Overt and Relational Aggression and Impression Formation in Japanese University Students

Abstract

According to social information-processing theory of aggression, attribution of hostile intent in a provocation situation increases the likelihood that the person will aggress. However, in bullying for example, aggression is often initiated even when no victim provocation occurs in the first place. This study attempted to investigate the mechanism of such aggression by assessing the characteristics of impression formation by aggressive students. First, a scale of overt and relational aggression was developed. Subsequently, with the scale, participants were classified into high and low groups for each type of aggression. One week later, they listened to a story describing a day on campus of a person who showed two acts each of relational aggression and prosocial behavior. Participants rated their impressions, feelings, and levels of acceptance toward the person. The next was another story with overt aggression and the same rating tasks. Results from 147 undergraduates showed that students high on aggression tended to rate the person showing the same type of aggression more positively, and the person showing different type more negatively.