Abstract
Guided by a social information processing perspective, this study examined the unique and interactive contributions of social anxiety and two distinct components of empathy, empathic concern and perspective taking, to subsequent relational and overt aggression in early adolescents. Participants were 485 10- to 14-year old middle school students (54% female; 78% European-American) involved in two waves of a study with one year between each wave. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that higher levels of empathic concern were directly associated with decreases in subsequent relational and overt aggression one year later and buffered the impact of social anxiety on subsequent relational aggression. Although perspective taking did not moderate the impact of social anxiety on either form of aggression, it was a unique predictor of increased relational aggression one year later. Findings call for future research to assess both components of empathy separately as they relate to relational and overt aggression.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, PA: Sage.
Bjorkqvist, K. (1994). Sex differences in physical, verbal, and indirect aggression: A review of recent research. Sex Roles, 30, 177–212.
Bjorkqvist, K., Lagerspetz, K. M. J., & Kaukiainen, A. (1992). Do girls manipulate and boys fight? Developmental trends in regard to direct and indirect aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 18, 117–127.
Boxer, P., Goldstein, S. E., Musher-Eizenman, D., Dubow, E. F., & Heretick, D. (2005). Developmental issues in school-based aggression prevention from a social-cognitive perspective. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 26(5), 383–400.
Cairns, R. B., Cairns, B. D., Neckerman, H. J., Ferguson, L. L., & Gariepy, J.-L. (1989). Growth and aggression: 1. Childhood to early adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 25, 320–330.
Caravita, S., Blasio, P. D., & Salmivalli, C. (2009). Unique and interactive effects of empathy and social status on involvement in bullying. Social development, 18(1), 140–163.
Carlo, G., Raffaelli, M., Laible, D. J., & Meyer, K. A. (1999). Why are girls less physically aggressive than boys? Personality and parenting mediators of physical aggression. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 40, 711–729.
Chaplin, W. F. (1991). The next generation in moderation research in personality psychology. Journal of Personality, 59, 143–178.
Coie, J. D., & Dodge, K. A. (1998). Aggression and Antisocial behavior. In N. Eisenberg (Ed.), W. Damon (Series Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3: Social, emotional, and personality development (5th ed.). New York: Wiley.
Coyne, S. M., Archer, J., & Eslea, M. (2006). “We’re not friends anymore! Unless…”: The frequency and harmfulness of indirect, relational, and social aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 32, 294–307.
Crick, N. R. (1996). The role of overt aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior in the prediction of children’s future social adjustment. Child Development, 67, 2317–2327.
Crick, N. R., & Dodge, K. A. (1994). A review and reformulation of social information processing mechanisms in children’s social adjustment. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 74–101.
Crick, N. R., & Grotpeter, J. K. (1995). Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Development, 66, 710–722.
Davis, M. H. (1980). A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 10, 85.
Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 113–126.
Findlay, L., Girardi, A., & Coplan, R. J. (2006). Links between empathy, social behavior, and social understanding in early childhood. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21, 347–359.
Galen, B. R., & Underwood, M. K. (1997). A developmental investigation of social aggression among children. Developmental Psychology, 33, 589–600.
Goldstein, S. E., Tisak, M. S., & Boxer, P. (2002). Preschoolers’ normative and prescriptive judgments abut relational and overt aggression. Early Education and Development, 13, 23–39.
Guerra, N. G., Huesmann, R. L., & Spindler, A. (2003). Community violence exposure, social cognition, and aggression among urban elementary school children. Child Development, 74(5), 1561–1576.
Henington, C., Hughes, J. N., Cavell, T. A., & Thompson, B. (1998). The role of relational aggression in identifying aggressive boys and girls. Journal of School Psychology, 36, 457–477.
Jolliffe, D., & Farrington, D. P. (2006). Examining the relationship between low empathy and bullying. Aggressive Behavior, 32, 1–11.
