Browsing by Subject "Relational aggression"
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Item Examining hostile attribution of intent, relational provocation, and physical aggression in girls(2012-08) Amoscato, Laura Elizabeth; Sander, Janay Boswell; Carlson, Cindy; Keith, Timothy; Loukas, Alexandra; Aguilar, JemelHostile attribution of intent (HAI) is a social information processing pattern that reflects a distorted interpretation of ambiguous social situations as overly negative, personal, and aggressive, leading to further aggression. Previous research has documented the existence of HAI in connection with relational aggression among adolescent girls, but little is known about the role of HAI and physical aggression in this population. This qualitative study explored the experiences of adolescent girls involved in physical fights with another girl in order to determine the types of provocation that led to physical aggression. Participants were 11 girls, ages 15 to 17 years, and 7 parent participants of the girls. School disciplinary records were used to identify participants for the study. All girls who had a disciplinary record for engaging in a physical fight with another female student were invited to participate. A semi-structured interview was conducted, and the parents were given a single-question survey related to socioeconomic status. Data were analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research as described by Hill, Thompson, and Williams (1997). The study participants reported that relational provocations, such as “talking mess” and “mean mugging,” led to physical aggression. They also noted that the type of help offered by adults to reduce conflict was not effective. Many participants reported receiving messages from adults implying it was acceptable to fight, provided that the participant won the fight. Finally, participants reported that disrespect is an acceptable and expected reason to get into a physical fight.Item Glossed lips and glossed over : relational aggression in adolescent girls(2011-05) Salas-Tull, Tamara Jean; Bentley, Keisha L.; Sherry, AlissaRelational aggression is an indirect type of aggression used to damage relationships with others. Adolescent girls frequently encounter this issue, and the ubiquity of technology has expanded the ways in which girls can attack one another, i.e. cyber-bullying. The causes of relational aggression are unknown and could involve a combination of factors, including victim and/or bully psycho-social adjustment, social expectations, or the implicit structure of female friendships in adolescence. The effects range from social anxiety to impacted school performance to depression and suicidality. Groups of friends act much like a family for adolescents in terms of support and intimacy. Using Murray Bowen’s family systems theory as a template, an intervention is proposed where girls are taught techniques that will strengthen relationships with others and themselves.Item Predictors of eating disorders in college-aged women : the role of competition and relational aggression(2012-08) Scaringi, Vanessa; Rochlen, Aaron B.; Rude, Stephanie S.; Whittaker, Tiffany; Awad, Germine H.; Denoma, Jill H.The serious consequences and high prevalence rates of eating disorders among women have been well documented (American Psychiatric Association, 2000; Birmingham, Su, Hlynasky, Goldner, & Gao, 2005; Crow, Praus, & Thuras, 1999; Steinhausen, 2009). Factors linked to the development of an eating disorder include competitiveness and group membership (Basow, Foran ,& Bookwala, 2007; Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, Grunberg, & Rodin, 1990). The purpose of this study was to further examine risk factors associated with eating disorder symptomatology by examining the role of sorority membership, different forms of competition, and relational aggression. Sorority membership was hypothesized to impact a participant’s eating disorder symptomatology, competitiveness, and relational aggression. Additionally, this study looked at three different forms of competition (Hypercompetition, Female Competition for mates, and Female Competition for status) and sought to understand which form of competitiveness best predicts eating disorder symptomatology. Female Competition for mates was hypothesized to best predict disordered eating. Lastly, relational aggression was expected to moderate the relationship between competition among women and eating disorder behaviors. An increase in relational aggression was hypothesized to strengthen the relationship between competition among women and eating disorder symptomatology. The reasoning for this relationship was based on an evolutionary framework that proposes aggression is needed to drive competition (Shuster, 1983). Participants included 407 undergraduate women, with a split of 211 sorority members and 196 non-sorority women. Measures included four subscales from the Eating Disorder Inventory (Garner et al., 1983), the Hypercompetitive Attitudes Scale (Ryckman et al., 1996), the Female Competition for mates scale, the Female Competition for status scale (Faer et al., 2005), and the Indirect Aggression Scale (Forrest et al., 2005). Separate regression analyses were conducted to answer each research question. Participants also answered qualitative questions after completing the surveys. Analyses revealed sorority membership significantly predicted a participant’s Female Competition for status. Female Competition for mates was found to best predict both body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness such that the higher a participant’s competition for mates score, the lower these eating disorder symptoms. No moderating effects of relational aggression were found in the model. Additionally, social desirability was included in the regressions as a means of controlling for a participant’s tendency to self-report desirably. An important surprise finding was that social desirability was a significant predictor of eating disorder symptomatology, competition, and relational aggression. Exploratory qualitative analyses suggested women’s acceptance of their bodies, while their conversations with friends included self-deprecating ways of discussing their appearance. Findings also suggest sorority membership predicts higher female competition for mates and status. Results reveal a relationship between competition and disordered eating which suggests important considerations for clinicians to explore with clients who may experience eating disorder symptomatology.Item Predictors of eating disorders in college-aged women : the role of competition and relational aggression(2010-05) Scaringi, Vanessa; Rude, Stephanie Sandra; Rochlen, AaronDue to the seriousness and prevalence of eating disorders, exploring the etiology of these disorders and identifying specific at-risk populations is crucial. One promising risk factor that has been linked to the development of eating disorders is competitiveness (Burckle, Ryckman, Gold, Thornton, & Audesse, 1999; Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, Grunberg, & Rodin, 1990). Additionally, specific populations of women have been shown to experience higher rates of eating disorders. Women in sororities are one such group identified with higher rates of disordered eating than their non-sorority counterparts (Basow, Foran, Bookwala, 2007; Crandall,1988; Schulken, Pinciaro, Sawyer, Jensen, & Hoban, 1997). Therefore this study will seek to understand more about how competitiveness may differentially impact this population of women and contribute to higher rates of eating disorder symptomatology. This project has several objectives. First, the prevalence of eating disorders, competition among women, and relational aggression among women in sororities will be addressed. In order to assess whether women in sororities differ from women who are not in sororities on measures of eating disorders symptomatology, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be conducted. The constructs of competitiveness and relational aggression will be compared amongwomen in sororities and their non-sorority counterparts. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) will be conducted to determine whether there are mean differences between women in sororities and those not on four constructs of competitiveness (hypercompetitiveness, personal development competitiveness, female competition for status competitiveness, and female competition for mates competitiveness). Finally, an ANOVA will be conducted to determine if there are mean differences between women in sororities and women not in sororities on a measure of relational aggression. The second focus of this project is to examine if different forms of competitiveness are better at predicting eating disorders. The constructs of competitiveness that have been individually demonstrated to predict eating disorder behavior will be included. Multiple regression will be used to examine how well knowing a participant’s type of competitive attitude will help explain eating disorder symptomatology. Lastly, because the literature has not yet explored how relational aggression relates to the development of eating disorders, the final purpose of this study will be to understand this relationship. In attempting to understand this relationship, a mediation model will be performed. Participants for this study will include 270 undergraduate women from the Educational Psychology subject pool.