Empathy and Locus of Control as Antecedents of Violence Among Primary School Pupils

U ovom istraživanju cilj je bio provjeriti odnose između konstrukata empatije, lokusa kontrole, te počinjenog i doživljenog nasilja, odnosno jesu li empatija i lokus kontrole antecedenti doživljenog i počinjenog nasilja kod djece rane adolescentne dobi. Na uzorku od 104 učenika sedmih i osmih razreda u dvije osnovne škole u Osijeku (OŠ. „Antuna Mihanovića“ i OŠ. „Franje Krežme“) ispitana je relativna prediktivna važnost mjera empatije i lokusa kontrole u kriterijskim varijablama doživljenog i počinjenog nasilja primjenom hijerarhijske regresijske analize. Provjeren je i utjecaj rezultata na skalama empatije i lokusa kontrole na rezultate na skali počinjenog nasilja. Dobiveni rezultati su pokazali da su empatija i lokus kontrole statistički značajno negativno povezani jedino sa skalom počinjenog nasilja. Skala doživljenog nasilja nije pokazala značajnu povezanost s empatijom i lokusom kontrole. Regresijska analiza pokazala je da prediktori, empatija i lokus kontrole, objašnjavaju 21.8% (F(1,101)= 19.75; p< .01) kriterijske varijance počinjenog nasilja. Pri tom se kao jedini značajni pojedinačni prediktor pokazala varijabla empatije. T-test za nezavisne uzorke pokazao je da nisko empatični učenici i oni s eksternalnim lokusom kontrole postižu više rezultate na skali počinjenog nasilja.In this investigation the goal was to examine the relationship between constructs of empathy, locus of control and committed and experienced violence among young adolescents. On sample of 104 seventh and eight grade students in two elementary schools in Osijek (Elementary school “Antun Mihanović” and Elementary School “Franjo Krežma”) the relative predicative importance of degrees of empathy and locus of control in criterion variables of experienced and committed violence was examined, applying the hierarchical regression analysis. The effect of the outcomes on scales of empathy and locus of control to outcomes on the scale of committed violence was also checked. The obtained results showed that empathy and locus of control are statistically significantly negatively correlated only to the scale of committed violence. The scale of experienced violence did not show any significant relation to empathy and locus of control. Regression analysis demonstrated that predicators, empathy and locus of control, explain 21.8% (F(1,101)= 19.75; p< .01) of the criteria variance of committed violence. The variable of empathy was established as only significant single predicator. T-test for independent samples demonstrated that low empathy students and the ones with external locus of control achieve higher results on the scale of committed violence