regional differences in relational aggression: the role of culture

135 Pages·2016·3.19 MB·English

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Dissertations
Summer 8-2012
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Katherine Amanda Czar
University of Southern Mississippi
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The University of Southern Mississippi

REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN RELATIONAL AGGRESSION:

THE ROLE OF CULTURE

by

Katherine Amanda Czar

Abstract of a Dissertation
Submitted to the Graduate School
of The University of Southern Mississippi
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

August 2012
ABSTRACT
REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN RELATIONAL AGGRESSION:
THE ROLE OF CULTURE
by Katherine Amanda Czar
August 2012
It is becoming increasingly clear that relational aggression has just as much
potential to cause harm as overt verbal and physical aggression. Though the literature
base on relational aggression is growing, far fewer studies have been conducted with late
adolescents and adults as compared with children and early adolescents. Moreover, the
role of culture in relational aggression has received limited attention. The current study
aimed to examine the potential impact of one aspect of culture on relational aggression by
focusing on North-South regional differences in the United States. Differing norms and
expectations for social behavior between Northern and Southern U.S. may translate into
differences in aggressive behavior. Two-hundred and eighty-eight undergraduate students
from a Southern university and 217 students from a university in the Northeast completed
self-report measures of relational aggression, overt aggression, normative beliefs about
relational aggression, and gender role attitudes online. Results indicated that Southern
participants reported greater levels of both general/peer and romantic relational
aggression compared to the Northern sample. Southerners also reported more traditional
gender role attitudes compared to Northerners. There was not a significant difference
between Northern and Southern participants on normative beliefs about relational
aggression. Traditional gender role attitudes were positively correlated with both
general/peer and romantic relational aggression. Finally, gender role attitudes were a
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significant predictor of general/peer relational aggression but not of relational aggression
in romantic contexts.

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COPYRIGHT BY
KATHERINE AMANDA CZAR
2012
The University of Southern Mississippi

REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN RELATIONAL AGGRESSION:

THE ROLE OF CULTURE

by

Katherine Amanda Czar

A Dissertation
Submitted to the Graduate School
of The University of Southern Mississippi
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Approved:

__Eric Dahlen________________________
Director

__Jon Mandracchia____________________

__Virgil Zeigler-Hill___________________

__J.T. Johnson_______________________

__Susan A. Siltanen___________________
Dean of the Graduate School

August 2012
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to express my abundant gratitude to my
dissertation advisor, Dr. Eric Dahlen, for his extremely valuable input, expertise, and
guidance, as well as for his incredible patience throughout the course of this study as well
as throughout my graduate career. I would also like to extend many thanks to my
dissertation committee, Dr. J. T. Johnson, Dr. Jon Mandracchia, and Dr. Virgil Zeigler-
Hill, whose insights and collaboration helped to make this project a quality one. Thank
you all for helping me to achieve this milestone and produce a dissertation that I can be
proud of.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………………….. ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ……………………………………………………………… iii

LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………………………...………… vii

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………. 1

Forms of Aggression
Functions of Aggression
Adverse Correlates and Potential Effects of Relational Aggression
Relational Aggression in Adults
Relational Aggression and Culture
North-South Differences in Aggression
Southern Distinctiveness
Southern Women
Traditional Gender Role Attitudes
Costs of Violating Gender Norms
The Present Study

II. METHODS ……………………………………………………………. 54

Participants
Instruments
Procedure
Statistical Analyses

III. RESULTS ……………………………………………………………… 63

Preliminary Analyses
Primary Analyses
Exploratory Analyses

IV. DISCUSSION …………………………………….……………………. 72

Regional Differences in Relational Aggression and Normative Beliefs
Gender Role Attitudes and Relational Aggression among Women
Gender Differences and Region
Limitations
Implications and Directions for Future Research

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APPENDIXES …………………………………………………………………………. 84

REFERENCES ……………….………………….……………………………………. 101

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LIST OF TABLES

Table

1. Alphas, Means, and Standard Deviations for all Variables (N = 505) ……..….. 63

2. Gender Composition of Northern Sample (n = 217) versus Southern sample
(n = 288) ………………………………………………………………………... 64

3. Racial Background Reported by Northern Participants (n = 217) and Southern
Participants (n = 288) …………………………………………………………... 65

4. Means and Standard Deviations for Variables in Hypotheses 1 through 4 (N =

505) …………………………………………………………………………….. 66

5. Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Predicting General/Peer
Relational Aggression From Gender Role Attitudes Among Women (n = 377).. 67

6. Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Predicting Romantic Relational

Aggression From Gender Role Attitudes Among Women (n = 288) ………….. 68

7. Intercorrelations Among all Variables (N = 505) ……………………………… 70

8. Means for Aggression Variables by Gender and Region (N = 505) …………… 71

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