Individualistic and Familial Conditioning of Adolescents` Aggressive

Transkrypt

Danuta Borecka-Biernat*
Psychology Institute of Wroclaw University
Individualistic and Familial Conditioning
of Adolescents’ Aggressive Behavior
when Dealing with Difficult Social Situations
Abstract
The objective of studies was the definition of personality and family determinants of aggression strategy used by adolescent youth difficult social situations.
Basing on the analysis of collected study material it can be stated that aggressive
strategy in adolescent youth is favoured by the lower evaluation of their own possibilities and feeling of the lack of influence on the course of difficult situation.
Furthermore, the state of increased emotional stress and anxiety, accompanying
the difficult social situation stimulates, in particular the boys, to use the aggressive
methods. In the considerations about the family genesis of coping strategy there
have been confirmed the suppositions that improper parental attitudes and aggressive strategy patterns delivered by the parents are the favouring conditions for
the development of youth aggressive coping strategy in difficult social situations.
■ Introduction
According to T. Tomaszewski (1984), a notion of ‘difficult situation’
is strictly connected with activities that an individual carries out in order
to regulate their relations with the surroundings. A person must regulate
*
Corresponence address: Danuta Borecka-Biernat, Instytut Psychologii, Uniwersytet
Wrocławski, ul. Dawida 1, 50-527 Wrocław; e-mail: [email protected].
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Danuta Borecka-Biernat
their relations with physical and social surroundings, and its results condition an individual’s mood, proper functioning and development. Confrontation of a person with environment may be a source of problems that
may arise from maladjustment between requirements of the environment
and its individual resources. In the event of disturbing balance between
requirements of the surroundings and subject’s possibilities, a difficult
situation or stress is usually discussed (Tomaszewski, 1984; Lazarus, Folkman, 1984; Tyszkowa, 1986; Heszen-Niejodek, 2000). In such situations
an individual’s activities encounter obstructions, become restrained, and
sometimes achieving an aim is foiled. Thus, satisfying needs and realization of subjective drives may be endangered. Difficult situations usually
expose an individual to experiencing negative emotions, and protection
against physical and psychical failures is natural in this condition. What
is significant for these situations is that they force an individual to change
the existing structure of activities in order to achieve an intended result,
and they finally place it in new relations with outer and intrapersonal environment.
Difficult situations are not a consistent class of situations but they are
an internally diversified group. Among numerous attempts to divide difficult situations, a proposal of M. Tyszkowa (1979) is popular. This author’s
division of difficult situations (ibid., p. 211) specifies difficult interactive
social situations, in which “an individual’s values and aspirations under
go threats or foiled by other people, by the very fact of their presence or
as a result of specific forms of their influence contradictory or inconsistent with individual’s own aspirations”. This category of difficult situations
comprises situations in which a man is ridiculed, fiercely criticized by other
people from their surroundings (social situations of exposition, evaluation
and criticism) or they are entangled with interpersonal conflict (situation
of social conflict), or by requirements and demands of others they must
amend the aim of their own aspirations or quit important things (a situation of social influence).
For a man difficult situations are nothing unusual, on the contrary
– they accompany them since early childhood. Every day young people face
Individualistic and Familial Conditioning of Adolescents’ Aggressive Behavior... 103
necessity to solve various problems concerning e.g. their home, schoolmates. Research results indicate that for teenagers difficult situations mean
speaking in public, being ridiculed by friends or unexpected test and getting a negative grade (cf. Krzyśko, 1999; Mikołowska-Olejniczak , 2002;
Lohman, Jarvis, 2000). The empirical material also proves that a conflict
with a teacher, arguments with schoolmates or a boyfriend/girlfriend, as
well as arguments with one or both parents and other members of the
family is an important source of tension during adolescence (cf. Jaworski,
2000; Guszkowska et al., 2001). Furthermore, numerous researches indicates that another significant group of difficult social situation specified
by teenagers are situations in which they had to give up important things
as a result of force created by requirements, demands and bans of parents,
teachers or friends (cf. Guszkowska et. al. 2001; Sikora, Pisula, 2002).
