Relational aggression, alternative aggression, or relational bullying is a type of aggression in which harm is caused by damaging someone's relationships or social status.McGrath, Mary Zabolio (2006). School Bullying: Tools for Avoiding Harm and Liability. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press. p. 21. . Retrieved 2008-09-04.Marion K. Underwood (2003). Social Aggression among Girls (Guilford Series On Social And Emotional Development) . New York: The Guilford Press. . Retrieved 2008-09-04
Although it can be used in many contexts and among different age groups, relational aggression among adolescents in particular, has received a lot of attention.
The attention relational aggression has received has been augmented by the help of popular media, including movies like Mean Girls and books like Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons (2002), Nesthäkchen and the World War by Else Ury (1916), and Queen Bees and Wannabes by R. Wiseman (2003).
Relational aggression can have various lifelong consequences. Relational aggression has been primarily observed and studied among girls, following pioneering research by psychologist Nicki R. Crick.
Overview
A person's peers become increasingly significant in adolescence and are especially important for adolescents' healthy psychological development. Peers provide many new behavioral models and feedback that are essential for successful identity formation and for the development of one's sense of self.Brown, B. (2004) Adolescents' relationships with peers. In R. Lerner and L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology. New York: Wiley. Interactions with peers encourage positive practice of autonomy and independent decision-making skills.Hill, J. & Holmbeck, G. (1986) Attachment and autonomy during adolescence. In G. Whitehurst (Ed.), Annals of child development. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press They are also essential for healthy sexual development including the development of the capacity for intimate friendships and learning appropriate sexual behavior.Sullivan, H. S. (1953a) The interpersonal theory of psychiatry. New York: Norton. Peer relationships are also very important for determining how much adolescents value school, how much effort they put into it, and how well they perform in class.Epstein, J. (1983b) The influence of friends on achievement and affective outcomes. In J. Epstein & N. Karweit (Eds.), Friends in school. New York: Academic Press. However, quite frequently adolescents take part in peer relationships that are harmful for their psychological development. Adolescents tend to form various cliques and belong to different crowds based on their activity interests, music and clothing preferences, as well as their cultural or ethnic background.Brown, B., & Mounts, N. (1989, April). Peer groups structures in single versus multiethnic high schools. Paper presented at the biennial meetings of the Society for Research on Adolescence, San Diego Such groups differ in their sociometric or popularity status, which often create unhealthy, aggression-victimization based dynamics between groups. Different forms of aggression can also be used to control dynamics and sociometric status within a group. Sometimes aggression is directed to an individual rather than to any apparent social group. Primary reasons for victimization include looks and speech; adolescents are also frequently bullied because of a disability, particular ethnicity, or religion.
Definition
Relational aggression is defined as a type of aggression that is "intended to harm others through deliberate manipulation of their social standing and relationships". Relational aggression, according to Daniel OlweusOlweus, D. (1991). Bully/victim problems among schoolchildren: Basic facts and effects of a school based intervention program. In D. J. Pepler & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 441–448). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum is a type of bullying. Bullying in general, is defined as physically or psychologically violent re-occurring and not provoked power.Olweus, D. (1999). Sweden. In P. K. Smith, Y. Morita, J. Junger-Tas, D. Olweus, R. Catalano, & P.Slee (Eds.), The nature of school bullying: A cross-national perspective (pp. 7-27). New York:Routledge. These key conditions apply to all types of bullying:
Types Relational aggression may be either covert or direct, and is distinct from other forms of indirect aggression. It can be proactive (planned and goal-oriented) or reactive (in response to perceived threats, hostility, or anger), and it can be, for instance, peer-directed or romantic. Several studies have indicated substantive differences between proactive and reactive relational aggression. Reactive aggression is associated with a tendency to assume that others' intentions are hostile (hostile attribution bias).
Most studies of relational aggression have involved children or adolescents; the study of relational aggression in adults presents problems. Relational aggression is a common aspect of workplace bullying, and is a characteristic behaviour of psychopaths in the workplace, so it is commonplace amongst adults as well as children.
Manifestations Manifestations of relational aggression include:Steinberg, L. (2008). Adolescence, 8th ed. 101. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Excluding others from social activities. Damaging victim's reputations with others by spreading rumors and gossiping about the victim, or humiliating them in front of others. Withdrawing attention and friendship.
Psychological manipulation and coercion can also be considered as a type of relational aggression.
Most recent research has been focusing on cyberbullying, which is a relatively new yet increasingly popular way of engaging in both verbal and relational aggression due to growing importance of various communication and technology devices in modern societies. Some studies show that internet meanness is more common among girls than boys.
