Aggressive Behaviour among Elementary School Children in Bangalore: A Study on Gender and Grade Differences

Abstract

Aggression is a very commonly seen behaviour these days among school children. It is also one of the most prevalent behavioural aspects in children which cause a lot of concern in the present days. Aggression engulfs a wide spectrum of behaviours, which varies from covert to overt display of aggressive behaviours. The current study identified certain private schools in Bangalore city through purposive sampling method.  With the help of teacher’s checklist and Direct-indirect aggression scale (Bjorkvists,1992),a rating scale, rated by the class teachers, the researcher identified 366 children out of 38 schools, as displaying Aggressive Behaviours. The aim of the study was to understand the nature of aggression in elementary classes, and the different types of aggression displayed among boys and girls. This study identified the gender and grade differences in the display of aggression from grade 1 to grade 4. There was a very significant difference in the aggression displayed by boys and girls, where boys were significantly higher in the display of direct aggression and there was no significant difference in verbal or indirect aggression in boys and girls. Boys in the sample followed a pattern on Direct, Verbal and indirect aggression, while girls followed a pattern of Verbal, Direct and indirect aggression. It was also seen that through the grade 1 to 4, direct aggression was replaced by verbal aggression in the classrooms. The intensity of overall aggression was highest among boys and girls in grade 4.