Aggression and social status: the moderating roles of sex and peer‐valued characteristics

Research on peer rejection has long emphasized links between aggressive behavior and peer liking, with aggressive children and adolescents being more rejected by peers. However, recent research shows that at least some aggressive students enjoy considerable power and influence and are perceived as “popular” within the peer group. To understand the processes underlying links between aggression and social status, the present research considered three distinct indices of social status (social preference, perceived popularity, and power) and investigated the degree to which the possession of peer‐valued characteristics moderated the links between status and aggression and whether these links varied by sex. A sample of 585 adolescents (grades 6–10) completed peer evaluation measures assessing social status, aggression (overt/physical, indirect/relational), and the degree to which peers possessed eight different peer‐valued characteristics (e.g., attractiveness, athleticism, etc.). Although sociometric indices of status were significantly related to perceived popularity, especially for boys, perceptions of power were more strongly linked to perceived popularity than to sociometric likeability. Moreover, the three indices of social status were differentially related to peers' assessments of aggression and to peer‐valued characteristics, with notable sex differences. As predicted, regression analyses demonstrated that the observed relationships between social status and aggression were moderated by the possession of peer‐valued characteristics; aggressive students who possessed peer‐valued characteristics enjoyed higher levels of perceived popularity and power and less disliking than those who did not. This relationship varied as a function of sex, the type of aggression considered, and the status construct predicted. Aggr. Behav. 32:396–408, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Physical attractiveness in preschoolers: Relationships with power, status, aggression and social skills

Several lines of theory and research suggest that power (e.g., social dominance) and status (e.g., social prominence and positive peer regard) are enjoyed by those blessed with good looks. The present work addresses the relations among physical attractiveness, power, status, and aggression from a resource control theoretic perspective that suggests that group members find power holders physically attractive, even if they are aggressive. Teacher ratings of physical attractiveness, social dominance, peer reception, aggression, and social skills were collected on 153 preschoolers (3-6 years) from a Midwestern city. Positive peer regard was derived via sociometric nominations. Raters unfamiliar with the children assessed their physical attractiveness from photographs. Results show that teachers' perceptions of physical attractiveness are a function of power, status, and social skills. Additionally, teachers rated aggressive children who employ both prosocial and coercive strategies of resource control (bistrategic controllers) to be among the most physically attractive. These relations did not emerge for raters unbiased by children's behavior. Results suggest social dominance achieved via prosocial means begets attractiveness ratings, even if accompanied by high levels of aggression. The implications for intervention are discussed.     

The relationship between self‐perception of physical attractiveness and sexual bullying in early adolescence

The relationship between self‐perception of physical attractiveness and four measures of sexual bullying behavior (victimization, perpetration, having friends who sexually bully, and observation of sexual bullying among peers at school) was examined in a sample of 396 middle school age students. Students who perceived themselves to be more physically attractive than their peers reported sexually bullying others more, being sexually bullied by others more, observing more sexual bullying, and having more friends who sexually bully others than did students who perceived themselves as average looking. In addition, males who perceived themselves to be less physically attractive than their peers reported being victimized more and reported observing more sexual bullying in the school environment. These findings highlight the importance of physical attractiveness in the early initiation of sexual harassment. Implications for future research and interventions with early adolescents are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 36:271–281, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Sex differences in the personal costs and benefits of relational and physical aggression in high school

While recent research using peer ratings demonstrates positive relations between youth's reputations for aggression and popularity, it is not clear whether aggressive youth themselves make these links. Using youth's self‐reports, this study assessed the associations of relational and physical aggression with indicators of both personal gains in peer relations (perceived popularity and receipt of prosocial attention) and personal costs in terms of retaliation or depressive responses (peer victimization and depressive symptoms) in a large sample (n=455) of eighth‐ to tenth‐grade students. Regression analyses reveal that more relationally aggressive youth report more prosocial attention but also more relational (but not physical) victimization. In contrast, more physically aggressive youth report more depressive symptoms and physical (but not relational) victimization. Findings suggest that some costs of aggression (victimization) are higher for boys while others (depressive symptoms) are greater for girls. Group differences were also found for aggressive, victimized, and aggressive/victimized youth compared to the typical low aggressive/low victimized youth. These data suggest that the costs of relational and physical aggression may outweigh benefits except for aggressive non‐victimized boys. Aggr. Behav. 32:409–419, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Backbiting and bloodshed in books: short-term effects of reading physical and relational aggression in literature