In difficult situations constituting a threat for a man, making it hard to
satisfy their needs or achieve an intended aim, usually they undertake an
activity enabling them to overcome it or improve it. Activity undertaken
in a stressful event may be considered in a particular situational context
as a strategy of dealing with existing stressful situation (cf. Wrześniewski,
1996). One of main factors deciding about the course of behavior in a difficult situation is a picture of one’s own situation, the notion of subjective
perception (Heszen-Niejodek, 1996). When a young person is evaluating
a difficult situation as a threat, when contacting a problem they are using
mostly strategies of protective character. A common feature of protective
strategy in difficult situations is their low effectiveness since they lead to
abandon aims. They only allow a man to lower the emotional tension. This
is done trough aggression in a form of initiating a physical or verbal attack
directed at specific people, doing physical, mental, and social damage to
welfare of other people (cf. Frączek, 1996).
A concept of mechanical behavior of man in difficult situations described by M. Tyszkowa (1986) has a basic significance for explanation of
changes in human behavior in difficult situations. In the author’s opinion,
cognitive schemes play a significant role in the genesis of changes in human behavior in difficult situations. They specify processes of perceiving
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externals situations, individual’s emotional reflecting the meaning of this
situation and the course of one’s own action, and a complex of habits of reacting to emotional tension shaped in particular educational conditions.
■ Research Problems
Empirical research concentrated on two groups of problems:
1. Individualistic conditioning of the protective strategy in a form of
aggressive reactions to difficulties used by adolescents in difficult
social situations, with particular attention paid to the role of selfesteem, sense of control, and level of fear.
2. A role of familial factors in shaping the protective strategy used by
adolescents in difficult social situations, such as a role of parental
attitude and a modeling parents’ influence.
The following research questions were set within the above mentioned
groups of problems:
1. What complex of individualistic variables differentiates a high and
low level of the strategy of aggression used by adolescence in difficult social situations?
2. What complex of familial variables differentiates a high and low
level of the strategy of aggression used by adolescence in difficult
social situations?
■ Method
Measure. The following were applied in the research: a proprietary
survey questionnaire for adolescents dealing with difficult social situations (RTSS) (cf. Borecka-Biernat, 2003), W. Fitts’s Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS), G. Krasowicz and A. Kurzyp-Wojnarska Self-Control Questionnaire (KBPK), C. Spielberger, J. Strelau, M. Tysarczyk and
K. Wrześniewski’s State Trait Anxiety Inventory (ISCL), Roe-Siegelman’s
PCR form III Questionnaire to survey the perception of parental attitude
and a proprietary questionnaire of parents’ dealing with difficult social
situations (RRTSS) (cf. Borecka-Biernat, 2004).
RTSS questionnaire is intended for research of the strategy of dealing with
difficult social situation undertaken by adolescents of medium school age. It consists of descriptions of 30 difficult social situations. Each situation includes
three examples of behavior expressing dealing with a difficult situation
– the first one refers to aggressive behavior, the second one to avoidance,
and the third one to dealing with task-oriented difficult situations.
Fitts’s TSCS consists of 100 descriptive statements concerning one’s
own person, which are used to self-assess one’s own “self ” applying a phenomenological system of statement classification. Ten of them form so
called self-criticism (SC). The other ninety statements make the proper
scale. They are put into 8 rates of specific self esteem rates creating a net
of three lines (“that’s the way I am”, “that’s how I feel myself ”, “that’s how
I behave”) and five columns (“physical self ”, “moral-ethical self ”, “private
self ”, “family self ”, and “social self ”). Beside specific self concept, the scale
gives the possibility to globally calculate positive rate. KBPK questionnaire
is used to measure the personality variable called the sense of control position. It consists of 46 multiple-choice questions; 36 of them are diagnostic positions, and the other 10 are buffer questions. Diagnostic questions
concerning simple situations from school life of adolescents make up two
scales: a scale of success (S) and a scale of failures (P). Questions referring
to successful events make up a scale of success (S), and questions referring
unsuccessful events – a scale of failure (P). The total results of both scales
make up a rate of generalized sense of control position (S+S).
C. Spielberger, J. Strelau, M. Tysarczyk and K. Wrześniewski’s ISCL basically consists of two separate scales, one of which (X-1) is used to measure
the condition of fear and the other one (X-2) measure the feature of fear.