Jolliffe, D., & Farrington, D. P. (2011). Is low empathy related to bullying after controlling for individual and social background variables? Journal of Adolescence, 34, 1–13.
Kaukiainen, A., Bjorkqvist, K., Lagerspetz, K., Osterman, K., Salmivalli, C., Rothberg, S., et al. (1999). The relationships between social intelligence, empathy, and three types of aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 25, 81–89.
Knutson, J. F., DeGarmo, D. S., & Reid, J. B. (2004). Social disadvantage and neglectful parenting as precursors to the development of antisocial and aggressive child behavior: Testing a theoretical model. Aggressive Behavior, 30, 187–205.
La Greca, A. M. (2001). Friends or foes? Peer influences on anxiety among children and adolescents. In W. K. Silverman & P. D. A. Treffers (Eds.), Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents: R search, assessment, and intervention (pp. 159–187). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
La Greca, A. M., & Lopez, N. (1998). Social anxiety among adolescents: Linkages with peer relations and friendships. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 26, 83–94.
La Greca, A. M., & Stone, W. L. (1993). The social anxiety scale for children—revised: Factor structure and concurrent validity. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 22, 17–27.
Lagerspetz, K., Bjorkqvist, K., & Peltonen, T. (1988). Is indirect aggression typical of females? Gender differences in aggressiveness in 11- to 12- year old children. Aggressive Behavior, 14, 403–414.
Loudin, J. L., Loukas, A., & Robinson, S. (2003). Relational aggression in college students: Examining the roles of social anxiety and empathy. Aggressive Behavior, 29, 430–439.
Loukas, A., Paulos, S. A., & Robinson, S. (2005). Early adolescent social and overt aggression: Examining the roles of social anxiety and maternal psychological control. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34(4), 335–345.
Luthar, S. S., Cicchetti, D., & Becker, B. (2000). The construct of resilience: A critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Development, 71(3), 543–562.
Nagin, D. S., & Tremblay, R. E. (2001). Parental and early childhood predictors of persistent physical aggression in boys from kindergarten to high school. Archives of General Psychiatry, 58, 389–394.
Paquette, J. A., & Underwood, M. A. (1999). Young adolescents’ experiences of peer victimization: Gender differences in accounts of social and physical aggression. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 45, 233–258.
Parker, J. G., & Asher, S. R. (1987). Peer relations and later personal adjustment: Are low- accepted children at-risk? Psychological Bulletin, 102, 357–389.
Salmivalli, C., & Kaukiainen, A. (2004). “Female aggression” revisited: Variable- and person-centered approaches to studying gender differences in different types of aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 30(2), 158–163.
Sutton, J., Smith, P. K., & Swettenham, J. (1999a). Bullying and ‘theory of mind’: A critique of the ‘social skills deficit’ approach to anti-social behavior. Social Development, 8, 117–127.
Sutton, J., Smith, P. K., & Swettenham, J. (1999b). Social cognition and bullying: Social inadequacy or skilled manipulation? British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 17, 435–450.
Underwood, M. K., Galen, B. R., & Paquette, J. A. (2001). Top ten challenges for understanding gender and aggression in children: Why can’t we all just get along? Social Development, 10, 248–266.
Watson, D., & Friend, R. (1969). Measurement of social-evaluative anxiety. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 33, 448–457.
Weiss, B., Dodge, K., Bates, J., & Pettit, G. (1992). Some consequences of early harsh discipline: Child aggression and a maladaptive social information processing style. Child Development, 63(6), 1321–1335.
Werner, N. E., & Crick, N. R. (2004). Maladaptive peer relationships and the development of relational and physical aggression during middle childhood. Social Development, 13(4), 495–514.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Batanova, M.D., Loukas, A. Social Anxiety and Aggression in Early Adolescents: Examining the Moderating Roles of Empathic Concern and Perspective Taking. J Youth Adolescence 40, 1534–1543 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9634-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9634-x