The current research consisted of two studies examining the effects of reading physical and relational aggression in literature. In both studies, participants read one of two stories (containing physical or relational aggression), and then participated in one of two tasks to measure aggression. In Study 1, participants who read the physical aggression story were subsequently more physically aggressive than those who read the relational aggression story. Conversely, in Study 2, participants who read the relational aggression story were subsequently more relationally aggressive than those who read the physical aggression story. Combined, these results show evidence for specific effects of reading aggressive content in literature.     

初中生友谊特征与攻击行为的关系研究

本研究运用社会测量提名法、友谊质量问卷、社会行为同伴提名法考察了586名初一至初三儿童的友谊特征与攻击行为的关系。研究表明,在男女初中生中,不论外部攻击还是关系攻击,一对友伴表现出的攻击行为越多,其同伴接纳程度越低。结果表明,同伴群体可能支持符合性别规范的攻击行为,反对不符合性别规范的攻击行为。友谊受欢迎程度这一外部指标比友谊质量等内部指标对攻击行为的预测更为稳定和可靠。     

The effect of attitudes on inferences of homosexuality and perceived physical attractiveness in women

A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that inferences of homosexuality will be made more frequently about women who are perceived to be less physically attractive. This hypothesis was supported. More importantly, the investigation was designed to determine whether the perception of a relationship between female homosexuality and level of physical attractiveness would be affected by raters' attitudes about homosexuality and traditional sex-role behavior. Results indicated that female raters with conservative attitudes were likely to associate homosexuality with those women to whom they had given the worst evaluations concerning physical appearance, while more liberal females were less likely to do so. Male raters' attitudes bore little relationship to their evaluations of homosexuality and physical attractiveness. Several interpretations of these results are discussed.     

The Protective Role of Teacher Preference for At‐Risk Children's Social Status

Aggressive behaviors have been associated with social costs (e.g., rejection) and benefits (e.g., popularity) in previous studies. The current study sought to examine the moderating effect of teacher preference on the association between distinct forms of aggressive behavior (i.e., physical aggression and relational aggression) and social status (i.e., rejection and popularity), and to explore whether these associations differed for boys and girls. Fourth and fifth grade students (N = 193) completed peer nomination procedures to assess rejection and aggressive behavior and teachers provided self‐reports of their preferences for their students. Findings indicated that relationally aggressive girls were more likely to be popular with their peers when their teachers also liked them. In addition, both relationally and physically aggressive girls were less likely to be rejected by their peers when their teachers liked them. Although physical aggression was most strongly associated with rejection among boys whose teachers liked them, relational aggression predicted popularity among boys whose teachers disliked them. Results suggest that teacher preferences may be a particularly important factor contributing to both physically and relationally aggressive children's social status (e.g., rejection and popularity), especially for girls. Aggr. Behav. 38:481‐493, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN INFERRING SEXUAL INTEREST

Research has shown that, after brief opposite-gender interactions, men perceive women more sexually than women perceive men (e.g., Abbey, 1982 ). This study examined interpersonal perceptions following dyadic cross-gender interactions between unacquainted individuals. Of particular concern were perceptions of sexual traits, interaction qualities, and physical attractiveness. The influence of being gender schematic on sexual judgments was examined. The results provide further support for Abbey's finding that men oversexualize women following brief interactions but failed to support the hypothesized gender schema effects. Additional analyses suggest the presence of another gender difference in judging attraction. Women who rated their partners as physically attractive also attributed more positive qualities to their partner and the interaction. By contrast, men's ratings of women revealed more limited associations with perceived physical attractiveness. Results are discussed in terms of gender differences in judging sexual attraction, the correlates of physical attractiveness, and continuing efforts to explain oversexualization.     

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.     

