Balance of Power and Adolescent Aggression

Objective: One important aspect of aggression that has not been well-studied is the balance of power between aggressor and target, which has been addressed almost exclusively in bullying research focusing on imbalances of power favoring the aggressor. Although the context of relative power can change the potential costs and benefits associated with aggression, for both parties, there has been very little research that systematically examines the implications of different balances of power between perpetrators and targets. Method: We collected data from 396 adolescents regarding their aggressive behavior, motives, and psychosocial adjustment. Results: We found that high power aggression (an imbalance of power favoring the aggressor) was associated with arrogant personality traits, coercive dominance strategies, and explicit social power. When there was an equal balance of power, arrogant, angry, and extraverted personality traits were associated with aggression, along with both coercive and cooperative dominance strategies, and explicit social power. Finally, low power aggression, in which the aggressor has less power than the target, was positively associated with personality traits involving anger, as well as explicit social power, negatively related to callousness and implicit social power, and not associated with using strategies to obtain social power. Implications: Variations in the balance of power are differentially associated with motives and psychosocial adjustment. From a theoretical perspective, this shows that the balance of power is an important but neglected aspect of aggression that merits further research and consideration. From an applied perspective, it suggests that different balances of power may require different intervention approaches.