Aggression has been researched for several decades now and is a topic that is constantly developing new results. Childhood aggression is a topic that is relevant today because of the importance that it plays in child personality development. Whether children are the aggressors or the ones being dominated, the influence of aggression on children can affect them for the rest of their lives. Research in the U.S. has shown that children of authoritarian parents, or parents that spank, yell, and frequently use the term "because I said so," tend to be more aggressive than children of authoritative parents. However, I can't help to wonder if this is the case for children of all cultures. Aggression norms also tend to manifest themselves differently between genders. Typically, girls show signs of more relational aggression while boys show signs of more physical aggression.
I have chosen to study aggression norms in Tongan children to see if they show similar norms as American children. I am feeling confident that I will be able to find results boys tend to display more physical aggression whereas girls display more relational aggression. The problem that I am running into now is figuring out if it is possible to study both gender norms as well as the kinds of parents that produce aggressive children, in the same study. At this point in my project, I am continuing to read anything I can find about aggression and aggression studies. I think familiarizing myself with these studies will make it easier for me to solidify my project idea and to narrow exactly what I want to study. So the research continues. . .
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