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Children's perceptions of the consequences of aggression toward victimized peers

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Date Issued:
1990
Summary:
In Study 1, fourth--through seventh-grade children (mean age = 11.5 years) were asked to estimate the likelihood that various outcomes would occur following hypothetical acts of aggression by themselves toward victimized and nonvictimized peers. Subjects were also asked to indicate how much they valued the occurrence of the outcomes. When the targets of the aggression were victimized peers, children were more likely to anticipate tangible rewards, more likely to expect signs of victim suffering, and less likely to anticipate retaliation than when aggressing against nonvictimized peers. Also, children placed greater value on securing tangible rewards but were less concerned by the thought of hurting or by the thought of their target retaliating when attacking a victimized peer than attacking a nonvictimized peer. This pattern was stronger for boys than for girls. Study 2 was designed to see what evaluative reactions fourth--through seventh-grade children (mean age = 11.3 years) would expect from themselves, from peers, and from teachers for aggression against victimized and nonvictimized peers. When contemplating aggressing against a victimized peer, children expected less disapproval from self and peers. A second purpose of Study 2 was to determine whether children were more likely to display hostile attributional bias toward victimized peers than toward nonvictimized peers. As predicted, hostile attributional bias was greater toward victimized peers than toward nonvictimized peers. Implications for theories of aggression, future areas of research, and for intervention with victimized children are discussed.
Title: Children's perceptions of the consequences of aggression toward victimized peers.
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Name(s): Williard, Jean Carlisle
Florida Atlantic University, Degree Grantor
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Department of Psychology
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1990
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 98 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: In Study 1, fourth--through seventh-grade children (mean age = 11.5 years) were asked to estimate the likelihood that various outcomes would occur following hypothetical acts of aggression by themselves toward victimized and nonvictimized peers. Subjects were also asked to indicate how much they valued the occurrence of the outcomes. When the targets of the aggression were victimized peers, children were more likely to anticipate tangible rewards, more likely to expect signs of victim suffering, and less likely to anticipate retaliation than when aggressing against nonvictimized peers. Also, children placed greater value on securing tangible rewards but were less concerned by the thought of hurting or by the thought of their target retaliating when attacking a victimized peer than attacking a nonvictimized peer. This pattern was stronger for boys than for girls. Study 2 was designed to see what evaluative reactions fourth--through seventh-grade children (mean age = 11.3 years) would expect from themselves, from peers, and from teachers for aggression against victimized and nonvictimized peers. When contemplating aggressing against a victimized peer, children expected less disapproval from self and peers. A second purpose of Study 2 was to determine whether children were more likely to display hostile attributional bias toward victimized peers than toward nonvictimized peers. As predicted, hostile attributional bias was greater toward victimized peers than toward nonvictimized peers. Implications for theories of aggression, future areas of research, and for intervention with victimized children are discussed.
Identifier: 12259 (digitool), FADT12259 (IID), fau:9164 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Adviser: David G. Perry.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1990.
Subject(s): Psychology, Developmental
Psychology, Personality
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12259
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.