Peer rejection rates and perceived social competence among elementary-school children who display reactive and combined reactive and proactive aggressive behaviors

This study investigated relationships among aggression type (i.e., predominantly reactive versus combined reactive and proactive types of aggression), teacher perceived social competence, and peer rejection rates among elementary-school children (i.e., grades K--5). Its goal was to utilize two sources of information (i.e., teachers and peers) to gain a more comprehensive understanding of relationships between children's display of aggressive behavior and social perceptions of teachers and peers.;Teachers initially provided ratings of reactive and proactive aggression of 796 elementary school students in grades kindergarten through 5. From these data, 191 elementary school students were identified as displaying predominantly reactive or both reactive and proactive types of aggression. However, students who demonstrated solely proactive types of aggression were not included because of concerns that the criterion for inclusion in the proactive aggression group was too low. Teachers also rated children's social competence. Peer nomination data from the students in the classroom provided information on the children's social status.;Results indicated that peer rejection rates were comparable across three elementary-school grade groups (i.e., K--1, 2--3, and 4--5) regardless of whether children demonstrated predominantly reactive or combined reactive and proactive aggressive behaviors. Results also indicated that teachers' perceptions of social competence of aggressive children did not differ between aggressive children who displayed only reactive behaviors and those who displayed both reactive and proactive behaviors. However, among children who demonstrated both reactive and proactive behaviors, social competence for those in grades K--1 was rated higher than for those in grades 2--3. Lastly, relationships between peer rejection rates and teacher judgments of social competence were nonsignificant for both groups of aggressive children.