases in teacher-rated social skills were found for students in the combined intervention than students in the comparison condition at posttest. Gender-moderated effects included greater decreases in teacher ratings of externalizing problems and bullying behaviors for boys in the combined intervention versus the comparison condition at posttest. Study results inform school-based violence prevention programs and are discussed along with implications.     

Perceptions of Partner Violence: How Aggressor Gender,Masculinity/Femininity,and Victim Gender Influence Criminal Justice Decisions

This study examines the extent to which perceptions of partner violence are influenced by aggressor gender and masculinity/femininity, and victim gender. Participants evaluated a case scenario depicting domestic assault. Results found charges were significantly higher and sentences significantly longer when the victim was female. Masculine aggressors were more likely to be perceived as having threatened bodily injury and as having initiated the assault compared to feminine aggressors. Masculine aggressors in heterosexual relationships were more likely to be identified as having initiated an assault compared to feminine aggressors in heterosexual relationships or individuals in same-sex relationships.     

Liking Violence and Action: An Examination of Gender Differences in Children's Processing of Animated Content

It is widely assumed that children like violence in cartoons, but this assumption has not been supported in existing studies that show nonviolent programs are liked just as much or more than violent programs. The present experiment extended enjoyment of media violence research by testing whether violence and action (independently manipulated) influenced children's liking of slapstick cartoons. We also proposed a path model to test potential indirect effects of violence and action on liking. Using animation software, four versions of a slapstick cartoon were created that varied in terms of violence (present, absent) and action (high, low). A total of 128 elementary school children watched one of the four versions of the program. Violence had no direct effect on the liking of the cartoon, but did indirectly decrease liking for males by decreasing boys' wishful identification with the anthropomorphized characters. Action increased liking for males but not for females.     

Cholesterol and Aggression: An Ethnocultural Perspective

Although serum cholesterol has for several decades been linked to atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease, cardiovascular primary prevention studies that have resulted in low or lowered cholesterol have not reduced total mortality. This finding may be due in part to an increase in mortality from suicides, homicides, and accidents among people with low or lowered serum cholesterol. This article attempts to review the literature on cholesterol and aggressive behavior, examines possible links connecting the two, and suggests an ethnocultural perspective to these connections.