Prevalence
Many studies in the U.S. and Europe show that at least 30% of students report having been bullied in one or another way. Some studies indicate even higher percentages of victimization. Bullying in schools happens in all forms and at various ages, although peer bullying has the highest prevalence in 6th–8th grades. The most common forms of bullying are verbal with relational, or various forms of ostracism, coming in second.Valeckiene, D. (2005). Priekabiavimo kaip vienos dazniausiai naudojamos agresijos formos mokykloje raiSkos analiz (The analysis of bullying as one of the most prevalent form of aggression at schools). Sveikatos ir socialiniu mokslu taikomieji tyrimai: sandura ir saveika, 1, 49-65
Gender differences
Although it can be used by both genders, relational aggression is more commonly associated with girls. Findings of a study by Rivers and Smith have shown that while verbal aggression occurs with similar frequency in both sexes, direct physical aggression is more common among boys and indirect aggression is more common among girls. In another study by Baldry it was found that boys are more likely to engage in bullying behaviors such as threats, physical harm, rejection, and name-calling, while girls are most likely to use name-calling, teasing, rumors, rejection, and taking personal belongings. Based on these findings, girls do seem to use relational aggression more than boys.
In addition, recent international research shows that both genders tend to use relational aggression, but girls are more aware and distressed by it. For example, a study by Horn found that girls are more likely to say that it is morally wrong to exclude someone based on their crowd membership.
Some research shows that there are certain implications when boys and girls engage in gender-atypical aggression, as girls who are more physically aggressive or boys who are highly relationally aggressive are more maladjusted than their peers.
Sociometric status
Sociometric status, commonly referred as popularity, is one of the most significant predictors of victimization or bullying as differences in popularity can be associated with differences in social power. It is commonly believed that aggressive adolescents belong to rejected social groups. However, some research shows that they can be popular among their peers. Rodkin et al. (2000), for example, describes two types of popular boys: "model" boys, who are "physically and academically competent, friendly and neither shy nor aggressive." Second type is described as "tough" and such adolescents are "aggressive, physically competent, and average or below average in friendliness, academic competence, and shyness." Usually the more popular aggressive adolescents use instrumental aggression and not reactive aggression. Instrumental aggression is defined as behavior that is deliberate and planned while reactive aggression is unplanned and impulsive. Relational aggression can be greatly instrumental for maintaining the popularity status of a group among other groups, as well as specific relationship and status dynamics inside a group. Ojala and Nesdale (2004) found that both victims and bullies normally come from rejected groups. Bullies choose to bully students who are members of their social out-groups that are similar to their own in-group as a result of threatened distinctiveness. Hence, the need to maintain a unique social identity and status can be one of the causes to engage in bullying. Using relational aggression to maintain a particular social order inside the group has been mostly observed in girl groups: if some member of the group becomes too popular and this causes imbalance in the group, other members might start rumors about the overly popular girl to diminish her status. Amanda Rose (2004) claims that the main purpose of using relational aggression in first place is to enhance or maintain one's social status. Many skills that are needed to be popular are also essential for being "successful" at employing relational aggression, e.g. ability to "read" people and adjust one's behavior accordingly, etc. The researcher suggests that some aggressive boys are popular because they are also good at using relational aggression, and, therefore, their primary reason for popularity is not their physical but relational aggression.
Different participation roles
Research shows that there are three types of rejected or unpopular adolescents who are very likely to be involved in bullying behavior. First type includes adolescents who are overly aggressive: they tend to get into fights, get involved in antisocial activities, and are often involved in bullying; second type includes adolescents who are withdrawn or timid and exceedingly shy and inhibited and who are more likely to be victims; third aggressive-withdrawn-type adolescents tend to have trouble controlling their hostility, but they are also very shy and nervous about initiating friendships. The latter are likely to be bully-victims. Other students- bystanders can also choose between several roles: victim-defender, bully-reinforcer or assistant, and outsiders.
Victims
Victims or the unpopular withdrawn children are excessively anxious, lack social skills needed to initiate new contacts or break into a group activity.Rubin, K., LeMare, L., & Lollis, S. (1990). Social withdrawal in childhood: Developmental pathways to peer rejection. In S. Asher & J. Coie (Eds.), Peer rejection in childhood, pp. 217-249. New York: Cambridge University Press. Their lack of confidence combined with submissiveness make them perfect targets for bullying.Olweus, D., (2003) Victimization by peers: Antecedents and long-term outcomes. In K. Rubin & J. Asendorf (Eds.), Social withdrawal, inhibition, and shyness in childhood. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Some of the most common underlying reasons for bullying include low socioeconomic status, disability, and obesity.