A Cross‐Lagged Structural Equation Model of Relational Aggression, Physical Aggression, and Peer Status in a Chinese Culture

Abstract

This short-term longitudinal study examined the associations among relational aggression, physical aggression, and peer status (i.e., acceptance, rejection, and perceived popularity) across three time points, six months apart, in a Taiwanese sample. Participants were 198 fifth grade students (94 girls and 104 boys; Mean age = 10.35 years) from Taipei, Taiwan. Study variables were assessed using peer nomination procedure. Results from the cross-lagged structural equation models demonstrated that there were longitudinal associations between relational aggression and each of the peer status constructs while only one longitudinal association was found for physical aggression such that physical aggression positively predicted subsequent peer rejection. The longitudinal associations did not vary with gender. Results also showed high stabilities of relational aggression, physical aggression, and the three peer status constructs over 1 year as well as high concurrent association between relational and physical aggression. In addition, relational aggression and physical aggression were concurrently related to less acceptance, more rejection, and less perceived popularity, especially at the outset of the study. Findings of this study demonstrated both similarities and differences in relation to previous literature in primarily Western cultures. This study also highlights the bidirectional and complex nature of the association between aggression and peer status, which appears to depend on the form of aggression and on the particular indicator of peer status under study.

Popularity and Social Preference in Chinese Adolescents: Associations with Social and Behavioral Adjustment

“…Our results are consistent with the findings of Schwartz et al () that popularity is associated with aggression, but inconsistent with the results of others (Li et al, ; Owens et al, ; Tseng et al, ). These studies differ on too many parameters to discern the factors that account for discrepant results.…”

“…Cillessen and Marks () note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether popularity and unpopularity in fact constitute opposite poles of a single dimension. In the two studies in which youth nominated popular individuals (i.e., Schwartz et al, ; Tseng et al, ), only popular nominations were obtained. In contrast, in the two studies examining the characteristics of hypothetical popular youth (Li et al, ; Owens et al, ), a dimensional rating scale that anchored by popular and un‐popular were used.…”

“…This may diverge from the meaning of US term ‘popularity’ in that ‘wei xin’ is formally assigned by authority figures (i.e., teachers and school officials), whereas popularity is informally accrued through peer interactions. In two studies that failed to find positive associations between popularity and aggression, popularity was translated as ‘shou huan ying (受欢迎)’ (Li et al, ; Tseng et al, ), which can be loosely translated as ‘being welcomed by the peer group’. This term may overlap with ‘likeability’ to a greater extent than does the English word ‘popularity’.…”

Factores predictores de la violencia relacional en la adolescencia

“…Sin embargo, la evidencia empírica con respecto a la violencia relacional es ciertamente más controvertida. De esta manera, mientras que autores como Ettekal & Ladd (2015) encuentran que las chicas participan más que los chicos en comportamientos de violencia relacional, otros autores no hallan diferencias entre ambos sexos (Card et al, 2008;Tseng, Banny, Kawabata, Crick, & Gau, 2013). Como señalan Putallaz et al (2007), pese a la falta de consenso, parece que están más acuerdo con la idea de que las chicas cuando se implican en comportamientos violentos tienden a utilizar más frecuentemente la violencia relacional que la violencia manifiesta.…”

“…Teniendo en cuenta estos precedentes, consideramos que la violencia relacional no ha tenido el mismo interés en la comunidad científica que la violencia manifiesta y, en consecuencia, creemos que esta laguna en el conocimiento respecto de la violencia relacional entre iguales merece ser analizada con mayor exhaustividad. Analizando los antecedentes previos y considerando que son todavía escasos los trabajos que examinen cómo se define la violencia relacional en la escuela incorporando variables psicosociales (Moreno, Estévez, Murgui, & Musitu, 2009;Tseng et al, 2013), el objetivo del presente trabajo es estudiar el poder predictivo de diferentes variables psicosociales en la violencia relacional en la adolescencia, tales como la reputación social, el funcionamiento y la comunicación familiar, la actitud hacia la autoridad institucional, el malestar psicológico y la ideación suicida.…”