Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T03:44:30.509Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

No sex differences in the origins of covariation between social and physical aggression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2018

Brooke L. Slawinski Open the ORCID record for Brooke L. Slawinski [Opens in a new window] ,
Kelly L. Klump Open the ORCID record for Kelly L. Klump [Opens in a new window]  and
S. Alexandra Burt Open the ORCID record for S. Alexandra Burt [Opens in a new window]
Brooke L. Slawinski
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 316 Physics Road, Room 37A, Psychology Building, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
Kelly L. Klump
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 316 Physics Road, Room 37A, Psychology Building, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
S. Alexandra Burt*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 316 Physics Road, Room 37A, Psychology Building, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
*
Author for correspondence: S. Alexandra Burt, E-mail: burts@msu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Prior work has indicated both theoretical and empirical overlap between social and physical aggression. The extent to which their covariance can be explained by the same underlying genetic or environmental factors, however, remains unclear. It is also uncertain whether or how the origins of their covariance might vary across sex. The current study sought to fill these gaps in the literature.

Methods

We examined maternal and teacher reports of youth physical and social aggression in over 1000 6–10 years old (mean age = 8.02 years) twin pairs from the Michigan State University Twin Registry. We made use of the bivariate correlated factors model to clarify the origins of their association. We further tested both sex difference and no-sex difference versions of that model to determine whether there are sex differences in the association between social and physical aggression, as often assumed.

Results

The covariation between social and physical aggression was due to overlapping genetic factors and common environmental conditions. Specifically, 50–57% of the genetic factors, 74–100% of the shared environmental factors, and 28–40% of the unique environmental factors influencing physical aggression also influenced social aggression according to both mother and teacher reports. These shared etiological factors did not differ across sex.

Conclusions

These findings argue against the common assumption that social aggression is the ‘female version’ of male physical aggression, and instead suggest that social aggression may be best conceptualized as a form of antisocial behavior that shares developmental pathways with other manifestations of externalizing pathology.

