NCJ Number
87863
Journal
Human Relations Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Dated: (1981) Pages: 33-42
Date Published
1981
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Evaluation of an aggressor and a victim of aggression was obtained in two separate studies in both of which a small paragraph describing an instance of aggression and its consequences was read by college students in Bombay, India.
Abstract
In the first study, which has a 2 (sex of subject) x 2 (age of aggressor) x 2 (age of victim) x 2 (retaliation versus nonretaliation by victim) factorial design, with 21 subjects per cell, the victim was rated on intelligence, morality, adjustment, and likeability. The second study had exactly the same design and procedure except that it was the aggressor instead of the victim, that was rated by the subjects, 20 per cell. The nonretaliating victim was rated more positively than the retaliating victim. The aggressor received a more negative evaluation, in some conditions, with the nonretaliating rather than the retaliating victim. The younger victim was evaluated more negatively with the older rather than younger aggressor, and the younger aggressor received a more negative evaluation with the older rather than the younger retaliating victim. The results apparently reflect the norms regarding aggression and age in a specific culture and suggest the acceptability of nonretaliation as a powerful moral weapon. Study data and about 20 references are supplied. (Author abstract modified)