INDIRECT MODES OF AGGRESSION AMONG WOMEN OF BUENOS-AIRES, ARGENTINA

This study utilizes the construct indirect aggression to investigate a ggressive behavior among middle class Argentine women and men by admin istering an attitude and self-report survey to 95 inhabitants of Bueno s Aires and by analyzing ethnographic interviews and observations cond ucted over a nine month period in 1992. An examination of sex roles in Argentina, including machismo and marianismo, provide a cultural cont ext for interpreting aggression. Factor analyses revealed the presence of indirect aggression (eg., social manipulation, gossip, exclusion) in addition to verbal and physical aggression. Survey and ethnographic findings converge in suggesting that women employ more indirect aggre ssion than men, while men utilize more physical aggression. While comp etition and aggression are salient elements of social life for both se xes, women and men tend to favor different approaches. The findings ar e compared with the literature on female aggression from other cultura l settings. We conclude that cultural and evolutionary perspectives el ucidate aspects of female aggression.