Relational aggression, alternative aggression, or relational bullying is a type of aggression in which harm is caused by damaging someone's relationships or social status. [1] [2]
Although it can be used in many contexts and among different age groups, relational aggression among adolescents in particular, has received a lot of attention.
The attention relational aggression has received has been augmented by the help of popular media, including movies like Mean Girls and books like Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons (2002), Nesthäkchen and the World War by Else Ury (1916), and Queen Bees and Wannabes by R. Wiseman (2003).
Relational aggression can have various lifelong consequences. Relational aggression has been primarily observed and studied among girls, following pioneering research by psychologist Nicki R. Crick. [2]
A person's peers become increasingly significant in adolescence and are especially important for adolescents' healthy psychological development. Peers provide many new behavioral models and feedback that are essential for successful identity formation and for the development of one's sense of self. [3] [4] Interactions with peers encourage positive practice of autonomy and independent decision-making skills. [5] They are also essential for healthy sexual development including the development of the capacity for intimate friendships and learning appropriate sexual behavior. [6] Peer relationships are also very important for determining how much adolescents value school, how much effort they put into it, and how well they perform in class. [7] [8] However, quite frequently adolescents take part in peer relationships that are harmful for their psychological development. Adolescents tend to form various cliques and belong to different crowds based on their activity interests, music and clothing preferences, as well as their cultural or ethnic background. [9] Such groups differ in their sociometric or popularity status, which often create unhealthy, aggression-victimization based dynamics between groups. Different forms of aggression can also be used to control dynamics and sociometric status within a group. Sometimes aggression is directed to an individual rather than to any apparent social group. Primary reasons for victimization include looks and speech; adolescents are also frequently bullied because of a disability, particular ethnicity, or religion. [10] [11]
Relational aggression is defined as a type of aggression that is "intended to harm others through deliberate manipulation of their social standing and relationships". [12] Relational aggression, according to Daniel Olweus [13] is a type of bullying. Bullying in general, is defined as physically or psychologically violent re-occurring and not provoked acts, where the bully and victim have unequal physical strength or psychological power. [14] These key conditions apply to all types of bullying: verbal, physical and relational. [13]
Relational aggression may be either covert or direct, and is distinct from other forms of indirect aggression. [15] It can be proactive (planned and goal-oriented) or reactive (in response to perceived threats, hostility, or anger), and it can be, for instance, peer-directed or romantic. [15] Several studies have indicated substantive differences between proactive and reactive relational aggression. Reactive aggression is associated with a tendency to assume that others' intentions are hostile (hostile attribution bias). [15]
Most studies of relational aggression have involved children or adolescents; the study of relational aggression in adults presents problems. [15] Relational aggression is a common aspect of workplace bullying, and is a characteristic behaviour of psychopaths in the workplace, so it is commonplace amongst adults as well as children. [16]
Manifestations of relational aggression include: [17]
Psychological manipulation and coercion can also be considered as a type of relational aggression.
Most recent research has been focusing on cyberbullying, which is a relatively new yet increasingly popular way of engaging in both verbal and relational aggression due to growing importance of various communication and technology devices in modern societies. [18] Some studies show that internet meanness is more common among girls than boys. [11]
Many studies in the U.S. and Europe show that at least 30% of students report having been bullied in one or another way.[ citation needed ] Some studies indicate even higher percentages of victimization. [10] Bullying in schools happens in all forms and at various ages, although peer bullying has the highest prevalence in 6th–8th grades. [19] The most common forms of bullying are verbal with relational, or various forms of ostracism, coming in second. [20]
Although it can be used by both genders, relational aggression is more commonly associated with girls. [10] Findings of a study by Rivers and Smith [21] have shown that while verbal aggression occurs with similar frequency in both sexes, direct physical aggression is more common among boys and indirect aggression is more common among girls. In another study by Baldry [22] it was found that boys are more likely to engage in bullying behaviors such as threats, physical harm, rejection, and name-calling, while girls are most likely to use name-calling, teasing, rumors, rejection, and taking personal belongings. Based on these findings, girls do seem to use relational aggression more than boys.
In addition, recent international research shows that both genders tend to use relational aggression, but girls are more aware and distressed by it. [23] [24] [25] For example, a study by Horn [26] found that girls are more likely to say that it is morally wrong to exclude someone based on their crowd membership.
