The Relationship between Aggressive Behavior and Legitimization of Aggression (Socio‑Cultural and Gender Aspects)

Relevance. The transformation of societal norms and values has led to the development of sanctioned and encouraged forms of aggressive behavior. Results from a few studies have shown that as the range of legitimate violence in society expands, there is an observed increase in aggressive behaviors that impact both the psychological and physical well-being of individuals.

The aim – to determine the relationship between legitimization of aggression and aggressive behavior, taking into account the sociocultural and gender aspects.

Methodology. The analysis of the results of the survey of 65 people (61 % women, 39 % men), representatives of the nationalities of South Ossetia and people of Russian (google-forms service) was carried out. The study used a questionnaire on the level of aggressiveness of Buss-Durkey (standardized by A.A. Khvan, Yu.A. Zaitsev and Yu.A. Kuznetsova); a questionnaire on the Index of legitimate aggression “LA-44” (S.N. Enikolopov, N.P. Cibulsky); a methodology for determining integral forms of communicative aggressiveness (V.V. Boyko), the results of the questionnaire on social-demographic characteristics.

The results and their analysis. It was revealed that individuals exhibiting high levels of physical aggression also showed a high degree of legitimization of aggression, expressed in the approval of aggressive disciplinary measures and the use of force in political contexts. Analysis of significant differences in the level of legitimation of aggression between representatives of Caucasian and Russian nationalities and showed that persons of Caucasian nationality are more likely to show legitimation of aggression in the fields of sports, education and personal activities than persons of Russian nationality. The study of the gender aspect revealed that the legitimization of aggression is manifested itself in the behavior among males to a greater extent than among females.

Conclusion. Differences in the expression of aggression were found to depend on both gender and cultural affiliation. Furthermore, a relationship was identified between the legitimization of aggression and physical components of aggressive behavior, including aggressiveness, provocation of aggression, the tendency to retaliate, enjoyment of aggression, spontaneity of aggressive behavior, and psychosomatic manifestations related to aggressive behavior.

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