自尊对基于面孔吸引力人格特质推断的影响

自尊影响面孔吸引力刻板印象,然而由于能动性特质自我评价能够预测自尊,高自尊的个体拥有更高的能动性自我评价,因此自尊对面孔吸引力刻板印象的影响是否只体现在能动性特质维度上还未可知。60名女被试分别评价高、低吸引力女性目标在能动性和社群性人格特质维度上的符合程度。结果发现：能动性维度上,高自尊被试对高吸引力目标在积极特质形容词的符合程度评价显著高于低自尊被试,低自尊被试对低吸引力目标在积极特质形容词的符合程度评价显著高于高自尊被试;社群性维度上,高、低自尊被试均认为高吸引力目标与积极特质形容词更符合。研究结果表明,自尊对面孔吸引力刻板印象的影响主要体现在能动性评价上;在社群性评价上,高、低自尊被试都表现出面孔吸引力刻板印象。     

Effect of Children's Perceived Rejection on Physical Aggression

This study investigated whether the perception of self as socially rejected might contribute to increased physical aggression among elementary-school children. It was hypothesized that physically aggressive children would become more physically aggressive over time if they perceived that they were rejected and tended to blame peers for social failure experiences. Third-grade boys and girls (n = 941) were assessed in the Fall and Spring of the school year. Peer-report data on physical aggression and social preference were collected, along with self-report data on perceived rejection and attributions for social failure experiences. Results for boys were consistent with hypotheses, whereas the results for girls revealed a different pattern of relations. These results constitute prospective evidence that children's self-perceptions of social rejection can uniquely influence externalizing behavior. Results are discussed in terms of mechanisms that might mediate the relation between perceived rejection and physical aggression.     

Does aggression cause a preference for viewing media violence?

Virtually all of the research concerned with media violence has attempted to determine whether the viewing of violence is associated with or causes aggression. Little experimental research has been directed at understanding why persons view media violence. The present research experimentally tested the hypotheses that physical aggression and fantasy aggression would lead to a preference for viewing violence. In Experiment 1, undergraduate men and women were induced to express aggressive, nonaggressive, or no fantasies and were then given an opportunity to select film clips for viewing. The films chosen by men contained more violence than those chosen by women. In addition, aggressive fantasies in males, compared to nonaggressive fantasies, increased the preference for viewing violence. Experiment 2, using only males, replicated the results of the first study and also found that men who were given an opportunity to aggress physically, compared to those who had no such opportunity, were more likely to choose to view films containing violent content. These results provide an additional perspective on the relationship between the observation of violence and the expression of aggression by suggesting that the causal effects are bidirectional: Just as the viewing of violence may increase aggression, so, too, aggressive behavior may increase the preference for viewing violence.     

Having and being an other-sex crush during early adolescence

This study examined other-sex crush experiences (both having and being perceived as an other-sex crush) among 544 young adolescents (mean age=12.74 years). Results indicated that 56% had at least one current other-sex crush, with little overlap between crushes, friends, and boyfriends/girlfriends. Significant associations between other-sex crush scores (scores reflecting the number of crush nominations received) and physical attractiveness, relational aggression, physical aggression, and popularity, as reported by same-sex and other-sex peers, were found. In addition, crush scores were (a) associated with same-sex likeability for boys (but not girls) and (b) uniquely related to peer nominations of popularity and physical attractiveness, as reported by other-sex peers. Neither having nor being perceived as an other-sex crush was uniquely related to loneliness. Taken together, the findings suggest that other-sex crushes are normative experiences during early adolescence that warrant further research attention.     

On the conception and measurement of popularity: more facts and some straight conclusions

For many years, children receiving many liking nominations have been considered popular in the sociometric literature. Recently, doubts have arisen that perhaps students' and teachers' notion of popularity involves social status and dominance rather than personal liking. It is argued in this paper that sociometric nominations of personal liking represent attractiveness for intimate friendship, whereas popularity should be measured directly via judgmental sociometry, in which children nominate directly the popular students and are not requested to express their personal feelings. Nominations of attractiveness, collected in conventional affective sociometry, were compared in six samples (153 classrooms) to direct judgments of popularity. Attractiveness and popularity were found to be distinct psychological constructs: (a) the average correlation between these nominations was only r=0.44, and in most classrooms (72%) the same child did not receive the highest number of nominations for attractiveness and popularity; (b) a substantial proportion of students were highly popular but only moderately attractive or vice versa (21.5%), whereas only 9% were high in both attributes; (c) in terms of classroom climate and perceptions of classroom processes, popular students were less satisfied than attractive students, and were more critical of the learning climate and of their teachers' differential teaching behavior toward low- and high-achievers; and (d) differences between popular and attractive students were found in several attributes and aspects of self-esteem. These findings lead to the conclusion that the use of popular in the Coie, Dodge, and Coppotelli (1982) two-dimensional model and the ensuing sociometric literature have been erroneous and lacking in ecological validity. Popularity should be measured directly via judgmental sociometry rather than be inferred from affective liking nominations.     