Some research shows that there are certain implications when boys and girls engage in gender-atypical aggression, as girls who are more physically aggressive or boys who are highly relationally aggressive are more maladjusted than their peers. [27]
Sociometric status, commonly referred as popularity, is one of the most significant predictors of victimization or bullying as differences in popularity can be associated with differences in social power. It is commonly believed that aggressive adolescents belong to rejected social groups. However, some research shows that they can be popular among their peers. [28] [29] Rodkin et al. (2000), [30] for example, describes two types of popular boys: "model" boys, who are "physically and academically competent, friendly and neither shy nor aggressive." [17] Second type is described as "tough" and such adolescents are "aggressive, physically competent, and average or below average in friendliness, academic competence, and shyness." [17] Usually the more popular aggressive adolescents use instrumental aggression and not reactive aggression. [31] [32] Instrumental aggression is defined as behavior that is deliberate and planned while reactive aggression is unplanned and impulsive. [17] Relational aggression can be greatly instrumental for maintaining the popularity status of a group among other groups, as well as specific relationship and status dynamics inside a group. Ojala and Nesdale (2004) [33] found that both victims and bullies normally come from rejected groups. Bullies choose to bully students who are members of their social out-groups that are similar to their own in-group as a result of threatened distinctiveness. Hence, the need to maintain a unique social identity and status can be one of the causes to engage in bullying. Using relational aggression to maintain a particular social order inside the group has been mostly observed in girl groups: if some member of the group becomes too popular and this causes imbalance in the group, other members might start rumors about the overly popular girl to diminish her status. [34] Amanda Rose (2004) [35] claims that the main purpose of using relational aggression in first place is to enhance or maintain one's social status. Many skills that are needed to be popular are also essential for being "successful" at employing relational aggression, e.g. ability to "read" people and adjust one's behavior accordingly, etc. [17] The researcher suggests that some aggressive boys are popular because they are also good at using relational aggression, and, therefore, their primary reason for popularity is not their physical but relational aggression.
Research shows that there are three types of rejected or unpopular adolescents who are very likely to be involved in bullying behavior. [36] [37] [38] First type includes adolescents who are overly aggressive: they tend to get into fights, get involved in antisocial activities, and are often involved in bullying; [39] second type includes adolescents who are withdrawn or timid and exceedingly shy and inhibited and who are more likely to be victims; [40] third aggressive-withdrawn-type adolescents tend to have trouble controlling their hostility, but they are also very shy and nervous about initiating friendships. [41] The latter are likely to be bully-victims. Other students- bystanders can also choose between several roles: victim-defender, bully-reinforcer or assistant, and outsiders.
Victims or the unpopular withdrawn children are excessively anxious, lack social skills needed to initiate new contacts or break into a group activity. [42] Their lack of confidence combined with submissiveness make them perfect targets for bullying. [43] [44] Some of the most common underlying reasons for bullying include low socioeconomic status, disability, and obesity. [45] [46] [47] Research shows that in comparison with other adolescents victims often use worse problem solving strategies. [48] They often score less than their bullies and defenders in the tests of moral competence and theory of mind. [49] Moral competence refers to the ability to carefully consider both the consequences and prior beliefs in determining how morally right or wrong one's actions are. Victims seemed to focus primarily on the outcomes and not being as good in integrating the moral beliefs. They have difficulties in social skills, and social problem solving, as well as emotional regulation. [50] And because of their lack of social competence, victims score low on peer acceptance and popularity. [51] [52] Victims are often overly sensitive to being rejected, which might originate in their relationships with parents. [53]
Bullies, despite being quite morally competent, tend to engage in morally wrong behaviors because of several reasons, including a lack of moral compassion. [49] In general, bullies seem to engage in a kind of cold cognition and have a good theory of mind. They also have an average to good social intelligence. [49] These skills seem to be especially important in order to use relational aggression in an instrumental manner—for achieving specific social goals. As mentioned previously, male and female bullies usually score differently on sociometric measures. Male bullies often fall in the socially rejected category [51] [52] while female bullies tend to fall in the controversial category. They can be popular yet not liked. [51]
Many unpopular aggressive kids seem to engage in hostile attributional bias when analyzing the actions of others: they are more likely to interpret other children's behavior as hostile while it is not, [54] [55] which can cause the perpetuation of their aggressive behaviors.
