United States and Indonesian Children’s and Adolescents’ Reports of Relational Aggression by Disliked Peers

Abstract

Descriptions of disliked peers provided by U.S. (N = 104) and Indonesian (N = 120) 11- and 14-year-old children were coded for references to physical, verbaL and three types of relational aggression (i.e., relationship manipulation, social ostracism, and malicious rumors). Physical aggression was mentioned more frequently by boys, adolescents, and Indonesians, whereas no significant differences emerged for verbal aggression. Girls in both countries described peers as engaging in the three types of relational aggression more frequently than did boys. Findings that relational aggression was spontaneously mentioned suggests that this is a salient feature of children's lives and its emergence is not attributable to the use of questionnaires and imposed category systems. The widespread existence of this gender difference is suggested by its prominence in two cultures that differ in individualism and collectivism, gender roles, and attitudes toward aggression.

Peer Relationships in Adolescence

“…It is possible that the vignettes failed to measure the cognitive processes captured by previous studies of the subject, but it is also possible that the bias applies less to those who are inclined to relational, as opposed to overt aggression. French, Jansen, and Pidada ( 2002 ) speculated that the higher rates of relational aggression found among girls, compared to boys, in North America might be mitigated in more collectivist cultures. They compared references to aggression among 5th and 8th graders in the United States and Indonesia who were asked to name two peers they disliked and then explain why they disliked them.…”

Future Directions for Research on the Development of Relational and Physical Peer Victimization

“…Thus, to reconcile these seemingly disparate findings, we echo recent calls for peer victimization scholars to work diligently to conceptualize culture in developmental ways (Prinstein & Giletta, in press) using an emic or culturally specific approach and to improve direct cultural assessment rather than assuming etic or culturally universal processes and assessments are valid. It is also the case that there may be some cultural contexts in which physical and overt forms of victimization are not tolerated, but gossip, social exclusion, and other forms of relational victimization are the modal means of harm, and much more attention to these issues are needed in cross-cultural work (e.g., French, Jansen, & Pidada, 2003). Moreover, relational victimization may be more harmful and developmentally salient for those with interdependent self-construals and collectivistic values (Ostrov & Godleski, 2010).…”

Measures of Aggression in Young Korean Children: A Review of 10 Years of Empirical Research

“…This may be because gender differences in the orientation of social relationships have not been established for young children. A study [9] suggested that female relational aggression would be clearly identified only around school ages and adolescence when children's social cognition develops rapidly. This implies that gender differences in relational aggression may differ by developmental age.…”

“…On the other hand, relational aggression concerns covert behaviors such as social exclusion and spreading rumors intended to harm others' social status and reputation. It has been known that relational aggression is more common in adolescents [9], but a simple form of social exclusion (i.e., rejecting a child repeatedly) can be also observed in preschool play settings Aggressive behaviors of Korean preschoolers have been commonly evaluated by reports of parents, teachers, and peers in family and school contexts. Due to lack of language fluency, interviews are rarely administered to infants and preschoolers.…”