| Relational aggression has been shown to be the most prevalent form of aggression exhibited among girls and has discredited prior conclusions that girls are not as aggressive as boys. Crick and Grotpeter (1995) defined the term relational aggression as harming others through purposeful manipulation and damage of their peer relationships. Examples of these behaviors include angry retaliation against a girl by excluding her from play groups, purposefully withdrawing friendship or acceptance in order to hurt or control her, and spreading rumors about her so that peers will reject her. Research indicates that relational aggression victimization can lead to depression, anxiety, low self-concept, school avoidance, lowered grades, and even suicidal thoughts or actions. Despite these known outcomes, there is currently a limited number of measures designed to clearly indicate students who have been victimized and, thus, are more susceptible to these outcomes. Prior studies have examined relational aggression and its victims; however, these studies have frequently been limited due to poorly operationalized definitions, grouping all types of aggressive behaviors into one general category, and not accounting for the different types of aggression that girls engage in as opposed to boys. In addition, a thorough, quantitative measure of relational aggression victimization, separate from other forms of bullying and aggression, has not yet been created. The purpose of the current study was to develop a measure of relational aggression victimization that is quantitative in nature so that girls who are victims of relational aggression can be identified more easily. Results of the study produced a reliable and valid measure that may be useful for identifying girls who are victims of relational aggression. Furthermore, relationally aggressive behaviors appeared to be categorized into three underlying categories which were called Perceived Direct Relational Aggression, Perceived Behavioral Relational Aggression, and Perceived Indirect Relational Aggression. Limitations and future directions for research of this instrument were discussed. |
