Sex Differences in the Use of Indirect Aggression in Adult Canadians

Research on sex differences in the association of psychopathy with fluid intelligence is limited, and it remains unknown if fluid intelligence plays a meaningful role in explaining the psychopathy–aggression link for men and women. The present study aimed to test for sex differences in the relation between the four-facet model of psychopathy and intelligence, and to assess whether fluid intelligence moderates the link between psychopathy and aggression. In a community sample of men ( n = 356) and women ( n = 196), we assessed psychopathy using the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), fluid intelligence using the Raven’s Progressive Matrices, and types of aggression using the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ). Hierarchical regressions showed that the psychopathy lifestyle facet was negatively associated with intelligence and there were no sex differences. Our analyses for types of aggression revealed sex differences and similarities. For both men and women, total AQ scores were predicted by higher antisocial facet scores. Lower intelligence moderated the link between higher antisocial facet scores and aggression in men, but not for women. Physical aggression in women was associated with higher interpersonal, affective, and antisocial facet scores, whereas for men, it was only associated with higher antisocial facet scores. Verbal and indirect aggression were associated with higher intelligence in both men and women. For men only, higher antisocial facet scores were associated with verbal and indirect aggression. Higher intelligence moderated the link between the lifestyle facet and indirect aggression for women, whereas for men, it moderated the link between the affective facet and indirect aggression. This study further highlights sex differences in mechanisms of psychopathy-related aggression, which need to be considered in the development of violence interventions and risk assessment.

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Physical Abuse Explains Sex Differences in the Link Between Psychopathy and Aggression

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260519865956 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 088626051986595 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nicholas D. Thomson ◽

Kiril Bozgunov ◽

Elena Psederska ◽

Michel Aboutanos ◽

Georgi Vasilev ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Aggressive Behavior ◽

Physical Abuse ◽

Community Sample ◽

Severity Index ◽

Addiction Severity Index ◽

Self Report ◽

Indirect Aggression ◽

Women Studies ◽

Men And Women

Psychopathy has long been associated with aggression. However, few studies have looked at differences between men and women. Studies that do exist demonstrate that psychopathy differentially relates to aggression in men and women and indicate that environmental factors may play a significant role in influencing these associations. A key environmental factor is a history of lifetime physical abuse (LPA), which has been linked to aggressive behavior in both men and women. The aim of the present study was to test if psychopathy differentially predicted physical, verbal, and indirect aggression in men and women, and if these associations were moderated by LPA. In a large community sample of men ( n = 369) and women ( n = 204), we assessed the 4-facet model of psychopathy (Interpersonal, Affective, Lifestyle, Antisocial) with the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version, LPA with the Addiction Severity Index, and self-report aggression with the Aggression Questionnaire. Results revealed sex differences and similarities. Physical aggression was associated with the affective facet of psychopathy in both men and women, though in different directions based on the moderating effects of LPA. Verbal aggression was associated with higher antisocial facet scores and LPA for men and not women. Finally, indirect aggression was associated with the antisocial facet of psychopathy for men, and the interpersonal facet for women, and these associations were not moderated by LPA. In women, low antisocial facet scores and no LPA were found to be protective for indirect aggression. These results show that LPA and psychopathy generally increase the risk of aggression, but the interaction between LPA and psychopathy differentiates the risk of aggression forms for men and women. These sex differences highlight the need for female-responsive interventions to target sex-specific risk factors for aggressive behavior.

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Can Outcome Expectancies Help Explain Sex Differences in Direct and Indirect Aggression?

Journal of Applied Social Psychology ◽

10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00876.x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 42 (1) ◽

pp. 151-169 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

ANTHONY D. G. MARKS ◽

DONALD W. HINE ◽

GARY C. MANTON ◽

EINAR B. THORSTEINSSON

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Outcome Expectancies ◽

Indirect Aggression

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Measuring Direct and Indirect Aggression: Is There a Response Bias?

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.97.2.563-566 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 97 (2) ◽

pp. 563-566 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mat Gregoski ◽

Wendi A. Malone ◽

Deborah South Richardson

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Response Bias ◽

Social Desirability ◽

Self Report ◽

Indirect Aggression ◽

Same Sex ◽

Negative Behaviors ◽

Self And Other ◽

Report Bias

Critics of self-report methods suggest that participants are likely to underreport their own negative behaviors given concerns about social desirability. The current study examined the problem of self-report bias by comparing individuals' estimates of their own and others' aggressive behavior. Undergraduate students (95 women, 50 men) completed the Richardson Conflict Response Questionnaire with regard to either their own behavior or that of another person of the same sex. As expected, participants reported significantly less aggression for themselves than for others. However, self and other ratings showed the same pattern of sex differences. These results suggest that, although individuals may underreport their own aggressive behaviors, this tendency may not affect relationships among variables.

