Social role, aggression, and academic achievement

This study tried to delineate aspects of aggression which relate to academic effectiveness in college as a function of differences in the social role ascribed to males and females. Academic effectiveness was defined as the degree to which performance exceeds or falls short of what would be predicted on the basis of aptitude alone. A sample of 45 males and 48 females was administered Siegel's Manifest Hostility Scale, from which subscale scores were derived assessing the strength of the tendencies toward acts of aggression, feelings of aggression, and absence of guilt over aggression. The following hypotheses received support: (a) Males would exceed females in direct expression of aggression while females would exceed males in guilt over aggressive expression. (b) Among males, those both high in direct aggressive expression and low in guilt over aggression would have the highest academic effectiveness. (c) Among females, those both low in direct aggressive expression and high in guilt over aggressive expression would have the highest academic effectiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1965 American Psychological Association