A novel approach to the study of aggression: The importance of target specificity in behavior and social cognitions.

摘要

Although the majority of aggression in children's peer groups is directed toward a minority of targets (i.e., those characterized by personal and interpersonal risk), the social cognitive literature on aggression has continued to measure social cognitions (e.g., self-efficacy) in global ways that fail to incorporate the apparent differential selection of at-risk targets by aggressors. In the present longitudinal study, the researcher tries to fill this gap in the literature by taking a target-sensitive approach to more fully understand how aggression-encouraging cognitions (self-efficacy, outcome expectations, outcome values) develop into aggressive behavior. Participants were 436 seventh, eighth, and ninth-grade boys and girls at Time 1, and 406 eighth, ninth, and tenth-grade boys and girls at Time 2, resulting in a longitudinal sample of 340 participants. Participants completed a questionnaire that assessed social cognitions about aggression toward two types of targets: (1) Dual risk targets were characterized as having a personal risk factor (e.g., physical weakness) and an interpersonal risk factor (e.g., peer rejected), and (2) Dual protection targets were characterized as having a personal protective factor (e.g., assertive) and an interpersonal protective factor (e.g., having protective friendships). In addition, participants completed a sociometric measure, the Dyadic Aggression and Victimization Inventory (DAVI), peer nominations of internalizing symptoms and physical strength, and a self-report measure of global self-worth, in order to characterize participants as having dual risk or dual protection characteristics. The DAVI was also administered to assess children's targets for aggression. In order to evaluate the hypothesis that target-specific cognitions predict changes in aggressive behavior against specific targets a series of hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted. As predicted, self-efficacy about dual risk targets predicted significant increases in aggression against dual risk targets over the 1-year interval of the study. Outcome values and outcome expectations failed to predict aggressive behavior in the expected direction. In addition, compared to girls, boys' aggression-encouraging cognitions were more related to their target-specific aggression.