Victimization, Anger, and Gender: Low Anger and Passive Responses Work

This study examined the contributions of gender, anger, expectations of positive outcomes, and frequency of victimization by and bullying of peers among school-aged children to predict individual differences in intentions to respond to provocative events with nonassertive behavior. Children between the ages of 9 and 13 (N = 505, 246 female, 259 male) completed the Anger Response Inventory, Child Version (Trangney et al, 1996) and measures of victimization and bullying. Results of regression procedures demonstrated that female gender and low anger predicted ignoring and using distraction. Nonassertive responses, low anger, and low victimization predicted expecting, more positive outcomes following provocation. Victimization was unrelated to intentions to use nonassertive responses but bullying negatively predicted walking away and using distraction. No modifying effects for gender, victimization, or bullying were found.