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

Authors

Jennifer E. Lansford, Duke UniversityFollow
Ann T. Skinner, Duke UniversityFollow
Emma Sorbring, University West
Laura Di Giunta, University of Rome La SapienzaFollow
Kirby Deater-Deckard, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityFollow
Kenneth A. Dodge, Duke UniversityFollow
Patrick S. Malone, University of South CarolinaFollow
Paul Oburu, Maseno UniversityFollow
Concetta Pastorelli, University of Rome La SapienzaFollow
Sombat Tapanya, Chiang Mai UniversityFollow
Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Universidad San Buenaventura
Arnaldo Zelli, University of Rome
Suha M. Al-Hassan, Hashemite UniversityFollow
Liane Peña Alampay, Ateneo de Manila UniversityFollow
Dario Bacchini, Second University of NaplesFollow
Anna Silvia Bombi, University of Rome La Sapienza
Marc H. Bornstein, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human DevelopmentFollow
Lei Chang, Chinese University of Hong KongFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2012

Abstract

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 aggression in more diverse cultural contexts. This study examined the factor structure of, gender differences in, and associations between relational and physical aggression in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Children ages 7 to 10 years (N = 1410) reported on their relationally and physically aggressive behavior. Relational and physical aggression shared a common factor structure across countries. Unsurprisingly, boys reported being more physically aggressive than girls across all nine countries; surprisingly, there were no significant gender differences in relational aggression. In all nine countries, relational and physical aggression were significantly correlated (average r = .49). The countries differed significantly 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. 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.

Recommended Citation

Lansford, J. E., Skinner, A. T., Sorbring, E., Di Giunta, L., Deater-Deckard, K., Dodge, K. A., Malone, P. S., Oburu, P., Pastorelli, C., Tapanya, S., Tirado, L. M., Zelli, A., Al-Hassan, S. M., Alampay, L. P., Bacchini, D., Bombi, A. S., Bornstein, M. H., & Chang, L. (2012). Boys’ and Girls’ Relational and Physical Aggression in Nine Countries. Aggressive behavior, 38(4), 298–308. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21433