The Effect of Target's Physical Attractiveness and Dominance on STD-Risk Perceptions

Utilizing a 2 × 2 design, the present study examined the effect of a female's physical attractiveness and dominance on men's sexual motivation and sexually transmitted disease (STD) risk perceptions in a sample of 72 heterosexual male college students. As predicted. participants were more motivated to have sex with more physically attractive women. Nonetheless, they also believed that the more physically attractive women had been more promiscuous in the past, and believed that unprotected sex with a physically attractive woman implied a relatively somewhat higher risk of contracting an STD. In contrast, the more socially dominant women were perceived as having practiced safer sex more regularly and as having had less risky sexual partners in the past. Practical implications of this study are discussed.     

Beyond Personality Impressions: Effects of Physical and Vocal Attractiveness on False Consensus, Social Comparison, Affiliation, and Assumed and Perceived Similarity

ABSTRACT We examined the effects of target persons' physical and vocal attractiveness on judges' responses to five measures: false consensus (the belief that the target shares one's behavior), choice of targets as comparison others, affiliation with targets, assumed similarity (similarity between self-ratings and ratings assigned to targets), and perceived similarity (direct questions about similarity). Higher physical attractiveness and higher vocal attractiveness were both related to higher scores on all variables. The effect of one type of attractiveness was more pronounced for higher levels of the other type of attractiveness. The joint effect of the two types of attractiveness was best described as synergistic, i.e., only targets high on both types of attractiveness elicited higher scores on the dependent variables. The effect of physical attractiveness on most dependent variables was more pronounced for subjects who were themselves physically attractive. The synergistic effect (the advantage of targets high on both types of attractiveness) was more pronounced for judges high in self-monitoring. The contribution of the study to the literature on attractiveness stereotypes is discussed.     

The effects of attitudes toward feminism and perceived feminism on physical attractiveness ratings

The effects of perceived feminism of females and attitudes toward feminism of males on physical attractiveness ratings of female stimulus persons (SPs) were investigated, using two alternative hypotheses: first, SPs who are perceived as feminists would be rated as less attractive than SPs not perceived as feminists; second, profeminist males would rate profeminist women as more attractive than nonfeminist women, and vice versa for nonfeminist males. Seventy-six male college students responded to the Smith-Ferree-Miller questionnaire on attitudes toward feminism and then rated on an 8-point scale of attractiveness 6 photographs of female SPs which had been selected from a pretested sample of 18 photographs. Perceived feminism of the SPs in the photographs was manipulated by presenting the raters with four attitude statements, two of which related to feminism. Although there were no main effects for the two variables, significant interaction did occur, confirming the second (attitude similarity) hypothesis. A negative halo effect, as opposed to a belief in the unattractiveness of feminists, was offered as an explanation of the difference in results between this study and the Goldberg, Gottesdiener, and Abramson (1975) study.     

Effects of Instructor Attractiveness on Learning

Although a considerable body of research has examined the impact of student attractiveness on instructors, little attention has been given to the influence of instructor attractiveness on students. This study tested the hypothesis that persons would perform significantly better on a learning task when they perceived their instructor to be high in physical attractiveness. To test the hypothesis, participants listened to an audio lecture while viewing a photograph of instructor. The photograph depicted either a physically attractive instructor or a less attractive instructor. Following the lecture, participants completed a forced choice recognition task covering material from the lecture. Consistent with the predictions; attractive instructors were associated with more learning. Finally, we replicated previous findings demonstrating the role attractiveness plays in person perception.