The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to examine social network correlates of social and emotional loneliness to demonstrate that social and emotional loneliness are different constructs and (b) to investigate the possibility of age differences in the relationship between loneliness and social network characteristics. Results indicated that for both young and older adults, social and emotional loneliness were moderately correlated with one another and had differential network correlates. Likewise, for both age groups, emotional loneliness was related to the presence of a romantic partner in the network, although this relationship was stronger for the older adults. Correlates of social loneliness also differed between young and older adults. The presence of a close other and size of the network predicted social loneliness for young adults, whereas average closeness of the network predicted social loneliness for older adults.

This multi-method research linked the Big Five personality dimensions to aggression in early adolescence. Agreeableness was the personality dimension of focus because this dimension is associated with motives to maintain positive interpersonal relations. In two studies, middle school children were assessed on the Big Five domains of personality. Study 1 showed that agreeableness was associated with both indirect and direct aggression. In addition, the link between agreeableness and aggression was strongest for direct strategies. Study 2 examined the hypotheses that agreeableness predicts social cognitions associated with aggression, peer reports of direct aggression, and teacher reports of adjustment. Agreeableness predicted peer reports of aggression and social cognitions associated with aggression. In addition, aggression mediated the link between agreeableness and adjustment. Results suggest that of the Big Five dimensions, Agreeableness is most closely associated with processes and outcomes related to aggression in adolescents.

This study examines the extent to which implicit measures of aggressiveness predict actual aggressive behavior in response to provocation. Participants (n = 77) completed implicit measures of aggressiveness, were or were not exposed to insult from an experimenter, evaluated the performance of the experimenter (i.e., opportunity for aggressive behavior), and completed explicit measures of aggressiveness. Results showed that the implicit measure of aggressiveness significantly predicted aggressive behavior in response to provocation, whereas it was not predictive when there was no provocation. The discussion deals with the validity of implicit measures as predictors of aggressive behavior and their moderators.

A sample of 113 healthy older adults used a variant of the Rochester Interaction Record to describe the social interactions they had each day for two weeks. They also completed various measures of psychological well-being including life satisfaction and loneliness. A series of multilevel random coefficient analyses found that life satisfaction scores were positively related to how enjoyable interactions were, how self-assured people felt when interacting, how much control they felt they had over interactions, how responsive others were to their needs, and how socially active they were. Analyses that took participants' marital status into account suggested, however, that interaction outcomes and life satisfaction were related only for married participants, and that these relationships were primarily due to interaction outcomes with spouses.

This article reviews an extensive program of research that has examined gender differences in aggressive behavior. Early research in the aggression laboratory that was designed to explain why females were nonaggressive actually revealed that females did respond to provocation and that they could not accurately be depicted as passive individuals. Subsequent studies that examined both indirect and direct aggression revealed that women were at least as likely as men to employ indirect aggressive strategies and that the nature of relationship is a better determinant of aggressive action than gender. Directly relevant to the theme of this volume, the later research revealed that males and females reported equally high levels of direct aggression in interaction with romantic partners.