Elementary School Students’ Aggressive Behavior: Causes and Impacts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62843/jrsr/2024.3a164Keywords:
Aggression, Elementary Students, Parenting Styles, Peer Relations, School Environment, Emotional Stress, Gender, Regression Analysis, Family EnvironmentAbstract
This study focuses on understanding elementary school students’ aggressive behavior and the factors that contribute to it. A quantitative survey method was used to collect data from 200 students in grades 6 to 8. Two tools i.e. the Anger, Aggression and Consequences Scale (AACS) and the Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) were applied for data collection. The data were analyzed through SPSS (version 27) using descriptive statistics, independent t-tests and regression analyses. Results showed that while many students felt supported by their families, few students also faced emotional neglect, sibling conflicts and indifference from teachers. Students generally held neutral or slightly negative views about how academic stress, poverty, depression and video games affect aggression. Only a few reported feelings of anger, loneliness, worthlessness and serious aggressive acts such as physical violence were rare. The results further indicated that no gender differences were found in the causes and effects of aggression. However, a weak but significant relationship appeared between causes and factors. Students who experience more stress also tend to report more aggression. Regression tests confirmed this link but showed that these factors did not strongly predict how aggression impacts students overall. This study highlights important insights for parents, teachers and psychologists. It suggests the need to pay closer attention to emotional neglect, video games and family relations when addressing aggressive behavior in young learners.
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