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An investigation of the mechanism underlying teacher aggression: Testing I 3 theory and the General Aggression Model
Author(s) -
Montuoro Paul,
Mainhard Tim
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
british journal of educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.557
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2044-8279
pISSN - 0007-0998
DOI - 10.1111/bjep.12161
Subject(s) - aggression , psychology , developmental psychology , poison control , mechanism (biology) , dysfunctional family , provocation test , cognition , social psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine , philosophy , alternative medicine , environmental health , epistemology , pathology
Background Considerable research has investigated the deleterious effects of teachers responding aggressively to students who misbehave, but the mechanism underlying this dysfunctional behaviour remains unknown. Aims This study investigated whether the mechanism underlying teacher aggression follows I 3 theory or General Aggression Model ( GAM ) metatheory of human aggression. I 3 theory explains exceptional, catastrophic events of human aggression, whereas the GAM explains common human aggression behaviours. Sample A total of 249 Australian teachers participated in this study, including 142 primary school teachers ( Mdn [age] = 35–39 years; Mdn [years teaching] = 10–14 years; 84% female) and 107 secondary school teachers ( Mdn [age] = 45–49 years; Mdn [years teaching] = 15–19 years; 65% female). Methods Participants completed four online self‐report questionnaires, which assessed caregiving responsiveness, trait self‐control, misbehaviour provocation, and teacher aggression. Results Analyses revealed that the GAM most accurately captures the mechanism underlying teacher aggression, with lower caregiving responsiveness appearing to indirectly lead to teacher aggression via higher misbehaviour provocation and lower trait self‐control in serial, controlling for gender, age, years teaching, and current role (primary, secondary). Conclusions This study indicates that teacher aggression proceeds from ‘the person in the situation’. Specifically, lower caregiving responsiveness appears to negatively shape a teacher's affective, cognitive, and arousal states, which influence how they perceive and interpret student misbehaviour. These internal states, in turn, appear to negatively influence appraisal and decision processes, leading to immediate appraisal and impulsive actions. These results raise the possibility that teacher aggression is a form of countertransference.