Facial attractiveness as a moderator of the association between social and physical aggression and popularity in adolescents

This study examined the relations between facial attractiveness, aggression, and popularity in adolescence to determine whether facial attractiveness would buffer against the negative effects of aggression on popularity. We collected ratings of facial attractiveness from standardized photographs, and teachers provided information on adolescents' social aggression, physical aggression, and popularity for 143 seventh graders (70 girls). Regression analyses indicated that facial attractiveness moderated the relations between both types of aggression and popularity. Aggression was associated with a reduction in popularity for adolescents low on facial attractiveness. However, popularity did not decrease as a function of aggression for adolescents high on facial attractiveness. Aggressors with high facial attractiveness may experience fewer negative consequences to their social standing, thus contributing to higher overall rates of aggression in school settings.     

Exploring the Cognitive and Emotional Correlates to Proactive and Reactive Aggression in a Sample of Detained Girls

The current study examined the distinction between reactive and proactive aggression in a sample of detained girls (N = 58) aged 12 to 18. This study employed a self-report measure of aggression that was designed explicitly to assess both the forms that aggression takes (i.e., relational and overt), as well as the functions that aggression serves (i.e., reactive and proactive). Reactive aggression was uniquely associated with poorly regulated emotion and anger to perceived provocation, whereas proactive aggression was uniquely associated with callous-unemotional (CU) traits and biased outcome expectations for aggression. While overt aggression appeared to largely account for these associations, relational aggression showed strong and unique associations with CU traits. The current findings highlight the importance of assessing reactive and proactive aggression, as well as both overt and relational aggression, in detained girls.     

The relationship between family aggression history and expressed aggression among college males

The relationship between family of origin aggression and aggression across numerous relationship types was examined among a sample of 197 college‐aged males. Participants completed a self‐report questionnaire assessing the frequency and severity of family aggression (aggression between parents, parental aggression directed toward participants), as well as the frequency and severity of participants' aggression across a number of relationship types (dating, friends, strangers, people in bars, co‐workers, bosses, police officers). The results of the present study indicate that a substantial proportion of college‐aged males report a history of aggressive behavior, both in dating/spousal relationship and other‐relationship types. Analyses revealed that observing parental aggression and receiving aggression from parents was related to aggression in dating relationships. However, only received aggression from parents was related to more general aggressiveness in other non–dating/spousal relationship types. The pattern of findings also suggest that it is important to assess the aggressive behavior of both parents to get a better understanding of the link between family aggression and later expressed aggression. Aggr. Behav. 25:255–267, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Components of disinhibition (vs. constraint) differentially predict aggression and alcohol use

Disinhibition (vs. Constraint; DvC), which has been shown to represent a central aspect of the externalizing domain, consists of several correlated but distinguishable underlying traits, which may have different patterns of association with various externalizing indicators. In a sample of 18‐ to 19‐year old undergraduate students (N = 430; 71.1% female), we examined the specificity and generality of the association between lower order components of DvC and both aggression and alcohol use, externalizing‐related behavioural constructs that have well‐established links to DvC. All three components of DvC—including Disagreeableness, low Self‐Control and low Accomplishment—were associated independently with Reactive Aggression, but only Disagreeableness was correlated significantly with Proactive Aggression. Also, only low Self‐Control was associated with alcohol use. Thus, aggression was broadly associated with components of DvC—although much more strongly with the Disagreeableness domain—whereas alcohol use was specifically correlated with low Self‐Control. These results suggest that lower order components of DvC have distinct patterns of associations with externalizing‐related outcomes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Antecedents of sexual and non-sexual aggression in young Singaporean men