Both scales are placed on one sheet entitled “The Self-Esteem Questionnaire” on both pages. Below instructions you will find items of the test, 20
for each scale, in a form of short statements concerning subjective feelings
of an individual. III Form of PCR Questionnaire (translated by Kowalski,
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1984) is used to measure attitudes of parents to their children. Parents’
attitudes are recognized in perceptions of daughters and sons. A tool prepared by A. Roe and M. Siegelman contains 50 statements for both versions, namely My mother and My father. It consists of five scales, and each
one contains ten statements and describes five parents’ attitudes. They are
the following: loving attitude, liberal attitude, protective attitude, rejecting
attitude, demanding attitude.
RRTSS questionnaire is used to measure parents’ strategy to deal with
a difficult situation. Parents strategies are recognized in perceptions of
daughters and sons. A tool of one’s own authorship contains 36 statements
for both versions, namely My mother and My father. It consists of three scales,
and each one includes 12 statements and describes three kinds of behavior presenting parents dealing with a difficult situation. They are aggressive
dealing, avoidance, and task-oriented dealing with a difficult situation.
A survey. Empirical test was conducted in lower-secondary schools
in Wroclaw and surrounding towns. They comprised adolescents of 1st
and 2nd classes, aged 13–15. They were carried out in two stages. The
first stage was aimed at selecting persons of high and low level of aggression as a strategy of dealing with difficult social situations in order to
create a base for proper research. The initial research comprising all students in a class, a RTSS questionnaire was used in one’s one preparation.
904 students (434 girls and 470 boys) took part in this stage, and finally,
625 students (280 girls and 345 boys) were selected for further research.
Then, the second stage was conducted, it comprised persons classified to
a critical group (WSA) and a control group (NSA). The WSA group consisted of people who – in their own opinion – are characterized by a high
level of aggression as a strategy of dealing with difficult social situations
(148 girls and 187 boys), and the NSA group consisted of people that are
characterized by a low level of aggression as a strategy (132 girls and 158
boys). The second stage of research consisted in collecting material necessary to obtain answers to posed research problems from selected persons.
The following research tools were applied: W. Fitts’s TSCS, G. Krasowicz,
A. Kurzyp-Wojnarska’s KBPK, State Trait Anxiety Inventory (ISCL) by
C. Spielberger, J. Strelau, M. Tysarczyk and K. Wrześniewski, PCR form
III questionnaire by A. Roe, M. Siegelman and my own questionnaire of
parents’ dealing with difficult social situations in child’s perception.
■ Research Results Analysis
Discriminant analysis creates possibilities to determine aggression
strategy discriminant used by adolescents in difficult social situationss,
taking into account all personality variables. Fourteen personality variables were applied in this statistical method: global self-esteem (p. Glob.),
self-esteem rates related to evaluation concerning various fields of “self ”
functioning in social roles (“physical self ” (PA), “Moral-ethical self ” (PB),
“personal self ” (PC), “family self ” (PD), and “social self ” (PE), self-esteem rates related to living and perception of one’s own self (“that’s the
way I am” (PW1), “that’s how I feel myself ” (PW2), “that’s how I behave
(PW3)”), the sense of control position for successful situation (S), the
sense of control position for failure (S), generalized sense of control position (S+S), fear as temporary state related to difficult position (X-1) and
fear as relatively permanent personality trait (X-2). Discriminant analysis
allows to find individual differentiations of surveyed people due to the
level of aggression as a strategy of dealing with difficult social situations.
Discriminants as prognosis rates give bases (in a specified percentage) to
correct prediction of belonging of the surveyed people to one of two selected strategies of dealing in difficult situations (cf. Brzeziński, 1984).
The present research they are groups of adolescents of high and low level
of aggression as a strategy of dealing with difficult social situations, taking
their sex into account. Groups of high and low level of strategy of dealing
with difficult social situations were selected due to high and low results in
A scale of RTSS questionnaire.
