Social-Cognitive Mediators of the Link between Social-Environmental Risk Factors and Aggression in Adolescence

摘要

The effect of social-environmental risk factors, such as social rejection and community violence exposure, on aggressive behavior during childhood has been well documented (Dodge et al., 2003; Lynch & Cicchetti, 1998; Margolin & Gordis, 2000), but the specific mechanisms that mediate this association are still unclear. It may be that a set of social-cognitive factors (i.e., general knowledge structures and social information processing) mediates this relation (Dodge et al., 1990). Two studies were conducted to explore the hypothesis that exposure to social-environmental risk factors is associated with aggressive behavior, as mediated by individuals general views of the self and others, and negatively biased social information processing.