Bully-victims are people who have both experienced aggression directed towards them and have themselves engaged in bullying. They often choose to be bully assistants or reinforcers. [56] Seeing others victimized can serve as a buffer against some psychological problems, for which these people are at risk (see consequences of victimization below). In comparison to all other groups, bully-victims are the worst off regarding their psychological adjustment and problems. They are least liked among the peers. [10]
A bystander is a person who observes a prejudiced attack towards another person and chooses to ignore it. [57] Although early research has mostly focused on victims and bullies, currently more and more attention has been given to the roles of other students, or bystanders: bully-reinforcer's and assistants, victim-defenders, and outsiders. [51] Bullying is something that occurs when there is an audience and some even assume that bullying would completely stop if no one was watching.[ citation needed ] Bystanders are a lot more likely to help when they know the victim or the victim is a woman. [58]
Bully-reinforcers and assistants do not normally initiate aggressive actions themselves, but they support, reinforce, and assist the bully. They often have rather large friendship networks when compared to outsiders, victims, and their defenders. [59] These individuals are similar to bullies in regards of their personal characteristics. Female bully-reinforcers and assistants usually score low on social acceptance and high on rejection by their peers while male bully assistants have average scores on both and bully-reinforcers are often quite popular among their peers. [51] The characteristic that is common among all these individuals across both genders is low level of empathy. [56]
Victim-defenders are individuals who stand up for the victim. They are usually popular among their peers, [49] [51] although occasionally rejected and victimized adolescents take on the defender's role. [51] Defenders like to befriend other defenders and usually belong to the smallest social network of all other previously mentioned groups. [51] Defenders have both advanced moral competence and high level of compassion. They also score high on the theory of mind tests. They are usually very morally engaged, have a high sense of responsibility, and self-efficacy. [49] They are also good at emotion regulation. [60]
Outsiders are adolescents who like to stay away from the conflict situations, participate in spreading rumors, or actively support either side. They usually befriend other outsiders. Both male and female outsiders usually score below average on both social acceptance and rejection by their peers. [51] In general, the best predictor for whether an adolescent will choose to be a defender or an outsider in a particular situation is their relationship to the victim or bully. [56] Occasionally, adolescents will feel more comfortable to intervene if they are friends of the offender. [61] However, in general they will take the side of the bully or victim based on who they know better. [62] Bullies are more likely to be friends of other bullies, as well as their reinforcers, and assistants, while victims befriend other victims.
There are serious negative consequences associated with being involved in any aggressive behaviors. And while problems with peers might be a result of one's poor social skills and maladjustment, difficulty making friends, and regular experience of aggression can also be a cause of many short and long term negative consequences on one's mental health and academic and professional achievements. [63] [64] [65] Experience of relational aggression, peer rejection, and unpopularity are shown to be linked to various problems in adolescence, which are listed below: [66] [67] [68] [69]
Some negative effects persist into adulthood. In a longitudinal study, Dan Olweus (2003) [43] found that young adults, who were victims of bullying in adolescence, had more symptoms of depression and lower self-esteem than did their non-victimized peers. Victims are also much more likely to engage in heavy smoking later in life. [71] Decreased academic engagement due to victimization can have some long term consequences as victim's lower educational attainment in adulthood leads to lower earnings. [72]
There are differences in consequences among the children who are rejected and aggressive, also known as bully-victims, and children who are rejected and withdrawn, also referred to as simply victims. Aggressive individuals often have conduct problems and are involved in antisocial activity. [73] [74] [75] [76] [77] Withdrawn children feel exceedingly lonely, at risk of low self-esteem, depression, and diminished social competence. [76] [78] Adolescents who are both aggressive and withdrawn are at greatest risk for various mental and behavioral problems. [79] [66] [80]
Although victims respond to bullying in various ways, some of the most common ways include avoidance or escape behaviors, such as not going to school and running away from home. However, in some extreme cases, suicide attempts might occur. [81] Compared to non-victims, victims exhibit increased levels of suicidal ideation. [11] [82] [83] and are more likely to have attempted suicide. [11] [84] [85] [86] Researcher Y.S. Kim (2005) [85] found that there are some gender differences as victimized female but not male students were at significantly greater risk for suicidal ideation. Further research has shown that increased risk for suicidal ideation and attempts depend on a specific interaction between gender, frequency, and type of aggression. Relational or indirect aggression was found to be associated with depression and suicidal ideation among both genders. [87] According to Brustein and Klomek (2007), [11] victimization at any frequency increased the risk of depression, ideation, and attempts among girls, while only frequent victimization increased the risk of depression and ideation among males; yet, Katliala-Heino et al. (1999) [88] found that severe ideation was associated with frequent victimization only among girls.