Conducted discriminant analysis of all fourteen personality variables
taking into account division of adolescents (total of surveyed people) depending on sex (girls) into two groups allowed to select five following
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discriminants: “Moral-ethical self ” (PB), “family self ” (PD), “that’s the
way I am” (PW1), “that’s how I feel about myself ” (PW2) and generalized
sense of control position (S+S) table 1.
It turned out that a decreased set of results with reference to the said variables (lower self-esteem with regard to ethical-moral self, lower self-esteem
as a member of the family and its proper functioning, lower self-esteem in
particular content fields of “self ”, lower self-contentment and generalized
tendency to assign responsibility for consequence of one’s own actions to
external factors) to a significant extent is decisive about belonging to a group
of these people that apply high level of aggression when dealing with difficult social situations.
Table 1. Personality variables selected as discriminants differentiating between adolescents
of high (WSA) and low (NSA) level of aggression as a strategy of dealing
with difficult social situations taking sex into account
Surveyed
people
Total
Discriminants
Wilk’s
Lambda
F usun.
P
1-Toler.
(R-kwadr.)
PB
0,84
46,88
0,000001
0,55
PD
0,82
35,42
0,000001
0,61
PW1
0,79
8,03
0,005000
0,62
PW2
0,81
27,95
0,000010
0,63
S+S
0,83
39,18
0,000001
0,07
Wilks’ Lambda 0,78; PPR. F (5,619) = 35,21; p < 0,0001
Girls
PB
0,82
15,08
0,000090
0,54
PD
0,84
23,07
0,000003
0,65
PW1
0,79
4,18
0,040000
0,66
PW2
0,81
11,08
0,001000
0,70
S+P
0,84
22,87
0,000003
0,07
Wilks’ Lambda 0,77; F (5,274) = 16,00; p < 0,0001
Boys
PB
0,84
31,28
0,000001
0,48
PD
0,79
9,64
0,002000
0,47
0,61
PW2
0,80
14,43
0,000200
S+P
0,82
19,81
0,000010
0,10
X-2
0,78
4,09
0,040000
0,24
Wilks’ Lambda 0,77; F (5,339) = 20,27; p < 0,0001
Explanations: PB – “moral-ethical self ”, PD – “family self ”, PW1 – “that’s the way I am”, PW2
– “hat’s how I feel about myself ”, S + P – results total S (successes) and P (failures), X-2 – feartrait.
The five variables make up for total 22% (Gen.) and 23% (G.) variants.
Total power of selected discriminants conditioning correct assignment of
particular persons to a group of high and low level of aggression as a strategy of dealing with difficult social situations on the basis of discriminant
function is moderate and it amounts to 71,84% (Gen.) and 72,86 (G.).
The correctness of qualifying persons to a group of a high level of aggression amounts to 73,1% (Gen.) and 73% (G.), and to a group of low level of
aggression as a strategy of dealing with difficult social situations amounts
to 70,35% (Gen.) and 72,73% (G.).
Comparison of boys applying aggression as a strategy of dealing with
difficult social situations and boys using low level of aggression led to including five variables to discriminant formula, differentiating compared
groups (see Table 1). They are the following discriminants: “moral-ethical
self ” (PB), “family self ” (PD), “that’s how I feel about myself ” (PW2), generalized sense of control position (S+P) and fear comprehended as a trait
(X-2). The following configuration of personality discriminants: lower
ethical and moral self-esteem, lower self-esteem as a member of family
and its proper functioning, lower self-contentment, lower level of generalized sense of control and higher disposition to fear reactions is decisive
about high level of aggression occurring at boys as a strategy of dealing
with difficult social situations.
These five variables that were included in the discriminant equation
amount to 23% of variables in total. On the basis of the above five discriminants you may appropriately determine the notion of belonging to one
or another groups – 71,59% of surveyed boys. The correctness of selecting
boys for a group of high level of aggression when dealing with difficult
social situations amounts to 75,40%, and to the group of low level of aggression – 67,09%.
On the basis of the above results it was found out that a set of specific
personality traits plays the role of discriminants which form the bases to
predict to a moderate extent the strategy of aggression when dealing with
difficult social situations: rates connected with evaluation of various fields
of “self ” functioning in social roles, rates connected with perception and
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living one’s one “self ”, generalized belief of an individual on how much they
may control events and fear understood as relatively permanent trait.