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Examining Sex Differences in the Use of Direct and Indirect Aggression

Gender Issues ◽

10.1007/s12147-008-9065-5 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 267-288 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Sibylle Artz ◽

Diana Nicholson ◽

Douglas Magnuson

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Indirect Aggression

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Peer Aggression and Sexual Harassment among Young Adolescents in a School Context: A Comparative Study between Finland and Turkey

International Journal of Educational Psychology ◽

10.17583/ijep.6853 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 199-221

Author(s):

Isik Zeliha Ulubas-Varpula ◽

Kaj Björkqvist

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Sexual Harassment ◽

Comparative Study ◽

Interaction Effect ◽

School Context ◽

Indirect Aggression ◽

Peer Aggression ◽

Young Adolescents ◽

Cyber Aggression

The study investigates peer aggression and sexual harassment among young adolescents in Finland and Turkey. Sex differences and the interaction effect between country of residence and sex are also examined. A questionnaire was completed by 1,747 adolescents (1, 268 from Finland, 479 from Turkey, Mage = 14.1). Six different forms of aggression (physical, verbal, indirect, cyber, verbal sexual harassment, physical sexual harassment) were examined. More adolescents from Turkey, and more boys, were found to be involved in aggression as both victims and perpetrators compared to adolescents from Finland and girls. The interaction effect was significant between country of residence and sex with being a boy from Turkey was related to having the highest involvement in cyber aggression, verbal sexual harassment, and physical sexual harassment, as both victim and perpetrator. Regarding victimization from indirect aggression, girls from Finland scored higher than Turkish girls, while boys from Turkey scored higher than Finnish boys.

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Staying alive: Evolution, culture, and women's intrasexual aggression

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x99001818 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 203-214 ◽

Cited By ~ 349

Author(s):

Anne Campbell

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Reproductive Success ◽

Risk Taking ◽

Paternal Care ◽

Indirect Aggression ◽

Female Competition ◽

Dominance Hierarchies ◽

Scarce Resources ◽

Bodily Injury ◽

Hierarchy Formation

Females' tendency to place a high value on protecting their own lives enhanced their reproductive success in the environment of evolutionary adaptation because infant survival depended more upon maternal than on paternal care and defence. The evolved mechanism by which the costs of aggression (and other forms of risk taking) are weighted more heavily for females may be a lower threshold for fear in situations which pose a direct threat of bodily injury. Females' concern with personal survival also has implications for sex differences in dominance hierarchies because the risks associated with hierarchy formation in nonbonded exogamous females are not offset by increased reproductive success. Hence among females, disputes do not carry implications for status with them as they do among males, but are chiefly connected with the acquisition and defence of scarce resources. Consequently, female competition is more likely to take the form of indirect aggression or low-level direct combat than among males. Under patriarchy, men have held the power to propagate images and attributions which are favourable to the continuance of their control. Women's aggression has been viewed as a gender-incongruent aberration or dismissed as evidence of irrationality. These cultural interpretations have “enhanced” evolutionarily based sex differences by a process of imposition which stigmatises the expression of aggression by females and causes women to offer exculpatory (rather than justificatory) accounts of their own aggression.

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An Integrated Review of Indirect, Relational, and Social Aggression

Personality and Social Psychology Review ◽

10.1207/s15327957pspr0903_2 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 212-230 ◽

Cited By ~ 495

Author(s):

John Archer ◽

Sarah M. Coyne

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Social Status ◽

Relational Aggression ◽

Social Aggression ◽

Future Research ◽

Indirect Aggression ◽

The Social ◽

Direct Aggression ◽

Adaptive Framework ◽

The Impact

Over the last decade, researchers have found that girls may be just as aggressive as boys when manipulative forms of aggression, such as gossiping and spreading rumors, are included. These forms of aggression are known by 3 different names: indirect aggression, relational aggression, and social aggression. This review examines their commonalities and differences, and concludes that they are essentially the same form of aggression. We show that analogous forms are not found in other species. We offer a functional account: indirect aggression is an alternative strategy to direct aggression, enacted when the costs of direct aggression are high, and whose aim is to socially exclude, or harm the social status of, a victim. In this light, we consider sex differences and developmental trends and the impact of this aggression on victims. We conclude that indirect, relational, and social aggression are much more similar than they are different, and we suggest ways in which future research can be facilitated by integrating the three areas under an adaptive framework.

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Sex Differences in Aggression in Real-World Settings: A Meta-Analytic Review

Review of General Psychology ◽

10.1037/1089-2680.8.4.291 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 291-322 ◽

Cited By ~ 934

Author(s):

John Archer

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Real World ◽

Role Theory ◽

Social Role ◽

Indirect Aggression ◽

Childhood And Adolescence ◽

Analytic Review ◽

Self Reports ◽

Sexual Selection Theory ◽

Teacher Reports

Meta-analytic reviews of sex differences in aggression from real-world settings are described. They cover self-reports, observations, peer reports, and teacher reports of overall direct, physical, verbal, and indirect forms of aggression, as well as (for self-reports) trait anger. Findings are related to sexual selection theory and social role theory. Direct, especially physical, aggression was more common in males and females at all ages sampled, was consistent across cultures, and occurred from early childhood on, showing a peak between 20 and 30 years. Anger showed no sex differences. Higher female indirect aggression was limited to later childhood and adolescence and varied with method of measurement. The overall pattern indicated males’ greater use of costly methods of aggression rather than a threshold difference in anger.

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