This study investigated factors that have previously been implicated in male sexual aggression towards women, using a structural equation modelling approach to assess their relative influence on sexually coercive behaviours in young Singaporean men. Variables were classified under three major headings: childhood experience, personality, and attitudes facilitating violence. Non-sexual aggression against women was included in order to investigate its relationship to sexual aggression as well as its own causal antecedents. Results suggest that sexual and non-sexual aggression have different antecedents, and confirm the primacy of sexual variables (sexual experience, child sexual abuse) as antecedents to sexual aggression. Contrary to the hypothesis that sexual aggression is primarily aggressive in motivation, belligerence exerted only indirect effects on sexual aggression. Attitudinal variables (e.g. attitudes supportive of sexual aggression) contributed modestly to sexual but not to non-sexual aggression. Antisociality exerted indirect effects on both sexual aggression (via sexual experience and acceptance of interpersonal violence) and on non-sexual aggression (via belligerence). Parental violence contributed exclusively to non-sexual aggression. Finally, some cross-cultural differences in sexually coercive behaviour are highlighted.     

Links Between Stressful Life Events and Proactive and Reactive Functions of Aggression

Recently, more attention has been devoted to understanding how stressful life events might relate to proactive and reactive aggression. Findings suggest that stressful life events are more strongly linked to reactive, than proactive, aggression; however, it is unclear whether the impact of stressful life events on proactive and reactive aggression might vary as a function of the level of exposure to or type of stressful life event. The current study examined how level of exposure to stressful life events (i.e., witnessed, experienced, and learned about) and stressful life event types (i.e., war zone exposure, sexual victimization, interpersonal violence, and other trauma exposure) related to proactive and reactive aggression. The sample was comprised of 500 undergraduate students (M = 18.96, SD = 1.22, 49.6% male) recruited from a Midwestern university. Findings indicated that all three levels of stressful life event exposure (i.e., experienced, witnesses, and learned) were associated with reactive aggression; however, only witnessed stressful life events were associated with proactive aggression. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.     

The Effects of Rejection Sensitivity on Reactive and Proactive Aggression

The aim of this research was to use a pure measure of aggression to clarify whether rejection sensitive children exhibit higher levels of aggressive behavior than those who are not as rejection sensitive and to examine whether the components of rejection sensitivity (RS) vary according to the types of aggression. A total of 287 Australian primary school students aged between 9 and 12 completed self‐report measures of RS and aggression. As expected, RS and its components, angry and anxious expectations of rejection, were linked to generalized aggression (GA) in adolescents, with angry expectations being more strongly associated with GA and in particular, proactive aggression. As expected, RS predicted reactive aggression better than it did proactive aggression and a three‐way interaction was found whereby the relationship between the type of RS and aggression differed as a function of the type of aggression. The present study offers new evidence to support the theory that RS is predictive of aggressive behavior in children and clarifies some confusion about the attributional affect and processes behind this behavior. The findings both support and extend existing research in the areas of RS and aggression. Aggr. Behav. 39:3‐12, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The effects of viewing physical and relational aggression in the media: Evidence for a cross-over effect

Research has shown that viewing violence in the media can have a profound impact on aggressive thoughts and behaviors. However, the impact of viewing relational aggression in the media has rarely been examined. This paper presents the results of an experimental study that examines the impact of viewing relational and physical aggression in the media on subsequent aggression. In this study, adult females were shown video clips containing no-aggression, relational aggression, or physical aggression. Their aggressive behavior was measured through the use of a competitive reaction time task (physical aggression) and evaluations of a confederate of the experiment (relational aggression). As a whole, participants viewing either relational or physical aggression behaved similarly. Specifically, participants who viewed either type of aggression were subsequently more physically and relationally aggressive than those who viewed the non-aggressive clip. The results show evidence for a generalization effect of viewing media aggression, in that viewing one form of aggression can influence the manifestation of other forms. This is the first study to show that viewing relational aggression in the media can increase subsequent physical aggression. Implications for parents, media producers, and policy makers are discussed.     

