The Relationship Of Peer Adversity, Children's Self-Concept, Peer Beliefs And Aggressive Behavior

Peer adversity indicates interpersonal adversity among peer relationships, including negative peer experiences such as peer rejection, peer victimization, friendless and so on. Research indicates that the experiences children have in peer relationships add to the probability of maladjustment (Hawker & Boulton,2000; Ladd, Kochenderfer,& Coleman,1997; Parker & Asher,1987). The victims of peer rejection and peer aggression had more externalizing problems (Kingery, Erdley, Marshall, Whitaker,& Reute.2010; Rubin, Bulkowski,& Parker,2006). From chronic peer relational adversity, children infer or construct negative beliefs about themselves (Boulton et al.,2010) and their peers (Salmivalli & Isaacs,2005). Children's self-perceptions as well as their beliefs about peers may act as mediators of the effects of adverse peer relationships on psychological maladjustment such as aggression and so on. Only a few researchers have examined whether children's future behavior varies as a function of their exposure to adverse peer relationships and subtypes of peer victimization were not taken into account. The current study investigates whether the effect that adverse peer experiences have on children's aggressive behavior be transmitted through children's self-and peer beliefs.A Cross-sectional investigation was conducted to explicate how the confluence of early peer relationship adversity and cognitive representations of the self and peers contributes to aggressive behaviors and gender as a moderator. Peer victimization (physical victimization and relational victimization), self-concept (physical self perception and social self-concept) and peer beliefs were assessed using self report measures. The extent to which children were rejected by their classmates was assessed using a rating scale measure of peer rejection. The participants of this study were 1937 children in grade 5 in Jinan. Conclusions drawn in this thesis are as follows: 1. In late childhood, Boys reported more physical peer victimization and peer rejection than girls. But there were no gender differences in relational peer victimization. Children reported significantly higher levels of social self-concept and global self-worth than physical self-concept. Boys reported higher levels of physical self-concept than girls, while girls in late childhood reported higher levels of social self-concept and global self-worth than boys. And boys and girls had similar levels of peer beliefs. Boys in late childhood reported more aggression of both relational and physical forms than girls, while the difference was smaller on relational aggression.2. Children's self-perceptions partially act as a mediator of the effects of adverse peer relationships on children's aggressive behavior. The effect that peer rejection and physical peer victimization have on children's aggressive behavior were transmitted through children's physical self-concept; The effect that peer rejection and peer victimization have on children's physical aggressive behavior were transmitted through children's social self-concept.3. Children's peer beliefs partially act as a mediator of the effects of adverse peer relationships on children's aggressive behavior. The more children were victimized, physically or relationally, the higher levels of their physical and relational aggression.4. Peer relationship adversity and cognitive representations of the self and peers acted as full moderators in:the paths from physical victimization to relational aggression and the paths from relational victimization to physical aggression.5. The final model held equally well for boys and girls. Fit indices suggested that the final model adequately fit the data for boys and girls.