How Affective Relationships and Classroom Norms Shape Perceptions of Aggressor, Victim, and Defender Roles

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Peer nominations are common for aggression research but can be biased.
• Affective relationships (liking/disliking) may influence these nominations.
• Understanding biases is crucial for accurate aggression assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate how dyadic and group liking/disliking affects perceptions of aggression involvement.
• Explore the moderating roles of classroom moral disengagement and defending norms.
• Examine the influence of peer perceptions on individual nominations.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal social network study with 632 early adolescents across 27 classrooms.
• Two time points, 6 months apart.
• Multiplex stochastic actor-oriented modeling (SAOM) to analyze network dynamics.

Main Results:

• Liking, not disliking, significantly influenced perceptions of aggression roles.
• Liking increased the likelihood of perceiving a classmate as a defender.
• Individual perceptions were shaped by liked peers' views, moderated by moral disengagement for defender roles.

Conclusions:

• Student liking significantly impacts peer nominations for aggression behaviors.
• Classroom moral disengagement can mitigate bias in defender role perceptions.
• Accurate assessment requires considering social relationships and classroom norms.