Keywords

Etiologyphysical aggressionrelational aggressionsex differencessocial aggressiontwins
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 49 , Issue 15 , November 2019 , pp. 2515 - 2523
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akaike, H (1987) Factor analysis and AIC. Psychometrika 52, 317–332.Google Scholar
Allison, PD (2003) Missing data techniques for structural equation modeling. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 112, 545–557.Google Scholar
Archer, J (2004) Sex differences in aggression in real-world settings: a meta-analytic review. Review of General Psychology 8, 291.Google Scholar
Archer, J (2006) Testosterone and human aggression: an evaluation of the challenge hypothesis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 30, 319–345.Google Scholar
Archer, J and Coyne, SM (2005) An integrated review of indirect, relational, and social aggression. Personality and Social Psychology Review 9, 212–230.Google Scholar
Archer, J, Graham-Kevan, N and Davies, M (2005) Testosterone and aggression: a reanalysis of Book, Starzyk, and Quinsey's (2001) study. Aggression and Violent Behavior 10, 241–261.Google Scholar
Björkqvist, K (1994) Sex differences in physical, verbal, and indirect aggression: a review of recent research. Sex Roles 30, 177–188.Google Scholar
Björkqvist, K, Lagerspetz, KM and Kaukiainen, A (1992) Do girls manipulate and boys fight? Developmental trends in regard to direct and indirect aggression. Aggressive Behavior 18, 117–127.Google Scholar
Brendgen, M, Dionne, G, Girard, A, Boivin, M, Vitaro, F and Pérusse, D (2005) Examining genetic and environmental effects on social aggression: a study of 6-year-old twins. Child Development 76, 930–946.Google Scholar
Burt, SA and Donnellan, MB (2009) Development and validation of the Subtypes of Antisocial Behavior questionnaire. Aggressive Behavior 35, 376–398.Google Scholar
Burt, SA and Donnellan, MB (2010) Evidence that the Sub-Types of Antisocial Behavior questionnaire (STAB) predicts momentary reports of acting-out behaviors. Personality and Individual Differences 48, 917–920.Google Scholar
Burt, SA and Klump, KL (2013) The Michigan State University Twin Registry (MSUTR): an update. Twin Research and Human Genetics 16, 344–350.Google Scholar
Burt, SA, Donnellan, MB and Tackett, JL (2012) Should social aggression be considered ‘antisocial’? Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment 34, 153–163.Google Scholar
Burt, SA, Klump, KL, Gorman-Smith, D and Neiderhiser, JM (2016) Neighborhood disadvantage alters the origins of children's non-aggressive conduct problems. Clinical Psychological Science 4, 511–526.Google Scholar
Cairns, RB, Cairns, BD, Neckerman, HJ, Ferguson, LL and Gariépy, J (1989) Growth and aggression: 1. Childhood to early adolescence. Developmental Psychology 25, 320–330.Google Scholar
Card, NA, Stucky, BD, Sawalani, GM and Little, TD (2008) Direct and indirect aggression during childhood and adolescence: a meta-analytic review of gender differences, intercorrelations, and relations to maladjustment. Child Development 79, 1185–1229.Google Scholar
Casas, JF, Weigel, SM, Crick, NR, Ostrov, JM, Woods, KE, Yeh, EAJ and Huddleston-Casas, CA (2006) Early parenting and children's relational and physical aggression in the preschool and home contexts. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 27, 209–227.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D and Rogosch, FA (1996) Equifinality and multifinality in developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology 8, 597–600.Google Scholar
Crick, NR and Grotpeter, JK (1995) Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Development 66, 710–722.Google Scholar
Crick, NR and Zahn-Waxler, C (2003) The development of psychopathology in females and males: current progress and future challenges. Development and Psychopathology 15, 719–742.Google Scholar
Crick, NR, Ostrov, JM and Kawabata, Y (2007) Relational aggression and gender: an overview. In Flannery, DJ, Vazsonyi, AT and Waldman, ID (eds), The Cambridge Handbook of Violent Behavior and Aggression. New York, NY: Cambridge University, pp. 245–259.Google Scholar
Croy, CD and Novins, DK (2005) Methods for addressing missing data in psychiatric and developmental research. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 44, 1230–1240.Google Scholar
Fernàndez-Castillo, N and Cormand, B (2016) Aggressive behavior in humans: Genes and pathways identified through association studies. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics 171, 676–696.Google Scholar
Feshbach, ND (1969) Sex differences in children's modes of aggressive responses toward outsiders. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 15, 249–258.Google Scholar
Gaertner, AE, Rathert, JL, Fite, PJ, Vitulano, M, Wynn, PT and Harber, J (2010) Sources of parental knowledge as moderators of the relation between parental psychological control and relational and physical/verbal aggression. Journal of Child and Family Studies 19, 607–616.Google Scholar
Galen, BR and Underwood, MK (1997) A developmental investigation of social aggression among children. Developmental Psychology 33, 589–600.Google Scholar
Gray, JA (1971) Sex differences in emotional behaviour in mammals including man: endocrine bases. Acta Psychologica 35, 29–46.Google Scholar
Keenan, K and Shaw, D (1997) Developmental and social influences on young girls’ early problem behavior. Psychological Bulletin 121, 95–113.Google Scholar
Klump, KL and Burt, SA (2006) The Michigan State University Twin Registry (MSUTR): genetic, environmental, and neurobiological influences on behavior across development. Twin Research and Human Genetics 9, 971–977.Google Scholar
Kuppens, S, Grietens, H, Onghena, P and Michiels, D (2009) Associations between parental control and children's overt and relational aggression. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 27, 607–623.Google Scholar
Lagerspetz, KMJ and Björkqvist, K (1994) Indirect aggression in boys and girls. In Huesmann, LR (ed.), Aggressive Behavior: Current Perspectives. New York, NY: Plenum, pp. 131–150.Google Scholar
Ligthart, L, Bartels, M, Hoekstra, RA, Hudziak, JJ and Boomsma, DI (2005) Genetic contributions to subtypes of aggression. Twin Research and Human Genetics 8, 483–491.Google Scholar
Maccoby, EE and Jacklin, CN (1980) Sex differences in aggression: a rejoinder and reprise. Child Development 51, 964–980.Google Scholar
Manson, JH, Wrangham, RW, Boone, JL, Chapais, B, Dunbar, R, Ember, CR and Nishida, T (1991) Intergroup aggression in chimpanzees and humans. Current Anthropology 32, 369–390.Google Scholar
