The relationship between aggression in children and locus of control beliefs

Gender differences are evident in the etiology and maintenance of aggressiv e behavior (which is on the increase for both male and female youths), but the explanatory models that have been proposed, including social learning t heory and information processing models, are more appropriate for boys than for girls. In an attempt to elucidate processes underlying aggression, par ticularly for girls, the authors explored locus of control as a cognitive v ariable possibly related to aggressive behavior. The relationships between teacher-reported aggression and 3 types of locus of control (internal, powe rful other, and unknown) for success and failure experiences were investiga ted. For girls, aggressive behavior was positively related to internal and unknown locus of control. In contrast, boys' aggressive behavior was unrela ted to internal locus of control beliefs and negatively related to external locus of control beliefs. Possible explanatory mechanisms for the relation ship between locus of control beliefs and aggression are discussed. The pre sent study contributes to the understanding of aggression in girls and poin ts to different processes underlying girls' and boys' aggression.