Publication Date

2011-08-02

Availability

Open access

Embargo Period

2011-08-02

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PHD)

Department

Educational and Psychological Studies (Education)

Date of Defense

2011-05-02

First Committee Member

Debbiesiu Lee

Second Committee Member

Soyeon Ahn

Third Committee Member

Ora Prilleltensky

Fourth Committee Member

Annette La Greca

Abstract

Social aggression has been widely studied; however, findings have been inconsistent leading to confusion within the current literature. Previous research has linked social aggression to negative outcomes; including poor peer relations, internalizing symptoms, and low levels of empathy; as well as positive attributes, including prosocial behaviors, high social status, and social intelligence. This meta-analysis examined the relationship between social aggression and various correlates, both positive and negative, as well as how age and gender moderate these relationships. With 896 correlations derived from 108 studies (of a total of 107 published articles), the results using the random-effects model for computing overall effect sizes indicated that social aggression is related with maladaptive correlates, such as externalization (r= 0.46), internalization (r = 0.16), negative individual traits (r = 0.32), as well as negative peer relations (r = 0.28). However, findings also suggest that social aggression is associated with popularity (r = 0.22) and social skillfulness (r = 0.16). Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Keywords

social aggression; children; adolescents

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