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...

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Main Authors: Hui Zhang, Charles Matthew Stapleton, Yeh Hsueh, Robert Cohen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PsychOpen 2019-12-01
Series:Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ijpr.psychopen.eu/article/view/380
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spelling doaj-d5016e659067466fa4f6951feaa581632020-11-25T02:57:36ZengPsychOpenInterpersona: 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
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Hui Zhang
Charles Matthew Stapleton
Yeh Hsueh
Robert Cohen
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
author_facet Hui Zhang
Charles Matthew Stapleton
Yeh Hsueh
Robert Cohen
author_sort Hui Zhang
title 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_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_sort three pathways from anger dysregulation to lower social status among chinese boys
publisher PsychOpen
series Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships
issn 1981-6472
publishDate 2019-12-01
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.
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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