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Aggression, Gender, and Ethnicity

NCJ Number
162806
Journal
Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1996) Pages: 123-146
Author(s)
M B Harris
Date Published
1996
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Research that considered separately the genders of the perpetrator and the victim of aggression revealed that aggression and gender were related in a number of ways.
Abstract
In several studies using multiple measures, men reported that they had behaved more aggressively than women, had been the target of more aggression from others, and had received more aggression from other males than from females. In other studies, participants' evaluations of aggressive behavior and beliefs about whether others should behave aggressively were different depending on the gender of the potential aggressor and the target. Although these general tendencies were found for white, black, and Hispanic persons, ethnicity and other variables sometimes interacted with gender to influence aggression. The author is also conducting research focusing on the differential perception of aggression by males and females and by people of different ethnic groups. Taken as a group, the studies clearly reveal that gender influences the type of aggressive experiences a person has had as well as the anticipation, evaluation, and instigation of aggression. The research also suggests that sociocultural variables such as cultural norms and gender role stereotypes, previous experiences with aggression, attitudes toward the aggression of others, and judgments of the justifiability of retaliation are more important than biological factors in their effects on aggressive behaviors. The findings are generally consistent with a social learning view of aggression and indicate that it is influenced by individual, contextual, and cultural variables. 136 references (Author abstract modified)