This study examined the intervening role of empathy in the relations between identity styles (i.e., information-oriented, normative, and diffuse-avoidant styles), and inter-personal behaviors (i.e., prosocial behavior, self- and other-oriented helping, and physical and relational aggression). In a sample of 341 emerging adults, it was found that…

The aim of this study was to investigate the unique and combined role of friendship quality and friends' aggression in regard to the persistence of young children's physical aggression from kindergarten to grade 2. The sample included 1555 children (808 girls) assessed annually using teacher ratings. Two theoretical perspectives (i.e., the social…

This investigation examines the extent to which characteristics of the teacher-child relationship (closeness, dependency, and conflict) are predictive of changes in children's peer victimization and aggressive behavior over the course of a school year. Relational and physical forms of victimization and aggression were studied, and changes in peer…

Few studies have examined the nature of aggression in emerging adulthood (ages 18-25), a unique developmental period wherein relationships become increasingly important and intimate. Consistent with a greater emphasis on relationships, relationally manipulative forms of aggression may be particularly salient during this time period. Based on…

We examined associations of maternal and child emotional discourse and child emotion knowledge with children's behavioral competence. Eighty-five upper middle-income, mostly White preschoolers and mothers completed a home-based bookreading task to assess discourse about emotions. Children's anger perception bias and emotion situation knowledge…

Children and adolescents between 6 and 15 years of age were asked to report on typical same-sex peers' aggressive responses to a hostile act that had occurred in dyads and groups that were either compatible or incompatible. Results demonstrated that females were expected to display the highest levels of aggression in compatible one-on-one…

Clarifies authors' position on the Social Information Processing (SIP) model. Argues that a definition of social competence free of reference to social desirability to assess links with bullying skills and motivations is possible. Asserts that focusing on motivations might provide a clearer theoretical understanding of bullying and a more…

Elementary school children's moral reasoning concerning physical and relational aggression was explored. Fourth and fifth graders rated physical aggression as more wrong and harmful than relational aggression but tended to adopt a moral orientation about both forms of aggression. Gender differences in moral judgments of aggression were observed,…

Occasions where children oppose each other have been claimed to convey intellectual benefits through their association with justification and resolution. They have been claimed to promote social rejection through their association with aggression. Because it is inconceivable that intellectual benefits imply social costs, either the relation…

Investigated interactional properties and developmental functions of the following four types of aggressive behaviors in adolescents: social aggression, direct relational aggression, physical aggression, and verbal aggression. Found that the majority of conflict interactions involved more than a dyad, and that social aggression was an initiating…