Teenage girls' perceptions of the functions of relationally aggressive behaviors

Abstract

Adolescent girls reported on their experiences both as perpetrators and as victims of several distinct forms of relational aggression. Details of these incidents were gathered from 114 ethnically diverse ninth and tenth graders via a secure online survey. The frequency with which girls perpetrated or were targeted for particular acts of relational aggression was assessed and, based on the responses, a computer program randomly selected one item (i.e., gossip, ignoring, or exclusion) for which each girl was asked to recall a specific experience and answer follow-up questions. Perceptions of the goals and functions of specific relationally aggressive acts were assessed, as well as how the perpetrator or victim felt at the time of the incident. Ignoring or "giving the silent treatment" appeared to be a unique form of relational aggression inasmuch as the girls perceived different motives, or functions, for ignoring compared with gossip and exclusion and felt worse at the time of the ignoring incident, both when they were reporting as aggressors and as victims. C 2010

"Does it feel good to be bad?" : the influence of individual and peer group norms on emotional responses to the use of social aggression

“…Perpetrators were asked to recall and describe a specific incident in which they acted socially aggressively and then rate how they felt during the incident from a list of seven emotions (relieved, guilty, sad, hurt, confused, nervous and happy). Reynolds and Repetti (2010) found that girls reported feeling guilty, hurt, and sad at the time of the incident when they perpetrated relational aggression. Importantly their results also indicated that emotional responses of the perpetrators varied as a function of the type of socially aggressive behaviour they used.…”

“…In light of the considerable contradictory evidence that young men and women may be similar in their use of social aggression (see Card et al, 2008), it is important that research continues to examine gender differences in social aggression as variations may exist beyond frequency of perpetration, particularly as a result of individual and contextual factors (like emotions and norms). Although some argue that social aggression remains an important experience for adolescent and young adult females (Reynolds & Repetti, 2010), very little is known about males and their use of social aggression beyond the general frequency of using these behaviours. The current study attempted to address this gap in the literature by examining both male and female experiences of perpetrating socially aggressive behaviours.…”

“…A preliminary study by Reynolds and Repetti (2010) sought to address some of these questions by seeking to better understand how social aggression feels for the people directly involved (both victims and perpetrators), and whether emotions vary as a function of the form of relational aggression exhibited. In their study of adolescent girls' perceptions of relationally aggressive behaviours, 14,15, and 16-year-old participants were asked to report their own experiences with relationally aggressive behaviours.…”

“…This thesis was proposed and designed as an extension of this preliminary study by Reynolds and Repetti (2010). The research focus of the present study was a more in depth examination of the positive and negative emotional experiences of perpetrators at the time of a socially aggressive incident and how these experiences related to the general use of social aggression.…”

“…Research is demonstrating that the emotional experiences of perpetrators might be more positive than previously considered. While early studies found that perpetrators were socially aggressive due to feelings of anger, fear or jealousy Parker et al, 2005;Werner & Crick, 2004), recent evidence has revealed that perpetrators' behaviours might also be related to more positive emotions such as excitement and happiness Reynolds & Repetti, 2010). These "happy victimizers" tend to feel more positive emotions, like happiness, following aggressive and victimizing acts and tend to be more aggressive than their peers (Arsenio et al, 2009;Arsenio et al, 2000).…”