Some adolescents are more resilient to victimization due to their personal characteristics, but there are some environmental factors such as having a best friend or great family support can decrease the risk for many negative consequences associated with victimization. [89] In addition, research shows that support from teachers can be a significant environmental factor for higher academic achievement and school engagement. It can also increase general well-being in the classroom. [90] Teacher attitudes towards bullying were found to moderate the extent to which victims internalize and feel distressed and express it by avoiding school and similar behavior. [91] Close teacher-student relationship moderates perceived safety in the classroom, and higher perceived safety is directly linked to better classroom concentration and improved coping strategies. [92] Therefore, supportive friends, family, and teachers can be great buffers for victimized students against all negative effects of victimization. Witnessing the harassment of others can also reduce some harmful effects of being victimized: [93] victims-only feel more humiliated and angry than victims-witnesses on the same day. Being singled out and picked on feels worse than being one of many victimized students. This explains why in ethnically diverse schools victimized students experience worse psychological outcomes when their ethnic group is in majority, because then they are more likely to attribute it to their personal shortcomings and not to their group membership. [94]
There are many prevention programs, which have been designed to improve social skills of the unpopular and victimized adolescents. Prevention programs usually focus on one of the three strategies:
Different types of programs have shown to have somewhat different effects: the first type seems to best improve adolescent's ability to get along with others while the second type has shown to improve adolescents' self-conceptions and their acceptance by others. [99] One of the examples of the programs using the third approach is PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) teaches skills needed for successfully analyzing social situations, controlling one's negative emotions, and making more rational social decisions. It has been shown to successfully reduce behavioral problems among elementary school children. [100] However, it is difficult to prevent relational aggression from happening as often adolescents who use it are seen to be more popular among their peers. [35]
Aggression is hostile and antagonistic behavior, often with the intent to cause harm, although it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reactively or without provocation. In humans, aggression can be caused by various triggers. For example, built-up frustration due to blocked goals or perceived disrespect. Human aggression can be classified into direct and indirect aggression; whilst the former is characterized by physical or verbal behavior intended to cause harm to someone, the latter is characterized by behavior intended to harm the social relations of an individual or group.
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood. Adolescence is usually associated with the teenage years, but its physical, psychological or cultural expressions may begin earlier or end later. Puberty typically begins during preadolescence, particularly in females. Physical growth and cognitive development can extend past the teens. Age provides only a rough marker of adolescence, and scholars have not agreed upon a precise definition. Some definitions start as early as 10 and end as late as 26, and possibly 30. The World Health Organization definition officially designates an adolescent as someone between the ages of 10 and 19.
Conduct disorder (CD) is a mental disorder diagnosed in childhood or adolescence that presents itself through a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior that includes theft, lies, physical violence that may lead to destruction, and reckless breaking of rules, in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate norms are violated. These behaviors are often referred to as "antisocial behaviors", and is often seen as the precursor to antisocial personality disorder; however, the latter, by definition, cannot be diagnosed until the individual is 18 years old. Conduct disorder may result from parental rejection and neglect and can be treated with family therapy, as well as behavioral modifications and pharmacotherapy. Conduct disorder is estimated to affect 51.1 million people globally as of 2013.
In sociology, a peer group is both a social group and a primary group of people who have similar interests (homophily), age, background, or social status. The members of this group are likely to influence the person's beliefs and behaviour.
Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception of an imbalance of physical or social power. This imbalance distinguishes bullying from conflict. Bullying is a subcategory of aggressive behavior characterized by hostile intent, imbalance of power and repetition over a period of time.
Adolescent cliques are cliques that develop amongst adolescents. In the social sciences, the word "clique" is used to describe a group of 3 to 12 "who interact with each other more regularly and intensely than others in the same setting". Cliques are distinguished from "crowds" in that their members socially interact with one another more than the typical crowd. Crowds, on the other hand, are defined by reputation. Although the word 'clique' or 'cliquey' is often used in day-to-day conversation to describe relational aggression or snarky, gossipy behaviors of groups of socially dominant teenage girls, that is not always accurate. Interacting with cliques is part of normative social development regardless of gender, ethnicity, or popularity. Although cliques are most commonly studied during adolescence and in educational settings, they can exist in all age groups and settings.
