The Effect Of Temperament And Relational Aggression On Popularity For Children

Temperament has been considered as a major factor in the development of children's personality and social behavior, aggressive behavior and peer relationship are indexes to children's socialization. Numerous studies had been conducted to explore the effects of temperament and peer rejection on overt aggression, such as physical and verbal aggression, but only a few of studies focused on relational aggression acts, such as excluding and spreading rumors. Up to now the effect of temperament and relational aggression on peer popularity for children is still unclear. Since relational aggression is different from overt aggression, maybe it has special effect on increasing popularity by manipulating social relationships. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relations between temperament and relational aggression as well as the effects of these two factors on popularity among Chinese children in early childhood.A total of 127 children of 5~8 years old were chosen from senior preschool and elementary school (at the first grade and the second grade) in Hangzhou. Their temperament, relational aggression and popularity were measured according to parents rating, peer nomination and constructed interview. The results indicate that:1. Significant gender differences were found in temperament, relational aggression, overt aggression and popularity, but no grade differences were found.2. Relational aggressive behaviors are distinct from overtly aggressive behaviors. This distinct not only represented in gender differences, but also in the temperament factors related to them and their influences on popularity.3. Girls are significantly more relationally aggressive and popular than boys, but less overtly aggressive than boys.4. Extroversion had a positive correlation to overt aggression and a negative correlation to relational aggression, which means that extroversive children are apt to show overt aggressive acts, and introversive children are more likely to show relational aggressions. Effortful control also had a negative correlation to overt aggression, but it had a positive correlation to relational aggression. There was no significant correlation between negative affectivity and aggressive behavior.5. Extroversion had no direct effects on popularity, but it indirectly influencesd popularity by aggressive behaviors. Extroversive-overtly aggressive children received more rejection from peers. However, introversive-relationally aggressive children gained more acceptances and welcome by manipulating social power and peer relations. Both negative affectivity and effortful control could be used to predict children's popularity. Additionally, effortful control had an indirect influence on popularity with the aggressive behavior as a medi-variable.