Personality and relational aggression: Moral disengagement and friendship quality as mediators

Relational aggression in adolescents: A review of theoretical and empirical research

“…A plethora of research has shown that children and youth who endorse moral disengagement mechanisms are more likely to engage in general aggression (Gini, 2006;Hymel, Rocke-Henderson, & Bonnano, 2005). Regarding relational aggression, however, the findings are diverse with some studies reporting that moral justification predicts only physical forms of aggression (Paciello, Fida, Tramontano, Lupinetti, & Caprara., 2008), whereas others reporting a significant correlation with all aggressive forms (Gini, 2006;Hymel et al, 2005;Kokkinos et al, 2014).…”

“…On the contrary, a study examining the association between relational aggression and BIS/BAS in adult samples showed positive links with both systems (Miller et al, 2012). A study by Kokkinos, Voulgaridou, and Markos (2014) with a sample of Greek preadolescents found a positive association only between relational aggression and BAS.…”

Interactive Links Between Relational Aggression, Theory of Mind, and Moral Disengagement Among Early Adolescents

“…Prior research has shown that youth who engage in aggressive behavior show deficiencies in moral emotions and have high levels of MD (e.g., Barchia & Bussey, ; Caravita et al., ). With regard to RA, some evidence shows that MD predicts this aggressive form among preadolescents (Kokkinos et al., ). However, as it is stressed by Gini et al.…”

“…Thus, focusing on the content of mentalizing ability, research should place attention on other individual factors, such as, empathy, morality, and personality, that determine how an enhanced ToM is used (Givens, ). Given its significant association with aggressive behavior (Gini, Pozzoli, & Hymel, ), as well as the emerging evidence supporting its role in RA (Kipritsi & Kokkinos, ; Kokkinos, Voulgaridou, & Markos, ; Murray‐Close, Crick, & Galotti, ), morality cannot be excluded from this investigation. Social cognitive theory posits that people adopt moral standards that serve as a guide to their behavior.…”

“…As Obermann () pointed out, aggressors were more likely to report higher levels of MD than were their nonaggressive peers. To date, little work has examined how these moral mechanisms are implicated in relationally aggressive conduct (Kipritsi & Kokkinos, ; Kokkinos et al., ; Murray‐Close et al., ), taking into consideration that during the late elementary school years, children rate RA as less erroneous and harmful than physical, as they cannot interpret the extent of damage it may cause (Gini, ).…”