No abstract

A meta analysis of observational studies of peer-directed aggression by children aged 6 and younger yields a highly significant sex difference. Out of 32 studies, z values reflected higher male aggression in 24, no difference in 8, higher female aggression in none. Furthermore, boys' aggression is most often displayed in the presence of male partners. Evidence is presented that the sex difference is probably not merely an artifact of higher rates of male activity or social interaction. Existing cross-cultural evidence also shows higher rates of male aggression, as does most of the work on free-living primates. Specifically, the 3 observational studies of chimpanzees show considerably more aggression in males. Evidence for a hormonal contribution to male aggression is clear in animals and inconclusive in human beings, although the existing human findings are consistent with such a contribution. Recent evidence on the differential socialization of boys and girls supports our earlier view: that boys do not receive more reinforcement for aggression than girls, and that rates of punishment are also similar once the differential base rates in aggression are taken into account. The role of self-socialization (including choice of same-sex models) is discussed, and the view is expressed that this probably depends upon the development of certain cognitions about sex identity which normally do not develop until a later age than the age at which a consistent sex difference in aggression first appears.

A method is described for determining the effects of sex (or any other dichotomous characteristic) from the individual correlated behavioral responses observed in dyadic interactional situations. In the illustration used, the dyads are of three types: girl-girl, girl-boy, and boy-boy. Main effects of sex of subject and of sex of partner and interaction effects are estimated and tested, using a generalization of the matched-pair /-test approach. Intragroup correlations between paired responses are examined separately. Alternative procedures of analysis are discussed and compared. The present method is extended to interacting groups larger than dyads when the subject characteristic remains dichotomous (e.g., boys and girls in groups of three, four, etc.). In these cases there are three intragroup correlations of interest for responses within the same interacting groups: boys versus boys, boys versus girls, and girls versus girls.

No abstract

Fifty-seven children were seen, in interaction with their mothers, at 12 months and again at 18 months of age. The observational sessions included a teachinglearning task in which aspects of the mother's teaching style and the child's task orientation could be assessed. In addition, assessments were made at both ages of two dispositional attributes: "difficultness" and activity level. It was found that at 12 months, there was little or no relationship between the mother's teaching behavior and the child's task orientation, but by 18 months, significant correlations had appeared, indicating the development of coordination between the pair in their teaching-learning functions. Maternal teaching and child task orientation were also essentially unrelated to the children's more general dispositions at 12 months, but by 18 months, the mother's teaching effort was related to whether her child was difficult or easygoing. Evidence was presented for mutual influence between mother and child over the 6-month interval from 12 to 18 months. Specifically, the mothers of difficult 12-month-old boys reduced their teaching effort subsequently, and the sons of mothers who exerted high teaching effort at 12 months became less difficult during the subsequent 6 months. The relationships for girls were different and nonsignificant. The implications of the sex differences are discussed.