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Updated: Jun 28, 2026

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents
Published on: July 10, 2017
Social status and shaming experiences related to adolescent overt aggression at school
Cecilia Aslund1, Bengt Starrin, Jerzy Leppert
1Centre for Clinical Research, Central Hospital of Västerås, Uppsala University, Västerås, Sweden. cecilia.aslund@ltv.se
Abstract:
Feelings of rejection and humiliation in interpersonal interaction are strongly related to aggressive behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between social status, shaming experiences, gender and adolescent aggressive behavior by using a status-shaming model. A population-based sample of 5,396 adolescents aged from 15 to 18 completed a questionnaire that asked questions regarding psychosocial background, shaming experiences, social status of family, peer group and school and involvement in physical or verbal aggression at school. Shaming experiences, i.e. being ridiculed or humiliated by others, were strongly related to aggressive behavior. Social status and shaming were related in the prediction of aggressive behavior, suggesting that a person's social status may influence the risk for taking aggressive action when subjected to shaming experiences. Medium social status seemed to have a protective function in the association between shaming experiences and aggression. This study confirms the importance of further evaluation of the role of perceived social status and shaming experiences in the understanding of aggressive behavior. Moreover, the results indicate the need for different kinds of status measures when investigating the associations between status and behavior in adolescent populations. The results may have important implications for the prevention of bullying at school as well as other deviant aggressive behavior among adolescents.
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