LINKAGES BETWEEN CHILDRENS BELIEFS ABOUT THE LEGITIMACY OF AGGRESSIONAND THEIR BEHAVIOR

The purposes of this study were to learn whether children's beliefs ab out the legitimacy of aggression can be reliably assessed and whether these beliefs relate to children's everyday social behavior with peers , as well as their responses to hypothetical ambiguous provocation sit uations. Fourth- and fifth-grade students (n = 781) responded to a 16- item questionnaire designed to measure children's beliefs about the le gitimacy of aggression. Children's behavioral orientation was assessed using two methods: (1) children's responses to ten hypothetical situa tions involving ambiguous provocation, and (2) peer evaluations of chi ldren's aggressive, withdrawn, and prosocial behavior. Results indicat ed that children's beliefs about the legitimacy of aggression were rel iably measured. Furthermore, results from both measures of behavioral style showed that children who believed strongly in the legitimacy of aggression were more aggressive, less withdrawn, and less prosocial. T he findings suggest that one focus of efforts to decrease children's a ggression should be the modification of their beliefs about the legiti macy of aggressive actions.