Relation of Identity and Aggression Among Ethnic Minority Youth

摘要

This study examined the relation between identity and aggression among 465 low-income ethnic minority youth. In particular, the study was interested in investigating both the process of identity and the content of one's identity and how it related to aggression over time. Results suggested that the process of identity was not related to aggression. However, the content of one's identity had a reciprocal relation with aggression over time. Further, there were gender differences in these relations but no ethnic differences. Females exhibited reciprocal relations and males did not. The stage of identity also moderated these relations. Those adolescents who were committed to an identity exhibited the same relational patterns. Implications for prevention and intervention programs are discussed.