Aggression: Behavior aimed at harming or injuring others – May be Physical: Harms others through physical injury (exs: pushing, hitting, destroying another’s property) Verbal: Harms others through threats of physical aggression, name-calling, or hostile teasing Relational: Damages another’s peer relationships through social exclusion (ex: “You can’t play with us” or refusing to talk to a peer), malicious gossip/rumors, manipulating friendships (“Don’t play with her; she’s a nerd”) – Relational aggression is one type of verbal aggression

Categories of Aggressive Behavior Hostile Aggression – Goal is to harm or injure a victim physically or psychologically – Can be physical, verbal, or relational

Instrumental Aggression – Goal is to gain access to objects, space, or privileges Ex: knocking a child over and taking a toy away; pushing a sibling off a parent’s lap – Usually physical, but may also be verbal

Developmental Trends in Aggression (Normative Development) Conflicts between infants over objects are common between 12 and 18 months but typically do not involve aggression At around 18 months of age, physical aggression begins to occur more consistently and increases in frequency until about age 2 or 3 – Exs: hitting, pushing

In general, physical aggression decreases beginning around age 3 – But there is an increase in verbal and relational aggression beginning around age 3 Exs: insults, taunting, name-calling (verbal); “you can’t play with us” (relational)

Older and Younger Preschoolers Older preschoolers (4-5) are more likely than younger preschoolers (2-3) to use negotiation rather than any type of aggression Most preschoolers’ aggression is instrumental But older preschoolers are more likely than younger preschoolers to engage in hostile aggression Better able to recognize hostile intentions

Gender Differences Gender differences in physical aggression emerge in the late preschool years (4-5 years) – Boys are more physically aggressive than girls Evidence is mixed, but it appears that rates of verbal and relational aggression do not vary much by child gender – Most of girls’ aggression is relational from the preschool period onward – Boys engage in physical, verbal, and relational aggression—a wider variety of aggressive behaviors

Stability of Aggression Aggression is moderately stable over time

Factors Related to Individual Differences in Aggression in Young Children – Temperament Infants and toddlers who are high in distress and demanding are more likely to have higher levels of problem behaviors from the preschool years on Preschoolers who are high in activity level, high in distress, and low in attention span/persistence are more likely to show aggressive behavior and other problem behaviors later in life

– Parental punitiveness/discipline style Frequent harsh physical punishment is related to problem behaviors including aggression – Especially true if parents are also low in sensitivity/ responsiveness and use other forms of power-assertive discipline frequently » Form of discipline which emphasizes the greater power of the parent over the child (with little explanation/rationale provided to child) Ex: physical punishment; controlling, often harsh verbal behavior (e.g., “Do it now!”, “Do it because I said so!”, “Stop it!”)

– Parental Conflict Children exposed to frequent verbal conflict and/or physical violence between parents are more likely to show aggressive behavior, especially if: – Parents attack each other and then withdraw (no resolution) – Parental conflict affects parenting behavior negatively— parents are less sensitive/responsive to children

– Coercive home environments Home in which family members often irritate/annoy one another and rely on aggressive methods to stop the irritation/annoyance Negative reinforcement plays an important role in maintaining coercive home environments – Negative reinforcer: A stimulus whose removal or termination after an act occurs increases the probability that the act will occur again

Example of a “coercive” interaction: – Child whines/cries because he doesn’t get a toy he wants – Parent tries to control child’s behavior by using power assertion—e.g., “You can’t have it!”, “Stop crying now!”, etc. – Child responds by increasing his negative behaviors—screaming, tantruming, becoming aggressive, etc. – Child’s behavior is so aversive to parent that the parent gives in to the child’s demands in order to stop the child’s negative behavior (parent is negatively reinforced) – Child gets toy and calms down (child is positively reinforced)

Consequences: – Child is likely to show “out-of-control” behavior again because he gets his demands met Learns that increasing negative behaviors leads parent to give in and give him/her what he/she wants (positive reinforcement) – Parent will “give in” in the future because the child’s behavior is so aversive and giving in makes the child stop behaving badly (negative reinforcement)