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Group membership, group norms, empathy, and young children's intentions to aggress
Author(s) -
Nesdale Drew,
Milliner Ella,
Duffy Amanda,
Griffiths Judith A.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/ab.20303
Subject(s) - outgroup , empathy , ingroups and outgroups , aggression , psychology , social psychology , norm (philosophy) , developmental psychology , poison control , medicine , political science , law , environmental health
This study assessed the effect of ingroup norms and empathy on 6 and 9‐year‐old children's ( N =161) attitudes and aggressive intentions toward outgroup members. Prior to an intergroup drawing competition against an outgroup, participants' empathy was measured, and they were randomly assigned to a simulated group with a norm of direct or indirect aggression, or no aggression norm. Results indicated participants' attitudes were less positive toward the outgroup vs. the ingroup, and that both direct and indirect aggressive intentions were displayed toward the outgroup. Most importantly, the ingroup was liked less when it had an aggression norm, and the participants' aggressive intentions were not enhanced by the group aggression norm. Empathy was a significant negative predictor of direct but not indirect aggression intentions. Implications for understanding the instigation and inhibition of children's aggression intentions are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 35:244–258, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.