Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026
09:12
The Resident-intruder Paradigm: A Standardized Test for Aggression, Violence and Social Stress
Published on: July 4, 2013
Reactive and proactive aggression: stability of constructs and relations to correlates
Meghan D McAuliffe1, Julie A Hubbard, Ronnie M Rubin
1Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716-2577, USA. meghanmc@psych.udel.edu
The Journal of Genetic Psychology
|July 25, 2007
Summary
Aggression subtypes, reactive and proactive, showed short-term stability across one year in children. Reactive aggression consistently correlated with hyperactivity and poor social skills, unlike proactive aggression.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Child Psychology
- Aggression Research
Background:
- Aggression in children is a significant concern with various subtypes.
- Understanding the temporal stability and correlates of different aggression types is crucial for intervention.
- Reactive and proactive aggression are distinct constructs requiring separate examination.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the short-term temporal stability of reactive and proactive aggression.
- To assess the consistency of the relationships between aggression subtypes and key correlates over one year.
- To investigate the differential correlates of reactive versus proactive aggression in 2nd graders.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study design with two assessment points across one year.
- Utilized parent, teacher, peer, and self-report measures for 57 second-grade boys and girls.
- Assessed reactive aggression, proactive aggression, hyperactivity, social skills, anger expression, and depressive symptoms.
Main Results:
- Both reactive and proactive aggression demonstrated short-term temporal stability over the one-year period.
- Reactive aggression consistently showed positive relationships with hyperactivity, poor social skills, and anger expression.
- Proactive aggression did not exhibit consistent relationships with these correlates across the assessments.
Conclusions:
- Reactive and proactive aggression are stable constructs in early childhood.
- Reactive aggression is consistently associated with externalizing behaviors and emotional dysregulation.
- Findings highlight the importance of differentiating aggression subtypes for targeted interventions.
Related Concept Videos
01:47Aggression
Humans engage in aggression when they seek to cause harm or pain to another person. Aggression takes two forms depending on one’s motives: hostile or instrumental. Hostile aggression is motivated by feelings of anger with intent to cause pain; a fight in a bar with a stranger is an example of hostile aggression. In contrast, instrumental aggression is motivated by achieving a goal and does not necessarily involve intent to cause pain (Berkowitz, 1993); a contract killer who murders for hire...
01:21Secondary Motives: Affiliation Motivation and Aggression Motivation
Affiliation motivation is the intrinsic desire to connect with others and belong to a social group, which plays a crucial role in forming and maintaining personal relationships. This type of motivation is essential for psychological well-being, as it provides individuals with a sense of community and support. An example of this is a student who joins a study group in order to feel a sense of connection. People with high affiliation motivation actively seek social approval, take satisfaction in...
03:34Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships.
02:04Bullying
A modern form of aggression is bullying. As you learn in your study of child development, socializing and playing with other children is beneficial for children’s psychological development. However, as you may have experienced as a child, not all play behavior has positive outcomes. Some children are aggressive and want to play roughly. Other children are selfish and do not want to share toys. One form of negative social interactions among children that has become a national concern is bullying.
01:29Personality Theory by Eysenck and Eysenck
Hans and Sybil Eysenck developed a widely recognized theory of personality, which emphasizes the role of temperament and genetically based differences in shaping individual traits. Their theory posits that biological factors primarily determine personality and can be understood through two main dimensions: extroversion/introversion and neuroticism/stability.
In the extroversion/introversion dimension, highly extroverted people are sociable, outgoing, and easily connect with others. In contrast,...
In the extroversion/introversion dimension, highly extroverted people are sociable, outgoing, and easily connect with others. In contrast,...
01:23Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques II
Personality types, particularly Type A and Type B, significantly influence how individuals respond to stress. These personality distinctions are marked by varying levels of ambition, competitiveness, and coping styles, all of which shape an individual's resilience to stressors.
Type A Personality: Driven and Easily Stressed
Individuals with Type A personalities are often highly competitive and ambitious and operate with a strong sense of urgency. Commonly labeled as "workaholics," they...
Type A Personality: Driven and Easily Stressed
Individuals with Type A personalities are often highly competitive and ambitious and operate with a strong sense of urgency. Commonly labeled as "workaholics," they...