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Abstract
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Most previous research on sex differences in experienced aggression has confounded the sex of the aggressor and of the target by considering married or dating couples. In the present study, black and white male and female college students were asked about specific acts of aggression which they had received from or directed toward a male or female. As predicted, males were likely to have both received and exhibited more forms of aggressive behavior, although females were somewhat more likely to have been honked at, to have been forced by a male to have sex, and to have slapped someone. Few racial differences were found, but it appeared that blacks might have been relatively more likely to exhibit physical aggression and whites to exhibit nonphysical aggression. Some differences were found in specific behaviors directed toward and received from males and females, but in general subjects said that they received more aggressive behaviors than they directed toward others.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this study by Harris was to examine the relationships among sex, race and various experiences of aggressive behaviors.
METHODOLOGY:
The author employed a quasi-experimental cross-sectional design with a non-probability sample of 416 Black and White undergraduate psychology students at a southern state university. Participants convened in groups of 50 to 200 people, and each completed an anonymous "Aggression Questionnaire." Aggression was defined as behavior that was intended to hurt or harm another. The questionnaire included 17 items regarding experiences as a victim of aggression and as a perpetrator of aggression after the age of 12 years, and subjects indicated whether the aggressive action was performed by or directed toward a male, a female, both or neither. Eight of these experiences were taken from the Conflict Tactics Scale, and included having something thrown at the subject, being pushed or shoved, being slapped, being kicked or bitten or hit with a fist, being hit with an object, being beaten up, being threatened with a knife or a gun and having a knife or a gun used against the subject. The remaining nine categories were constructed by the author to reflect various forms of verbal and sexual aggression, and included being teased meanly, being yelled at, being called unethical or dishonest, being called stupid or worthless, being called an obscene name, having someone make an obscene gesture toward the subject, being forced to have sex, being addressed in a condescending fashion and having someone honk loudly at the subject. The 17 items were subsequently combined into six total aggression scales: (1) aggression received from a male; (2) aggression directed towards a male; (3) aggression received from a female; (4) aggression directed towards a female; (5) aggression received from a male or a female; and (6) aggression directed toward a male or a female. Inter-item reliability of each of the scales was reasonably high, with Cronbach's alpha ranging from .73 to .83. Analysis included chi-square tests of sex differences with the Bonferroni critical value procedure adjustment, examination of means and t-tests.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The author initially examined sex differences in experiences of aggression. When a male was the aggressor, male subjects were more likely than females to have had something thrown at them, to have been pushed or shoved, to have been kicked or beaten, to have been hit with an object, to have been neaten up, to have been threatened with a gun or a knife, to have been called stupid or an obscene name or to have received an obscene gesture. With a male aggressor, women were more likely to have been forced into sexual relations. When a woman was the perpetrator of aggression, men were more likely to have been slapped or called unethical or cruel. When the target of the behavior was male, males were more likely than females to report having thrown something, pushed, kicked, hit with an object, beaten up, teased, called someone stupid or used an obscene name or gesture. When the target was a female, males were more likely than females to tease or make an obscene gesture. Ethnic differences were also examined, with relatively few significant differences being discovered. More whites than blacks had been yelled at or honked at by a male, and blacks reported being more likely to have hit a male, a female, or either, with an object, or to have beaten up a female. Whites were more likely than blacks to have teased a male or a person of either sex, to have yelled at a female, to have called a male, a female, or anyone an obscene name, to have made an obscene gesture at a female, and to have honked at a driver who was male, female, or of either sex. Turning to within-subjects differences, the author found that subjects were significantly more likely to have been the targets of various aggressive behaviors from males than from females, and that they were more likely to have directed their aggressive behaviors towards male than female targets. Subjects were more likely to have been victims than instigators except for beatings and name-calling. Behaviors more likely to be have been received from females than to have been directed towards females included throwing something, pushing, slapping, kicking, hitting with an object, teasing, yelling, forced sexual relations and condescending treatment. Behaviors more likely to have been directed towards females than received from females included being beaten up or being called unethical or stupid. Behaviors more likely to have been received from a male perpetrator than to have been done to a male victim included being pushed, threatened or attacked with a weapon, being teased, being gestured at obscenely or forced to have sex, being treated condescendingly or being honked at. Aggression more likely to have been directed towards a male than to have been received from a male perpetrator included slapping, beating and calling unethical or stupid. Examining levels of total aggression for the six aggression scales, the author found that males were significantly more aggressive than were females toward male targets and all targets, but were not significantly more aggressive against female targets. Males were also the victims of aggression from other males and from males and females combined significantly more often than were females, although no significant differences were found in victimization from female aggressors. No significant effects of ethnicity or interactions were found. The author concluded that college-aged males reported both instigating and receiving a larger variety of aggressive behaviors than did females. She cautioned, however, that her findings might have been influenced by the limitations of self-report data, resulting in a possible social desirability bias or a bias due to differential interpretation of questions by males and females.
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
The author suggested that her study confirmed the need to separate sex of perpetrator and sex of victim, and to examine specific aggressive behaviors separately. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Adult Female
KW - Adult Male
KW - Adult Aggression
KW - Adult Offender
KW - Adult Victim
KW - Adult Violence
KW - Young Adult
KW - College Student Research
KW - African American Adult
KW - African American Aggression
KW - African American Female
KW - African American Male
KW - African American Offender
KW - African American Victim
KW - African American Violence
KW - Black-White Comparison
KW - Caucasian Adult
KW - Caucasian Female
KW - Caucasian Male
KW - Caucasian Offender
KW - Caucasian Victim
KW - Caucasian Violence
KW - Racial Differences
KW - Gender Differences
KW - Female Aggression
KW - Female Offender
KW - Female Victim
KW - Female Violence
KW - Male Aggression
KW - Male Offender
KW - Male Victim
KW - Male Violence |