Investigation of the Aggression Tendency Observed in University Students in Terms of Different Variables

This study aims to find out whether or not the observed level of aggression in university students varies according to different demographic variables. These variables include grade level, gender, perceived parenting styles, the place where students lived before the university and monthly economic income level of family. The study group consists of the students studying at seven state universities located in different regions of Turkey: Cumhuriyet University [Central Anatolia Region], Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University [Marmara Region], Çukurova University [Mediterranean Region], Dicle University [South Eastern Anatolia Region], Dokuz Eylül University [Aegean Region], İnönü University [Eastern Anatolia Region] and Ondokuz Mayıs University [Black Sea Region]. The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire was used to collect data. In order to determine the validity of the scale for this research, ‘Deterministic Finite Automat (DFA)’ was recalculated again. Also, Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficient was recalculated again for the reliability. The obtained results revealed that the factor structures in the original scale are validated for this study and the measurement instrument was found to be reliable for this research. In addition, the Personal Information Form was prepared and given to the participants by the researchers in order to obtain different demographics about them. Various statistical analyses were performed with the data obtained through the form and scale. As a result of the analyses, the aggression level of male students was found to be significantly higher than the females. The level of aggression of the students who perceive their parents’ attitudes as authoritarian was found to be significantly higher than those who are exposed to protective and democratic parenting attitudes. In addition, the students who perceive their fathers as indifferent yielded higher aggression scores than those perceiving their fathers as democratic. Aggression scores of the students whose families have a monthly economic income between 0-1000 TL were found to be higher compared to those with a monthly income over 3000 TL. On the other hand, no significant difference was found among the university students’ aggression levels according to the grade level or the place where students lived before the university. These results were discussed by comparing with the other research in the literature. Some of these results show similarities with the previous research findings, while differences were seen in some findings. As a conclusion, various proposals were put forward for future research and implementations that can be done about these obtained results from the study