COMPARING TEACHER AND PEER PERCEPTIONS OF AGGRESSION - AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH

Teacher and peer perceptions of aggression were investigated in a samp le of 899 students. Teachers rated their students in Grades 3 through 8 on an 8-item scale assessing peer-directed aggression. Students comp leted a questionnaire within classrooms that measured acceptance, reje ction, and peer-directed aggression. Both teachers and peers reported higher levels of aggression in boys than in girls. Teacher and peer pe rceptions of aggressive behavior were more congruent for boys than for girls, but this congruence differed significantly as a function of et hnicity. Significant differences among individual classrooms also exis ted in both teacher and peer ratings, as well as in the relationships between the 2 measures. Findings of gender, grade level, ethnic, and c lassroom differences are compared with previous research, and issues r elevant to the identification of highly aggressive youth are discussed .