Aggressive reactions to abusive supervision: the role of interactional justice and narcissism

In this study, we explore personality and situational conditions in which negative leadership - specifically, abusive supervision - is associated with aggressive behavior in subordinates. That is, we examine the role that interactional justice and narcissism play in an employee's decision to respond aggressively to an abusive supervisor. We demonstrate that interactional justice mediates the relationship between perceptions of abusive supervision and subsequent employee aggression. In addition, we demonstrate that narcissism interacts with interactional justice perceptions to predict workplace aggression. We find that individuals with high levels of narcissism are the employees who are most likely to respond aggressively when they interpret their leader's behavior as abusive.     

The goal to be accepted by friends as underlying function of overt aggressive behaviour in immigrant adolescents

This study investigated (1) to what extent the goal to be accepted by friends is an underlying function of overt aggressive behavior in adolescents, and (2) whether this function is more predictive than reactive aggression for overt aggressive behavior in first and second generation immigrants compared with natives. The sample comprised 339 native Austrians (51.6% girls), 126 first generation immigrants (48.4% girls), and 175 second generation immigrants (54.3% girls) aged 14 to 19 (M = 15.61). Data were collected via self-assessments. Multiple group latent means and covariance structures (MACS) models revealed that the goal to be accepted by friends was a stronger predictor than reactive aggression for overt aggressive behavior in first generation immigrants compared with second generation immigrants and natives. Furthermore, gender moderated these associations. The goal to be accepted by friends was a very strong predictor of overt aggressive behavior in first generation immigrant boys, but not in first generation immigrant girls. Results are discussed regarding the process of acculturation in first generation immigrant youth.     

Men don’t just get mad; they get even: Revenge but not anger mediates gender differences in physical aggression

Past research indicates that men are more physically aggressive than women, but very little research has examined mediators of this gender difference. Indeed, the only established finding to date is that one plausible mediator - namely trait anger - shows no reliable gender difference whatsoever. Drawing on sexual selection theory and social-learning theories, we predicted that revenge may mediate this gender difference even though anger does not. Three studies using both personality questionnaires (Studies 1 and 2) and objective laboratory measures of aggression (Study 3) provided support for this contention. The results provide some of the first evidence for a reliable mediator of gender difference in physical aggression.     

Relation of Depression and Anxiety to Self‐ and Peer‐Reported Relational Aggression

The primary purpose of this multimethod and multimeasure study was to identify how the peer relationships of Australian adolescents (ages 9–15 years; N = 335) at school, including relational aggression and victimization, correlated with their symptoms of depression and anxiety. Moreover, relational aggression and victimization were measured via both self‐ and peer report, and discrepancies between reports were considered as correlates of symptoms and peer relationship status. Adolescents who reported more symptoms of depression and anxiety also self‐reported more relational victimization and reported their peers as less trustworthy. Adolescents who overreported their own relational victimization and aggression compared with peer report had more symptoms compared with those who agreed with their peers or underreported their aggression and victimization. Adolescents who underreported their own aggression were not only more socially prominent but were also more disliked by their peers. When considered independent of self‐reports, no measure of peer‐reported peer status, aggression, or victimization was associated with depressive symptoms; but adolescents reported as more accepted by their peers had fewer anxiety symptoms. Longitudinal research should be conducted to examine adolescents' increasing socioemotional problems as correlates of discrepancies between self‐ and peer reports of relational aggression and victimization. Aggr. Behav. 38:16‐30, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Boys’ and Girls’ Relational and Physical Aggression in Nine Countries

Distinguishing between relational and physical aggression has become a key feature of many developmental studies in North America and Western Europe, but very little information is available on relational and physical aggression in more diverse cultural contexts. This study examined the factor structure of, associations between, and gender differences in relational and physical aggression in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Children ages 7–10 years (N = 1,410) reported on their relationally and physically aggressive behavior. Relational and physical aggression shared a common factor structure across countries. In all nine countries, relational and physical aggression were significantly correlated (average r = .49). Countries differed in the mean levels of both relational and physical aggression that children reported using and with respect to whether children reported using more physical than relational aggression or more relational than physical aggression. Boys reported being more physically aggressive than girls across all nine countries; no consistent gender differences emerged in relational aggression. Despite mean‐level differences in relational and physical aggression across countries, the findings provided support for cross‐country similarities in associations between relational and physical aggression as well as links between gender and aggression. Aggr. Behav. 38:298‐308, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Social aggression and resource conflict across the female life-course in the Bolivian Amazon

This work explores sources of conflict among forager-horticulturalist women in Amazonian Bolivia, and applies life history theory as a tool for understanding competitive and cooperative social networking behaviors among women. In this study, 121 Tsimane women and girls were interviewed regarding current and past disagreements with others in their community to identify categories of contested resources that instigate interpersonal conflicts, often resulting in incidences of social aggression. Analysis of frequency data on quarrels (N = 334) reveals that women target several diverse categories of resources, with social types appearing as frequently as food and mates. It was also found that the focus of women's competition changes throughout the life-course, consistent with the notion that current vs. future reproduction and quantity-quality trade-offs might have different influences on competition and social conflict over resources within women's social networks across different age groups.     

