Internal Characteristics of the Reactive Aggression Expressers of Junior High School Students in Non-Hostile Frustration Situations: Using the Hostility-Aggression Questionnaire for Students (HAQ-S) and the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study

Abstract

Dealing with students who exhibit aggressive behavior out of frustration is a challenging issue. The purpose of this study of 497 high school students was to examine internal student characteristics of reactive aggression. The Hostility-Aggression Questionnaire for Students (HAQ-S) assessed aspects of internal characteristics, in which students were presented with 24 situations in which they rated the intent of a person who provoked aggression as non-hostile. Higher scores indicated that expression of reactive aggression would be unlikely. Differences in scores between expressers and non-expressers of reactive aggression (E) and non-expressers were examined on each of the HAQ-S factors in the selected situation groups. No significant difference was found among females, however male expressers of reactive aggression demonstrated greater attribution of hostility compared to non-expressers. This suggests that the male expressers had more strongly negative beliefs regarding others and tended to interpret the intents of others as being hostile.