Let us concentrate on Basic psychological factors – discriminants
– among sixteen family variables on bases thereon you may qualify persons to a group of high or low level of aggression as a strategy of dealing
with difficult social situations. Discriminant analysis was applied in order to determine family aggression discriminant (of high and low level)
as strategy of adolescents dealing with difficult social situations taking
into account five scales of PCR questionnaire in version “My mother” and
“My father”: loving attitude (L), rejecting attitude (R), demanding attitude
(D), liberal attitude (C), and protective attitude (A), and results in three
scales or RRTSS questionnaire “My mother” and “My father”: aggressive
dealing with difficult social situations (strategy A), avoidance in difficult
social situations (strategy U), and task-oriented dealing with difficult social situations (strategy Z).
The discriminant analysis taking into account division of adolescents
(the whole group of surveyed people) into two groups allowed to select six
discriminants (out of sixteen): protective attitude (A), and liberal attitude
(C) perceived at a mother, loving attitude (L) and protective attitude (A)
perceived at a father and the following parents’ strategies of dealing with difficult social situations perceived by adolescents: mother’s aggressive strategy
(strategy A) and father’s aggressive strategy (strategy A) (see Table 2).
The following constellations of family discriminants: mother that does
not prevent possible dangers that a child might encounter and does not
remove disappointment, harm and anxiety from their experience, does not
give them much attention, avoids contact with them and is not interested
with their problems and applies a strategy based on aggression in difficult
situations, and a father that does not create a warm loving atmosphere, not
entering positive relation with his adolescent child, and at the same time
protecting them against problems and relieving them of inconvenient difficult situations and trying to remove disappointment, harm and anxiety
and applying aggression in difficult social situations is decisive about the
fact if the child will be applying high level of aggression when dealing
Table 2. Family variables selected as discriminants differentiating between adolescents
of high (WSA) and low (NSA) level of aggression as a strategy of dealing
with difficult social situations taking sex into account
Surveyed
people
Total
Discriminants
Wilk’s
Lambds
F usun.
P
1-Toler.
(R-kwadr.)
Mother’s A
0,89
4,34
0,04000
0,30
Mother’s C
0,90
15,12
0,00010
0,08
Father’s L
0,90
15,52
0,00009
0,34
Father’s A
0,90
13,27
0,00030
0,39
Mother’s
Strategy A
0,89
5,30
0,02000
0,23
Father’s
Strategy A
0,89
7,72
0,00600
0,32
Wilks’ Lambda 0,88; appr. F (6,618) = 13,96; p < 0,0001
Girls
Mother’s C
0,85
4,39
0,04000
0,13
Father’s L
0,88
15,19
0,00010
0,36
Father’s A
0,86
8,04
0,00500
0,35
Father’s C
0,85
4,25
0,04000
0,32
Father’s
Strategy A
0,85
2,15
0,02000
0,21
Wilks’ Lambda 0,84; F (5,274) = 10,62; p < 0,0001
Boys
Father’s R
0,95
12,36
0,00050
0,04
Mother’s
Strategy A
0,95
10,26
0,00200
0,04
Wilks’ Lambda 0,92; F (2,342) = 14,74; p < 0,0001
Explanations: A – protective attitude, C – liberal attitude, L – loving attitude, R – rejecting attitude,
strategy A – aggressive dealing with difficult social situations.
with difficult social situations. It should be emphasized that the emotional
distance on one hand (loving attitude ) and concentration (protective attitude) on a child using a strategy based on a high level of aggression proves
father’s unbalanced educational attitude towards his adolescent child. Probably, such father’s attitude influences his child’s emotional unbalance, which
is manifested by a model of strong aggressive reaction.
