Citation

Alhassan EO, Iwuala CC, Kenku AA. Kampala Int. Univ. J. Humanit. 2023; 8(2): 143-155.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, College of Humanities and Social Sciences of Kampala International University)

DOI

10.58709/kiujhu.v8i2.1663

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Aggressive behaviour or tendencies is a great concern to all and sundry, of which there has been less work done on this phenomenon. Therefore, we investigated the influence of demographic variables and peer relations on aggressive tendencies among students from four secondary schools in Keffi, Nasarawa State - Nigeria. 200 students (135 males and 65 females) between 14 and 25 years of age participated in the study. In addition to providing demographic data, participants responded to the Index of Peer Relations (IPR) scale developed by Hudson et al., (1986) to assess the extent to which a respondent has problems with peers. Participants also responded to Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) developed by Buss and Perry (1992) to measure aggression. Univariate Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Analysis was used to test the study hypotheses.

RESULTS showed that there was a statistically significant main effect of family structure on aggressive tendency, (F(1, 192) = 7.752, p < 0.05); implying that participants from separated family (M= 98.45, SD= 15.371) are more aggressive than those from intact family (M= 88.33, SD= 15.252).  Additionally, there was no statistically significant effect of gender and age on aggressive tendencies where gender: (F(1, 192) = 0.206, p > 0.05NS) and age: (F(1, 192) = 0.210, p > 0.05NS) respectively. Furthermore, it was found that peer relations (M= 56.95, SD= 12.034) and aggressive tendencies (M= 89.34, SD= 15.527) correlated significantly r(198)= -0.140, P < 0.05). In this light, the study concluded that both demographic variables and peer relations has a significant influence on aggressive tendencies in secondary school adolescents.  It is recommended that findings of studies such as this to be made available through various channels (including social media) to enable parents understand the need for family cohesiveness and training of children to develop critical peer relations / social emotional skills, such as empathy, cooperation, and problem-solving strategies.  
Keywords: Demographic Variables: Peer Relations; Aggressive Tendencies; Adolescents.

Language: en