Defense Date

6-18-2013

Graduation Date

Summer 2013

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Counselor Education and Supervision (ExCES)

School

School of Education

Committee Chair

William Casile

Committee Member

Gibbs Kanyongo

Committee Member

Laura Crothers

Committee Member

Jered Kolbert

Keywords

Aggression, Empathy

Abstract

This study examined cognitive and affective empathy as predictors of proactive and reactive aggression. This study also explored whether levels of cognitive and affective empathy differed among children who use proactive and reactive aggression. Cognitive and affective empathy were measured by the Basic Empathy Scale (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006a). The two types of aggression, proactive and reactive, were measured by the Reactive and Proactive Aggression Questionnaire-Child (Raine, 2006). Both instruments are self-report questionnaires that reveal children's perceptions about empathy and aggression. Sociodemographic information, such as age, grade, and gender were also included in the data. The sample of convenience in this study consisted of 251 fourth and fifth grade children in one southwestern Pennsylvania elementary school. This predictive study used multiple regression. Pearson correlation, and a two-way factor ANOVA to analyze the data. The results of the study found that cognitive and affective empathy are predictors of reactive aggression. Using a Pearson correlation, a weak, negative relationship between cognitive empathy and reactive aggression was discovered. The two-way ANOVA indicated that levels of cognitive and affective empathy do not differ between children who use proactive and reactive aggression. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are presented.

Format

PDF

Language

English

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