Anger as a Mediator Between Peer Victimization and Deviant Behavior in South Korea: A Cross-Cultural Application of General Strain Theory

Abstract

Little is known about the longitudinal effect of peer victimization on deviant behavior in non-Western cultural contexts and the mediating role of theoretically relevant variables, such as anger, on this association. The current study aimed to address this gap by analyzing data from a nationally representative sample of South Korean youth. Peer victimization was found to increase risk for anger and deviant behavior. Anger accounted for 27.06% of the total direct effect of peer victimization experienced during late childhood on deviant behavior during early adolescence. Results from the current study provide support for the cross-cultural application of general strain theory to help explain the longitudinal link between peer victimization and deviant behavior in a non-Western context such as South Korea.

Prison Strains, Negative Emotions, and Deviance Among Prisoners in South Korea: A Latent-Variable Modeling Test of General Strain Theory

“…That is, crime is committed to alleviate strain-generated negative emotions as well as addressing strain itself (Agnew, 1992). Consistent with the proposed mediation of negative emotions between strain and crime, previous studies tend to find that negative emotions explain the effect of strain on crime and deviance (Agnew, 2006b;Bunch et al, 2018;Jang & Rhodes, 2012;Oh & Connolly, 2019;Walters & Espelage, 2017).…”

“…During its first decade, GST received support from studies using data collected in the United States, but subsequent support came from research based on non-U.S. data from Canada, European nations, and Asian countries as well (e.g., Agnew, 2015; Bao et al., 2004; Baron, 2004; Botchkovar et al., 2013; Froggio & Agnew, 2007; Jang & Song, 2015; Maxwell, 2001; Moon & Morash, 2017; Oh & Connolly, 2019; Sigfusdottir et al., 2004). Findings based on non-U.S. data tend to be consistent with the GST propositions about the positive relationships among the three key constructs (strain, negative emotions, and crime) and the mediation of outer- and inner-directed emotions between strain and crime, while some differential patterns were observed due likely to sociocultural differences between Asian and western countries (e.g., Moon et al., 2008).…”

Unraveling the Bidirectional Relationship Between Bullying Victimization and Perpetration: A Test of Mechanisms From Opportunity and General Strain Theories

“…Although a variety of negative emotions, from depression to fear, have been proposed as mediators of the strain–offending relationship, the most consistent and powerful mediating effect may be achieved through anger (Broidy, 2001). Several studies have identified anger as a core feature of the victimization–crime nexus, although these studies were either cross-sectional in nature (Sigfusdottir et al, 2010; Wemmers et al, 2018) or used longitudinal data (Oh & Connolly, 2019; Wojciechowski, 2019) in a manner that violated basic standards of causal mediation analysis (Hayes, 2018; Preacher, 2015).…”

Relative Deprivation and Game Addiction in Left-Behind Children: A Moderated Mediation

“…Left-behind children subsequently tend to evade the pressure of reality, pursue peer relationships with higher autonomy, and befriend more deviant peers to obtain basic psychological satisfaction ( Chen et al, 2015 ). Furthermore, left-behind children with high degrees of relative deprivation are more likely to experience anger/frustration ( Zhang et al, 2016 ), which can lead them to affiliate with deviant peers ( Oh and Connolly, 2018 ) to fulfill their social needs. Additionally, deviant peer affiliation was significantly and positively correlated with game addiction in left-behind children.…”