“We're not friends anymore! unless…”: the frequency and harmfulness of indirect,relational, and social aggression

The frequency of items of indirect, relational, social, verbal, and physical aggression was assessed in the school environment of 422 adolescents, using the Indirect/Social/Relational Aggression scale (ISRA), a measure that combined items from indirect, relational, and social aggression research. We also assessed the perceived harmfulness of each item. Comparing these findings with the occurrence of aggression on television, we found that adolescents were exposed to nearly 10 times more indirect, relational, and social aggression on television than they are in school. Overall, there was no sex difference in the amount of aggression reported by boys and girls. However, when examining specific items, girls reported more gossiping and boys more hitting. Girls perceived indirect, direct relational, and verbal aggression as more harmful than did boys. Limited evidence was found for a distinction between indirect, relational, and social aggression, although it was clear that they were more similar than different. Aggr. Behav. 32:1–14, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Revealing the nuanced associations between facets of trait impulsivity and reactive and proactive aggression

Although impulsivity has been repeatedly associated with aggression, specific associations between facets of impulsivity and reactive (RA) and proactive (PA) have yet to be fully elucidated. This may be due, in part, to overlapping variance among facets of impulsivity and between RA/PA. The current study systematically examined associations among these variables using both bivariate correlations as well as path analysis. In addition to raw aggression scores, we isolated the variance unique to both RA/PA by regressing RA onto PA (and vice versa), and saving these residual aggression scores. Participants included 384 racially-diverse undergraduates. Results indicated facets of impulsivity uniquely characterize RA/PA, particularly using residual aggression scores. RA was uniquely characterized by higher levels of Negative Urgency followed by low Perseverance, as well as high Premeditation and low Positive Urgency. In contrast, PA was uniquely characterized by higher levels of Positive Urgency, and to a lesser degree, high Premeditation. Results indicate facets of impulsivity represent potentially different underlying pathways to specific subtypes of aggression. As such, impulsivity, particularly in the context of affect, may be especially important to consider in relation to specific subtypes of aggression.     

Mothers' Parenting and Young Economically Disadvantaged Children's Relational and Overt Bullying

We examined links between mothers' parenting and children's relational bullying and overt bullying in a sample of children attending a Head Start program. Mothers completed surveys and face-to-face interviews. Head Start teachers completed assessments on children. Results indicated that a small percentage of children in the sample was rated by teachers as engaging in relational bullying “frequently to almost always,” and slightly over half of the sample was rated by teachers as engaging in relational bullying “occasionally to about half of the time.” Similar results were found for the frequency with which children engaged in overt physical bullying. Regarding mothers' parenting, maternal empathy was most strongly correlated with both children's relational bullying and overt physical bullying. In addition, mothers' inappropriate developmental expectations for children and mothers' need to exert power over children rather than grant them independence were related to children's relational bullying. A composite variable for mothering predicted 11% of the variance in children's relational bullying. No gender differences were found for children's relational bullying and children's overt bullying.     

Lack of correspondence between the reactive proactive questionnaire and the impulsive premeditated aggression scale among forensic psychiatric outpatients

The most studied bimodal classifications of aggressive behavior are the impulsive/premeditated distinction measured with the Impulsive Premeditated Aggression Scale and the reactive/proactive distinction measured with the Reactive Proactive Questionnaire. The terms of these classifications are often used interchangeably, assuming that reactive aggression is equivalent to impulsive aggression and that proactive aggressive behavior is the same as premeditated aggression. The correspondence or discrepancy between both aggression classifications/questionnaires, however, is understudied. Therefore, the current study investigated the correspondence between the RPQ and IPAS in a sample of 161 forensic psychiatric outpatients (FPOs) with severe aggressive behavior. Correlation analysis revealed a limited correspondence between the RPQ and IPAS. Cluster analyses derived three clusters from the RPQ as well as the IPAS: these clusters did not match in 60.3% of the cases. Furthermore, the notion that the RPQ measures trait aggression whereas the IPAS assesses state aggression could not be verified. The present study indicates that aggression subtypes as measured by use of the RPQ and IPAS correspond only partially and should not be used interchangeably. Furthermore, it was suggested that RPQ focuses more on actual aggressive behavior and the IPAS more on emotions and their regulation. Future research is needed to elucidate the applicability of both questionnaires in further detail.