These six variables that were included in the discriminant equation
amount to 22% of variables in total. Total power of selected family discriminants conditioning correct assignment of particular persons to a group
of high and low level of aggression as a strategy of dealing with difficult
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social situations amounts to 54,42%. The correctness of selecting adolescents for a group of high level of aggression when dealing with difficult
Furthermore, separate discriminant analyses were carried out on family
variables for groups selected depending on sex (see Table 2). The discriminant analysis of all sixteen family variables taking into account a division
of girls into two groups allowed to select five discriminants: Mother’s liberal attitude (C), loving attitude (L), protective attitude (A), and father’s
liberal attitude (C) and father’s aggressive strategy of dealing with difficult
social situations perceived by daughters. The parameters of discriminant
equation: a mother that does not pay her daughter too much attention,
avoids contact with her and is not interested in her problems and at the
same time tolerating aggressive behavior and a father not creating a warm
loving atmosphere, not paying her much attention, and not allowing his
daughter any confrontations with different situations and with aggressive
attitude to a problem – are decisive about the fact if a girl will have a high
level of aggression when dealing with difficult social situations.
These five variables that were included in the discriminant equation
amount to 16% of variables in total. On the basis of the above five discriminants you may appropriately determine the notion of belonging to one
or another groups – 65,59% of surveyed girls. The correctness of selecting
groups for a group of high level of aggression when dealing with difficult
A question arises which of the variables will be included in an equation differentiating boys that use high and low level of aggression when
dealing with difficult social situations? Data included in Table 2 allow
to answer this question. The discriminant analysis of all sixteen family
variables taking into account a division of boys into two groups allowed
to select two discriminants: father’s rejecting attitude (R) and mother’s
aggressive strategy of dealing with difficult social situations perceived by
a son (strategy A).
The following constellation of family discriminants: a father that does
not show warmth, does not enter into positive relations with his adolescent son, avoids contact with him and is not interested with his problems,
uses severe forms of punishment, and a mother’s basis strategy to deal with
difficult situation consists of aggression – is decisive about the fact that the
boy belongs to a group using high level of aggression when dealing with
difficult social situations.
These two elements of a discriminant equation amount to 8% of total
variable. Total power of selected two discriminants conditioning correct assignment of particular persons to a group amounts to 61,16% of surveyed
boys. The correctness of selecting boys for a group of high level of aggression when dealing with difficult social situations amounts to 62,57%, and
to the group of low level of aggression – 58,49%.
On the basis of the above results it was found out that a set of specific
family traits plays the role of discriminants which form the bases to predict to a moderate extent the strategy of aggression when dealing with difficult social situations: parents’ attitudes perceived by adolescents – liberal
attitude, mother’s protective attitude, father’s loving, protective, rejecting
and liberal attitude and parents’ strategies of aggression when dealing with
difficult situations perceived by adolescents.
■ Research Results Summary
The conducted research shows that adolescents that have low self-esteem in different social roles and constellations, especially these aspects of
their “self ” that are strictly connected with social interactions, apply the
strategy of aggression when dealing with DSFSS. It must be kept in mind
that a characteristic feature of “self ” is information about oneself and one’s
own possibilities to influence events. The results suggest that adolescents’
strong belief about other’s influence on positive and negative effects of
events play a role in choosing a strategy of aggression of dealing with
difficult social situations. It proves that adolescents using the aggression
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strategy when dealing with difficult social situations are not convinced
about the possibility of free influence on events and they cannot take responsibility for their successes or failures. Similar results were obtained by
J. Rola and E. Pisula (1993) and T. Rostowska (2001). Situations of difficult social contact evoke negative emotional process at adolescents (fear)
which generates, especially at boys, a defensive form of reaction which
consists of aggressive confrontation with a difficult situation.
It was found out on the basis of analysis of research material that the
source of strategy of adolescents’ dealing with difficult situation a family
environment is tolerating aggression by a mother and father, especially in
case of girls. Tolerance is of a form of allowing aggression (father’s overprotective attitude towards a daughter) or not punishing for it (mother’s
and father’s liberal attitude towards a daughter). Parents’ tolerating aggressive behavior (according to the theory of acquisition) gives positive
enhancement strengthening the said behavior (cf. Kirwil, 1992; Obuchowska, 2001). Father’s unbalanced attitude, especially towards daughters, is also interesting. It has been found out that fathers behave in a cold
way towards them, they do not show them that they are loved, and at
the same time they are perceived as those preventing dangers that girls
might encounter and trying to remove disappointment, anxiety and harm
from their experience. Such a father is not always interested in his daughter’s problems, but shows her positive emotion occasionally. Sometimes
he recalls that he is a father and then he is focused on his daughter too
much, he restricts her contacts with friends and relieves her of her duties. Emotional distance on the one hand (loving attitude/negative rate),
and concentration on the other (protective attitude) towards girls using
a strategy based on aggression proves fathers’ unequal educational attitude
towards daughters. Emotional instability experienced in relations with fathers is a strong frustrating factor which makes girls showing an increased
level of aggression towards the environment with difficult social situations
(cf. Kobak, Sceery, 1988). It should be also emphasized that daughters’ fathers use aggression strategies in their actions. It means that a father perceived as using a strategy based on aggression in situations of emotional
tension contributes to modeling a strategy based on aggressive behavior
at their daughters, used in difficult social situations (cf. Rostowska, 1996).
