Biomaterial Database

Sex differences in children's expression and control of fantasy and overt aggression. 1979

D M Brodzinsky, and S B Messer, and J D Tew

The present study explored sex differences in children's expression and control of fantasy and overt aggression. Fifth-grade boys and girls were presented a TAT-like projective test to measure fantasy aggression and controls over aggression. Overt peer-oriented aggression was measured by peer and teacher ratings. Results indicated that boys were rated more physically and verbally aggressive than girls but not more indirectly aggressive. Boys also produced more physical aggression in fantasy than girls, although the opposite trend was found for indirect aggression; no sex difference was found for verbal fantasy aggression. Finally, girls had a higher ratio of aggression control per total fantasy aggression than boys. The results support the position that while boys, in contrast to girls, are socialized in a way that encourage direct expression of aggression, girls are just as likely to be aggressive as boys when the aggression is indirect. The results are discussed further from the perspective of social learning theory and Maccoby and Jacklin's biological position.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D005201	Fantasy	An imagined sequence of events or mental images, e.g., daydreams.	Day Dreams,Daydreams,Day Dream,Daydream,Dream, Day,Dreams, Day,Fantasies
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000374	Aggression	Behavior which may be manifested by destructive and attacking action which is verbal or physical, by covert attitudes of hostility or by obstructionism.	Aggressions
D001007	Anxiety	Feelings or emotions of dread, apprehension, and impending disaster but not disabling as with ANXIETY DISORDERS.	Angst,Anxiousness,Hypervigilance,Nervousness,Social Anxiety,Anxieties, Social,Anxiety, Social,Social Anxieties
D012737	Sex Factors	Maleness or femaleness as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from SEX CHARACTERISTICS, anatomical or physiological manifestations of sex, and from SEX DISTRIBUTION, the number of males and females in given circumstances.	Factor, Sex,Factors, Sex,Sex Factor
D013803	Thematic Apperception Test	A projective technique which focuses primarily on the dynamics of interpersonal relationships. It consists of a series of 31 pictures that depict various social situations and interpersonal relations. A subset is selected by the examiner and presented to the subject who is asked to tell a story about each picture. The stories are interpreted in terms of the subject's relations to authority figures, to contemporaries of both sexes, and in terms of the compromises between external demands and the needs of the id, the ego, and the superego. (From Campbell, Psychiatric Dictionary, 1996)	Apperception Test, Thematic,Apperception Tests, Thematic,Test, Thematic Apperception,Tests, Thematic Apperception,Thematic Apperception Tests
D014705	Verbal Behavior	Includes both producing and responding to words, either written or spoken.	Behavior, Verbal,Behaviors, Verbal,Verbal Behaviors