School violence includes violence between school students as well as attacks by students on school staff. It encompasses physical violence, including student-on-student fighting, corporal punishment; psychological violence such as verbal abuse, and sexual violence, including rape and sexual harassment. It includes many forms of bullying and carrying weapons to school. The one or more perpetrators typically have more physical, social, and/or psychological power than the victim. It is a widely accepted serious societal problem in recent decades in many countries, especially where weapons such as guns or knives are involved.
Sibling abuse includes the physical, psychological, or sexual abuse of one sibling by another. More often than not, the younger sibling is abused by the older sibling. Sibling abuse is the most common of family violence in the US, but the least reported. As opposed to sibling rivalry, sibling abuse is characterized by the one-sided treatment of one sibling to another.
School bullying, like bullying outside the school context, refers to one or more perpetrators who have greater physical strength or more social power than their victim and who repeatedly act aggressively toward their victim. Bullying can be verbal or physical. Bullying, with its ongoing character, is distinct from one-off types of peer conflict. Different types of school bullying include ongoing physical, emotional, and/or verbal aggression. Cyberbullying and sexual bullying are also types of bullying. Bullying even exists in higher education. There are warning signs that suggest that a child is being bullied, a child is acting as a bully, or a child has witnessed bullying at school.
Sociometric status is a measurement that reflects the degree to which someone is liked or disliked by their peers as a group. While there are some studies that have looked at sociometric status among adults, the measure is primarily used with children and adolescents to make inferences about peer relations and social competence.
Victimization refers to a person being made into a victim by someone else and can take on psychological as well as physical forms, both of which are damaging to victims. Forms of victimization include bullying or peer victimization, physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, robbery, and assault. Some of these forms of victimization are commonly associated with certain populations, but they can happen to others as well. For example, bullying or peer victimization is most commonly studied in children and adolescents but also takes place between adults. Although anyone may be victimized, particular groups may be more susceptible to certain types of victimization and as a result to the symptoms and consequences that follow. Individuals respond to victimization in a wide variety of ways, so noticeable symptoms of victimization will vary from person to person. These symptoms may take on several different forms, be associated with specific forms of victimization, and be moderated by individual characteristics of the victim and/or experiences after victimization.
Peer victimization is the experience among children of being a target of the aggressive behavior of other children, who are not siblings and not necessarily age-mates.
Bullying is abusive social interaction between peers can include aggression, harassment, and violence. Bullying is typically repetitive and enacted by those who are in a position of power over the victim. A growing body of research illustrates a significant relationship between bullying and emotional intelligence.
Hostile attribution bias, or hostile attribution of intent, is the tendency to interpret others' behaviors as having hostile intent, even when the behavior is ambiguous or benign. For example, a person with high levels of hostile attribution bias might see two people laughing and immediately interpret this behavior as two people laughing about them, even though the behavior was ambiguous and may have been benign.
Nicki Rae Crick was a psychologist and professor of child development and family studies known internationally for her research on relational aggression, defined as the use of relationships as agents of harm. At the time of her death, she held the position of Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Psychology at the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota.
Debra Pepler is a Canadian psychologist known for her research and advocacy within the field of childhood aggression and bullying. She is currently a distinguished research professor at York University in Toronto, Ontario.
Deborah M. Capaldi is a developmental psychologist known for her research on at-risk male youth and the intergenerational transmission of substance use, antisocial behavior, intimate partner violence, and child abuse. She is a senior scientist at the Oregon Social Learning Center. Her current projects focus on child exposure to family violence and parenting practices of at-risk parents.
Wendy Marion Craig is a Canadian clinical-developmental psychologist known for her research and advocacy in the field of childhood bullying. She is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Queen's University at Kingston in Ontario, Canada.
Christina Salmivalli is a Finnish professor of psychology and the deputy head of the INVEST research flagship at the University of Turku in Finland. Salmivalli is recognized as an expert on peer relations and school bullying.
René Veenstra is Professor of Sociology at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He was the scientific director of the Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS) from 2014 to 2023. The ICS is a joint graduate school of the sociology departments of the University of Groningen, Utrecht University, the Radboud University Nijmegen, and the University of Amsterdam.
relational aggression – intended to harm others through deliberate manipulation of their social standing and relationships