Three Pathways From Anger Dysregulation to Lower Social Status Among Chinese Boys
During middle childhood, Chinese boys are particularly at risk to develop both externalizing (e.g., overt aggression) and internalizing behavioral problems (e.g., social withdrawal). A possible contributor to these problems is that boys cannot regulate their anger very well. Inability to manage ange...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ijpr.psychopen.eu/article/view/380 |
| _version_ | 1797967130103119872 |
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| author | Hui Zhang Charles Matthew Stapleton Yeh Hsueh Robert Cohen |
| author_facet | Hui Zhang Charles Matthew Stapleton Yeh Hsueh Robert Cohen |
| author_sort | Hui Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | During middle childhood, Chinese boys are particularly at risk to develop both externalizing (e.g., overt aggression) and internalizing behavioral problems (e.g., social withdrawal). A possible contributor to these problems is that boys cannot regulate their anger very well. Inability to manage anger may cause a particular social challenge for Chinese boys. Open expression of anger may be prohibited by prevailing Chinese cultural norms, because it emphasizes individuality over harmony. But anger is a socially disengaging emotion which works against social harmony. This situation requires Chinese boys to manage and express anger appropriately in social interactions. Based on the hierarchical model of social relationships and the three trends of human interactions, this study examined three pathways—aggression, social withdrawal, and sociability-leadership—that lead from Chinese boys’ anger dysregulation to their lower social status among peers at school. Participants of this study were 267 boys in Grades 3-6 from an elementary school in urban China. A self-report questionnaire of anger dysregulation was used to evaluate how often Chinese boys express their anger in dysregulated ways (e.g., attacking things or people). Peer nominations were used to measure children’s overt aggression (moving against peers), social withdrawal (moving away from peers), and sociability-leadership (moving toward peers). Social status was assessed by a sociometric measure which evaluates the degree to which children were liked by their classmates. Results showed that boys’ anger dysregulation was negatively associated with their social status. Moreover, aggression, social withdrawal, and social skills fully mediated this association. This study enriches our understanding of the mechanisms linking anger dysregulation to lower social status and provides practical implications to help Chinese boys improve social and emotional functioning in middle childhood. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:26:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d5016e659067466fa4f6951feaa58163 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1981-6472 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:26:20Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships |
| spelling | doaj.art-d5016e659067466fa4f6951feaa581632023-01-02T22:47:50ZengPsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for PsychologyInterpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships1981-64722019-12-0113218720410.5964/ijpr.v13i2.380ijpr.v13i2.380Three Pathways From Anger Dysregulation to Lower Social Status Among Chinese BoysHui Zhang0Charles Matthew Stapleton1Yeh Hsueh2Robert Cohen3Department of Psychological Science, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, USADepartment of Psychological Science, University of North Georgia, Gainesville, USADepartment of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research, University of Memphis, Memphis, USADepartment of Psychology, University of Memphis, Memphis, USADuring middle childhood, Chinese boys are particularly at risk to develop both externalizing (e.g., overt aggression) and internalizing behavioral problems (e.g., social withdrawal). A possible contributor to these problems is that boys cannot regulate their anger very well. Inability to manage anger may cause a particular social challenge for Chinese boys. Open expression of anger may be prohibited by prevailing Chinese cultural norms, because it emphasizes individuality over harmony. But anger is a socially disengaging emotion which works against social harmony. This situation requires Chinese boys to manage and express anger appropriately in social interactions. Based on the hierarchical model of social relationships and the three trends of human interactions, this study examined three pathways—aggression, social withdrawal, and sociability-leadership—that lead from Chinese boys’ anger dysregulation to their lower social status among peers at school. Participants of this study were 267 boys in Grades 3-6 from an elementary school in urban China. A self-report questionnaire of anger dysregulation was used to evaluate how often Chinese boys express their anger in dysregulated ways (e.g., attacking things or people). Peer nominations were used to measure children’s overt aggression (moving against peers), social withdrawal (moving away from peers), and sociability-leadership (moving toward peers). Social status was assessed by a sociometric measure which evaluates the degree to which children were liked by their classmates. Results showed that boys’ anger dysregulation was negatively associated with their social status. Moreover, aggression, social withdrawal, and social skills fully mediated this association. This study enriches our understanding of the mechanisms linking anger dysregulation to lower social status and provides practical implications to help Chinese boys improve social and emotional functioning in middle childhood.http://ijpr.psychopen.eu/article/view/380chinese cultureboysanger dysregulationaggressionsociability-leadershipsocial withdrawalsocial status |
| spellingShingle | Hui Zhang Charles Matthew Stapleton Yeh Hsueh Robert Cohen Three Pathways From Anger Dysregulation to Lower Social Status Among Chinese Boys Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships chinese culture boys anger dysregulation aggression sociability-leadership social withdrawal social status |
| title | Three Pathways From Anger Dysregulation to Lower Social Status Among Chinese Boys |
| title_full | Three Pathways From Anger Dysregulation to Lower Social Status Among Chinese Boys |
| title_fullStr | Three Pathways From Anger Dysregulation to Lower Social Status Among Chinese Boys |
| title_full_unstemmed | Three Pathways From Anger Dysregulation to Lower Social Status Among Chinese Boys |
| title_short | Three Pathways From Anger Dysregulation to Lower Social Status Among Chinese Boys |
| title_sort | three pathways from anger dysregulation to lower social status among chinese boys |
| topic | chinese culture boys anger dysregulation aggression sociability-leadership social withdrawal social status |
| url | http://ijpr.psychopen.eu/article/view/380 |
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