This article focuses on the link between social norms and behavioral development as presented in research on norms regarding bullying and aggression. The aim is to present a conceptual framework for how classroom norms may explain children's decisions to defend others or refrain from defending. Norms emerge from group consensus about what is…

Socialization among aggressive friends is believed to play a critical role in the development of aggressive behavior. This study examined the moderating effect of norm salience in the classroom on the association between reciprocal friends' and children's own physical, relational, and general aggression. A total of 713 children (M = 10.32 years,…

This study examined variations in the development of classroom aggression popularity norms, as well as the role of homeroom teachers' aggression beliefs and students' perceptions of teachers' support as predictors of such variations. To achieve this goal, a sample of 63 classrooms were assessed at four time points during a school year, in nine…

An emerging literature suggests that females are more likely than males to take and post selfies and that such selfies tend to both conform to and legitimize the sexualization of femininity. It has been found that key predictors of selfie behaviors are narcissistic personality traits and that taking a higher number of selfies may, in turn, put…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a pilot school-based intervention called CEPIDEA, designed to promote prosocial behavior in early adolescence. The study took place in a middle school located in a small city near Rome. The intervention group included 151 students (52.3% males; M[subscript age] = 12.4), and the control group…

High and stable levels of aggression and the presence of aggressive behaviour in multiple settings according to different informants are risk factors for later problems. However, these two factors have not been investigated in early childhood. The present study investigates trajectories of parent-reported child aggression from 1.5 up to 6 years of…

The first Norwegian Manifesto (Manifesto-I) Against Bullying was launched by the Prime Minister in autumn 2002 and lasted for 2 years. A background for Manifesto-I was that school bullying had increased almost linearly in Norway with over 60% more victims and bullies since 1995. During the manifest period, the percentage of victims and bullies…

Aggressive behavior between children in schools is a topic that receives much interest as violence and aggressive behavior cause many maladaptive social outcomes in the school setting. In the current study the Implicit Association Test (IAT) was adapted as a measure of children's implicit aggression, by assessing the association of the self…

In 2003 Australia was one of the first countries to develop an integrated national policy, called the National Safe Schools Framework (NSSF), for the prevention and management of violence, bullying, and other aggressive behaviors. The effectiveness of this framework has not yet been formally evaluated. Cross-sectional data collected in 2007 from…

Using social network analysis, we investigated the characteristics of social networks composed of positive relationships (positive network: PN) and negative relationships (negative network: NN) in classrooms of Japanese 3- and 4-year-olds. Analysis of "density" showed that PNs were denser than NNs among 4-year-olds but that this was not…

With 338 fifth-grade students as subjects, this study found the variations in the relation between school bullying and social preference as a function of gender and types of aggressive behavior utilized. Aggressive boys were likely to be rejected by peers, whereas aggressive girls were both rejected and accepted by peers. Children nominated…

Given the rapid increase in studies of bullying and peer harassment among youth, it becomes important to understand just what is being researched. This study explored whether the themes that emerged from "children's" definitions of bullying were consistent with theoretical and methodological operationalizations within the research…

In order to facilitate the comprehension of social structure in preschool children, our research has two foci: first, to define controlling behaviours (nonaggressive group organisation) and to determine their organisational principles, and second, to analyse the relation of the controlling behaviours with aggressive behaviours. Through direct…