A DEVELOPMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF SOCIAL AGGRESSION AMONG CHILDREN

Social aggression consists of actions directed at damaging another's s elf-esteem, social status, or both, and includes behaviors such as fac ial expressions of disdain, cruel gossiping, and the manipulation of f riendship patterns. In Study 1, 4th, 7th, and 10th graders completed t he Social Behavior Questionnaire; only boys viewed physical aggression as more hurtful than social aggression, and girls rated social aggres sion as more hurtful than did boys. In the Ist phase of Study 2, girls participated in a laboratory task in which elements of social aggress ion were elicited and reliably coded. In the 2nd phase of Study 2, ano ther sample crf participants (elementary, middle, and high school boys and girls) viewed samples of socially aggressive behaviors from these sessions. Girls rated the aggressor as more angry than boys, and midd le school and high school participants viewed the socially aggressive behaviors as indicating more dislike than elementary school children.