Montoya, ER, Terburg, D, Bos, PA and van Honk, J (2012) Testosterone, cortisol, and serotonin as key regulators of social aggression: a review and theoretical perspective. Motivation and Emotion 36, 65–73.Google Scholar
Monuteaux, MC, Fitzmaurice, G, Blacker, D, Buka, SL and Biederman, J (2004) Specificity in the familial aggregation of overt and covert conduct diosrder symptoms in a referred attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder sample. Psychological Medicine 34, 1113–1127.Google Scholar
Murray-Close, D, Crick, NR, Tseng, WL, Lafko, N, Burrows, C, Pitula, C and Ralston, P (2014) Physiological stress reactivity and physical and relational aggression: the moderating roles of victimization, type of stressor, and child gender. Development and Psychopathology 26, 589–603.Google Scholar
Murray-Close, D, Nelson, DA, Ostrov, JM, Casas, JF and Crick, NR (2016) Relational aggression: a developmental psychopathology perspective. In Cicchetti, D (ed.), Developmental Psychopathology: Vol. 4. Risk, Resilience, and Intervention. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, pp. 1–63.Google Scholar
Neale, MC, Boker, SM, Xie, G and Maes, HH (2003) Mx: Statistical Modeling, 6th Edn. VCU Box 900126, Richmond, VA 23298: Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Nelson, DA, Yang, C, Coyne, SM, Olsen, JA and Hart, CH (2013) Parental psychological control dimensions: connections with Russian preschoolers’ physical and relational aggression. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 34, 1–8.Google Scholar
Ostrov, JM and Godleski, SA (2010) Toward an integrated gender-linked model of aggression subtypes in early and middle childhood. Psychological Review 117, 233–242.Google Scholar
Patterson, GR, Dishion, TJ and Yoerger, K (2000) Adolescent growth in new forms of problem behavior: macro- and micro-peer dynamics. Prevention Science 1, 3–13.Google Scholar
Peeters, H, Gestel, SV, Vlietinck, R, Derom, C and Derom, R (1998) Validation of a telephone zygosity questionnaire in twins of known zygosity. Behavior Genetics 28, 159–163.Google Scholar
Peterson, MP, Rosvall, KA, Choi, JH, Ziegenfus, C, Tang, H, Colbourne, JK and Ketterson, ED (2013) Testosterone affects neural gene expression differently in male and female juncos: a role for hormones in mediating sexual dimorphism and conflict. PLoS ONE 8, e61784.Google Scholar
Quay, HC (1964) Personality dimensions in delinquent males as inferred from the factor analysis of behavior ratings. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 1, 33–37.Google Scholar
Raftery, AE (1995) Bayesian model selection in social research. Sociological Methodology 25, 111–163.Google Scholar
Ramirez, JM, Andreu, JM and Fujihara, T (2001) Cultural and sex differences in aggression: a comparison between Japanese and Spanish students using two different inventories. Aggressive Behavior 27, 313–322.Google Scholar
Rhee, SH and Waldman, ID (2002) Genetic and environmental influences on antisocial behavior: a meta-analysis of twin and adoption studies. Psychological Bulletin 128, 490–529.Google Scholar
Sánchez-Martín, JR, Azurmendi, A, Pascual-Sagastizabal, E, Cardas, J, Braza, F, Braza, P, Carreras, MR and Muñoz, JM (2011) Androgen levels and anger and impulsivity measures as predictors of physical, verbal and indirect aggression in boys and girls. Psychoneuroendocrinology 36, 750–760.Google Scholar
Scheithauer, H, Haag, N, Mahlke, J and Ittel, A (2008) Gender and age differences in the development of relational/indirect aggression: first results of a meta-analysis. International Journal of Developmental Science 2, 176–189.Google Scholar
Sclove, LS (1987) Application of model-selection criteria to some problems in multivariate analysis. Psychometrika 53, 333–343.Google Scholar
Silverthorn, P and Frick, PJ (1999) Developmental pathways to antisocial behavior: the delayed-onset pathway in girls. Development and Psychopathology 11, 101–126.Google Scholar
Slawinski, BL (2016) Sex Differences in Socially Aggressive Behaviors. Thesis M.A. Michigan State University. Psychology 2016.Google Scholar
Snyder, J, Schrepferman, L, Oeser, J, Patterson, G, Stoolmiller, M, Johnson, K and Snyder, A (2005) Deviancy training and association with deviant peers in young children: occurrence and contribution to early-onset conduct problems. Development and Psychopathology 17, 397–413.Google Scholar
Soensens, B, Vansteenkiste, M, Goossens, L, Duriez, B and Niemiec, CP (2008) The intervening role of relational aggression between psychological control and friendship quality. Social Development 17, 661–681.Google Scholar
Spiegelhalter, DJ, Best, NG, Carlin, BP and Van Der Linde, A (2002) Bayesian measures of model complexity and fit. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B 64, 583–639.Google Scholar
Sutton, J, Smith, PK and Swettenham, J (1999) Social cognition and bullying: social inadequacy or skilled manipulation? British Journal of Developmental Psychology 17, 435–450.Google Scholar
Tackett, JL, Waldman, ID and Lahey, BB (2009) Etiology and measurement of relational aggression: a multi-informant behavior genetic investigation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 118, 722–733.Google Scholar
Vaillancourt, T, Miller, JL, Fagbemi, J, Côté, S and Tremblay, RE (2007) Trajectories and predictors of indirect aggression: results from a nationally representative longitudinal study of Canadian children aged 2–10. Aggressive Behavior 33, 314–326.Google Scholar
van Bokhoven, I, van Goozen, SHM, van Engeland, H, Schaal, B, Arseneault, L, Séguin, JR and Tremblay, RE (2006) Salivary testosterone and aggression, delinquency, and social dominance in a population-based longitudinal study of adolescent males. Hormones and Behavior 50, 118–125.Google Scholar
van Lier, PAC, Vitaro, F, Barker, ED, Koot, HM and Tremblay, RE (2009) Developmental links between trajectories of physical violence, vandalism, theft, and alcohol-drug use from childhood to adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 37, 481–492.Google Scholar
Verhulst, B (2017) A power calculator for the classical twin design. Behavior Genetics 47, 255–261.Google Scholar
Veroude, K, Zhang-James, Y, Fernàndez-Castillo, N, Bakker, MJ, Cormand, B and Faraone, SV (2016) Genetics of aggressive behavior: an overview. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics 171, 3–43.Google Scholar
Werner, NE and Crick, NR (2004) Maladaptive peer relationships and the development of relational and physical aggression during middle childhood. Social Development 13, 495–495.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Slawinski et al. supplementary material

Tables S1 and S2

Download Slawinski et al. supplementary material(File)
File 15.8 KB