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Evolutionary Functions of Cyber and Traditional Forms of Aggression in Adolescence

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Abstract

This study examined how cyber and traditional aggression and victimization were differentially related to adolescent reports of using aggression to pursue evolutionarily relevant functions. To consider variations in the power balance between perpetrators and victims, the study examined bullying, in which the power of the perpetrator exceeded that of the victim, and adversarial aggression, in which the perpetrator had equal or less power than the victim. Participants included 379 adolescents, ages 11–14 (M = 12.86; SD = .84). As expected, cyberbullying and traditional bullying were consistently associated with proactive functions, including dominance, aggression deterrence and intrasexual competition (competitive), seeking status and mates (impression management), and enjoyment (sadistic), in line with the goal-directed nature of bullying. In contrast, cyber and traditional forms of adversarial aggression and victimization were associated with competitive and reactive functions (for boys only in cyber form), consistent with expectations that adversarial aggression would occur in the context of intrasexual competition. Relations with functions differed by gender only for cyber aggression. Cyberbullying was more strongly linked to competitive functions for girls, whereas adversarial cyber aggression related to competitive functions only for boys, and linked more strongly with reactive functions for girls, suggesting that girls may be more risk averse in their use of cyber aggression. In addition, traditional bullying was associated with both proactive and reactive motives, whereas cyberbullying was related only to proactive functions. The implications of differentiating the evolutionarily relevant aggressive functions associated with adolescents’ experiences of bullying and adversarial aggression are discussed.

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Funding

This study was funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight grant #435–2017-0303 awarded to Dr. Dane.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1, Canada

    Kiana R. Lapierre & Andrew V. Dane

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  1. Kiana R. Lapierre
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  2. Andrew V. Dane
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection and analysis were performed by Kiana Lapierre. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Kiana Lapierre, and all authors commented on and edited previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Kiana R. Lapierre.

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Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

The questionnaire and methodology for this study was approved by the ethics committee of Brock University and the local school board. Informed consent was obtained from all parents/legal guardians and individual participants included in the study.

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The authors affirm that all participants provided informed consent for the publication of their deindividualized data.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Lapierre, K.R., Dane, A.V. Evolutionary Functions of Cyber and Traditional Forms of Aggression in Adolescence. Evolutionary Psychological Science 8, 134–147 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-021-00297-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-021-00297-7

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