Factors Associated With Physical Aggression Among US Army Soldiers

There are a growing number of studies that have approximated levels of aggression and associated outcomes among combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan using brief screening assessments. However, further research to evaluate the relative role of combat exposures and overt physical behaviors is required to further elucidate potential associations between military service, combat deployment, and overt physical aggression. The purpose of the current study was to assess the prevalence of self‐reported physical aggression in a sample of US Army soldiers using an adaptation of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2), and examine factors associated with higher levels of aggression. A population‐based cross‐sectional study was conducted at a single US Army Installation within a sample of active duty US Army soldiers (n = 6,128) from two large units. Anonymous surveys were collected 6 months following deployment to measure overt aggressive behaviors, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, traumatic brain injury, and misuse of alcohol. There were a relatively higher number of minor and severe physical overt aggressive actions reported among soldiers who previously deployed, notably highest among deployed soldiers reporting the highest levels of combat intensity. Soldiers screening positive for the misuse of alcohol were also significantly more likely to report relatively higher levels of physical aggression. This study quantified overt aggressive behaviors and associated factors, showing increasing combat exposures may result in increased physical aggression. Clinicians treating service members returning from combat may consider assessing relative levels of combat. Aggr. Behav. 38:357‐367, 2012. Published 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.?     

童年晚期同伴关系不利与儿童的攻击行为:自我概念与同伴信念的中介作用

采用整群抽样法选取1806名小学儿童(平均年龄11.27±0.36岁)为被试,考察同伴拒绝、侵害两种同伴关系不利与儿童攻击行为间的关系、以及儿童的自我概念与同伴信念在其中的中介作用.结果发现,(1)同伴拒绝、侵害与儿童的身体攻击、关系攻击显著正相关,与儿童的自我概念、同伴信念显著负相关,自我概念、同伴信念与两类攻击显著相关.(2)同伴拒绝、关系侵害对身体攻击和关系攻击具有正向预测作用;身体侵害仅对身体攻击具有正向预测作用,对关系攻击无显著影响.(3)儿童的身体自我概念、社交自我概念及同伴信念在同伴拒绝、同伴侵害与攻击的联系中具有中介作用.本研究结果表明,同伴拒绝对儿童的身体攻击、关系攻击主要表现为直接效应,不同类型的侵害经历与儿童攻击间的联系存在类型特定性.     

NONCONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT: A FURTHER EXAMINATION OF SCHEDULE EFFECTS DURING TREATMENT

We conducted 2 studies to determine whether dense and thin NCR schedules exert different influences over behavior and whether these influences change as dense schedules are thinned. In Study 1, we observed that thin as well as dense NCR schedules effectively decreased problem behavior exhibited by 3 individuals. In Study 2, we compared the effects of 2 NCR schedules in multielement designs, one with and the other without an extinction (EXT) component, while both schedules were thinned. Problem behavior remained low as the NCR schedule with EXT was thinned, but either (a) did not decrease initially or (b) subsequently increased as the NCR schedule without EXT was thinned. These results suggest that dense schedules of NCR decrease behavior by altering its motivating operation but that extinction occurs as the NCR schedule is thinned. The benefits and limitations of using dense or thin NCR schedules are discussed.     

Intrafamily Aggression in Turkey: Frequency,Instigation, and Acceptance

Abstract

The present study was designed (a) to determine the frequency of aggression within different pairs of family members, (b) to define actions that may be construed as instigations of intrafamily aggression when committed by different members of the family, and (c) to investigate acceptance rates for different types of aggression from and toward different family members as reactions to different instigations. Questionnaires were administered verbally to 185 Turkish men and women between the ages of 14 and 75. The reported frequency of aggression was highest in mother-child relationships. Reported frequencies were higher for milder acts of aggression than for harsher acts. Content analyses of definitions of different actions that could be construed as instigations for aggression varied, depending on the person performing the act. Variations were consistent with power differences within the family and with gender stereotypes. The acceptance rate for intrafamily aggression was higher for verbal than for physical aggression and showed variations, depending on the nature of the instigation. Discussion focused on the relationship between intrafamily aggression and control.