WAR TOY PLAY AND AGGRESSION IN DUTCH KINDERGARTEN-CHILDREN

The play behavior of 54 four-to seven-year-old Dutch children in the p resence of a standard set of war toys and neutral toys was related to five groups of variables, i.e., parental attitude, possession of war t oys at home, the habitual aggressiveness of the child in daily life, t he characteristics of the toys themselves, and the play situation. Rea l object- or person-oriented aggression was rare and was not related t o play with the war toys. Suppression of aggression by the experimenta l situation seemed unlikely. During play, the levels of involvement an d fantasy were generally high. Regularly, playful fighting was observe d, differentiated as Make-Believe-Aggression and Rough-and-Tumble. The se two Play 'Aggression' factors, and Real Aggression, could be predic ted from other variables, principally from gender, the influence of se ssion partners, play involvement, type of war toy used and parental at titude.