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Group social context and children's aggressive behavior.

Publication ,  Journal Article
DeRosier, ME; Cillessen, AH; Coie, JD; Dodge, KA
Published in: Child development
August 1994

Very little is known about the influence of the social-psychological context on children's aggressive behavior. The purpose of this research was to examine the interrelations of group contextual factors and the occurrence of aggressive behavior in 22 experimental play groups of 7- and 9-year-old African-American boys. Group context was examined before, during, and after an aggressive act as well as during nonaggressive periods. The results showed that there are dimensions of group context (i.e., negative affect, high aversive behavior, high activity level, low group cohesion, competitiveness) that were related to the occurrence of aggressive behavior between 2 children in the group. Group context influenced how children reacted to aggression between its members (e.g., siding with the victim), which in turn influenced the quality of the postaggression group atmosphere. This study suggests that individual-within-context information be incorporated into theories of aggression among children.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Child development

DOI

EISSN

1467-8624

ISSN

0009-3920

Publication Date

August 1994

Volume

65

Issue

4

Start / End Page

1068 / 1079

Related Subject Headings

  • Sociometric Techniques
  • Social Control, Informal
  • Psychological Theory
  • Play and Playthings
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Group Processes
  • Gestalt Theory
  • Gender Identity
  • Developmental & Child Psychology
 

Citation

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DeRosier, M. E., Cillessen, A. H., Coie, J. D., & Dodge, K. A. (1994). Group social context and children's aggressive behavior. Child Development, 65(4), 1068–1079. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1994.tb00803.x
DeRosier, M. E., A. H. Cillessen, J. D. Coie, and K. A. Dodge. “Group social context and children's aggressive behavior.Child Development 65, no. 4 (August 1994): 1068–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1994.tb00803.x.
DeRosier ME, Cillessen AH, Coie JD, Dodge KA. Group social context and children's aggressive behavior. Child development. 1994 Aug;65(4):1068–79.
DeRosier, M. E., et al. “Group social context and children's aggressive behavior.Child Development, vol. 65, no. 4, Aug. 1994, pp. 1068–79. Epmc, doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1994.tb00803.x.
DeRosier ME, Cillessen AH, Coie JD, Dodge KA. Group social context and children's aggressive behavior. Child development. 1994 Aug;65(4):1068–1079.
Journal cover image

Published In

Child development

DOI

EISSN

1467-8624

ISSN

0009-3920

Publication Date

August 1994

Volume

65

Issue

4

Start / End Page

1068 / 1079

Related Subject Headings

  • Sociometric Techniques
  • Social Control, Informal
  • Psychological Theory
  • Play and Playthings
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Group Processes
  • Gestalt Theory
  • Gender Identity
  • Developmental & Child Psychology