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Sex differences and direct and indirect aggression


Sex differences and direct and indirect aggression
Cultural and sex differences in aggression: A comparison between Japanese and Spanish students
J. M. Andreu (Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain)
Takehiro Fujihara (Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan)
Martin J. Ramirez (Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain)
Undergraduate students in Japan and Spain completed the Aggression Questionnaire (Buss & Perry) and the EXPAGG (Campbell, Muncer & Gorman). A country x sex ANOVA was computed. Japanese students scored higher on Physical Aggression and Spanish students on Verbal Aggression, Anger, and Hostility, as well as in a more expressive representation of aggression. In both samples, men scored higher on Physical and Verbal Aggression, whereas the expressive representation of aggression was significantly higher in females. A significant interaction effect country-sex was obtained in Physical Aggression: Spanish males scored higher than Japanese males, while Japanese females scored higher than Spanish females.(back to top)

Aggressive girls at school
Inge M. Lutz (Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany)
Using observations, interviews and discussion we are investigating how girls aged 11-16 handle their aggressiveness. It is important to differentiate between what the girls say about their aggressive behavior and how they estimate their own personalities. All the girls present their behavior either as far less or even more aggressive than they estimate themselves. In different situations girls choose different strategies of aggression. Indirect aggression in girls seems to be linked to a feeling of weakness, direct aggression to a feeling of strength. The girls' direct aggression against male opponents is very effectively controlled by the males using indirect aggression.(back to top)

Indirect aggression amongst South Australian teenage girls
Larry Owens (Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia)
This paper reports on a qualitative investigation of the nature of indirect aggression (e.g., exclusion from the peer group; spreading false stories) amongst teenage girls. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted to collect data from adolescent girls and their teachers. The study provides: descriptions of girls' indirectly aggressive behaviours; explanations for these behaviours; the effects of indirect aggression on girls; and a discussion of possible interventions to prevent or reduce indirect aggression amongst girls.(back to top)

Social perceptions of direct and indirect aggression
Samantha Walker and Deborah R. Richardson
(Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL)
Perceptions of direct and indirect aggression were investigated using scenarios that depicted a male or female protagonist responding to a provocation with direct and indirect forms of aggression.  Direct physical aggression was perceived as more aggressive, to be more effective and likely for males than for females.  In general, indirect responses were considered to be less effective, less aggressive, and less likely than direct responses, suggesting that such responses may not fit people's representations of aggression. (back to top)