You may refer to the principal of sociocultural identification theory which
claims that the significant influence on the socializing process of a girl is
made by personality traits of this parent that a girl is identifying with, and
not a fact of compliance of the sex of a model and a person identifying
with them (cf. Rychlak, Legerski, 1967).
The analysis of research results have also revealed that rejecting father’s attitude contributes to shaping an aggressive method of dealing with
difficult social situations, especially of boys. A boy experiences hostility,
disapproval, criticism, rejection and severe punishment used by a father.
Furthermore, relations between boys and mothers in the surveyed groups
indicate that mothers provide boys with aggressive models of reacting
to difficulties. Boys learn aggressive reactions to difficulties by observing
mothers’ behavior in conditions of emotional distress and attitude to difficulties and failures. It should be also noticed that father’s negative aggression towards his son, i.e. physical punishment, play a significant modeling
function. It should be underlined that all forms of punishments used by
parents are treated as a sigh of aggression towards a child, being a kind of
behavioral model which is strengthened in a form of habit of aggressive
reaction to other persons, things, or task (cf. Grochulska, 1993). A boy of
tern beaten by his father will transcribe the same kind of behavior into
relations of other adolescents, which with time will become a method of
dealing with problems arising from functioning in social surroundings
(cf. Grochulska, 1993; Ratzke at al., 1997; Mendecka, 1998).
In conclusion, understanding of a mechanism and determinant of reactions to difficult situations turns out to be necessary when preparing
and executing educational strategies directing an individual dealing with
difficulties in a mature manner.
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■ Summary
The research was aimed at evaluating several individualistic and family variables at adolescents applying an aggressive strategy of dealing with
difficult social situations. The following were applied to measure to measure variables: a proprietary survey questionnaire for adolescents dealing
with difficult social situations (RTSS), W. Fitts’s Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS), G. Krasowicz and A. Kurzyp-Wojnarska Self-Control Questionnaire (KBPK), C. Spielberger, J. Strelau, M. Tysarczyk and
K. Wrześniewski’s State Trait Anxiety Inventory (ISCL), Roe-Siegelman’s
PCR form III Questionnaire to survey the perception of parental attitude
and a proprietary questionnaire of parents’ dealing with difficult social situations (RRTSS). Empirical research comprised 625 students 9280 girls
and 345 boys) of the 1st and 2nd class of lower secondary schools, aged
13–15. The conducted research shows that adolescents that have low self-esteem in different social roles and constellations, especially these aspects
of their “self ” that are strictly connected with social interactions, apply the
strategy of aggression when dealing with difficult social situations. The
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results also revealed that adolescents’ strong belief about other’s influence
on positive and negative effects of events play a role in choosing a strategy
of aggression of dealing with difficult social situations. It is also interesting
that situations of difficult social contact evoke negative emotional process at adolescentss (fear) which generates, especially at boys, a defensive
form of reaction which consists of aggressive confrontation with a difficult
situation. An analysis of research results has indicated that aggression as
a method of adolescents reacting to emotional tension occurring in a difficult situation is shaped in educational atmosphere that is characterized
by lack of positive emotions, emotional coldness, or parents’ excessive concentration on an adolescent child. Furthermore, what is relevant for shaping an aggressive strategy of adolescents is a model of aggressive strategy
to deal with difficult social situations provided by their parents.

Individualistic and Familial Conditioning of Adolescents` Aggressive

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