ABSTRACT
Despite obvious biological differences between men and women, there have been few behavioural characteristics that have shown significant differences between the genders. The level of aggression is one of these, with men showing consistently more aggression than women do. Most findings suggest that bullying, as a form of proactive aggression, is reported consistently more by boys than by girls, both as victims and as perpetrators. Differences in aggressive behaviour between boys and girls start early. By the age of 2, boys exhibit more physical aggression than girls do (see, for instance, Hyde 1986). Hartup (1974) shows that these differences remain, although there is a drop in levels of aggression generally between 4 and 7 years. Campbell (1996) points to the significance of the two different types of aggression noted by Hartup. She describes the first one as resource disputes, in which the aggression was about the retrieval of an object, territory or privilege. No sex differences were found in this area, with both boys and girls equally intent on maintaining their possessions or privileges. The second form of aggression was characterised by ego-threats and threats to one’s selfesteem. It was this particular form, which the reader might identify as proactive aggression, or bullying, which was significantly higher in boys than in girls. Campbell suggests that this finding is consistent with work on the establishment of male dominance hierarchies (Savin-Williams 1977). She speculates that the early aggressive encounters which boys have about resources tend to become less significant from the point of view of keeping the resource, with a victory more important in terms of their self-esteem and relative status in the group. As they get older, gaining resources is equated with gaining control, with associated effects on status and selfesteem. Thus, boys, when they get older, start to use aggression as a means of gaining status, whereas girls do not. For girls, dominance within the group is not as important as the establishment of affiliation and co-operation. Direct conflict is more aversive to them than to boys, for whom the more obvious way to achieve dominance is by physical aggression or threats. Girls are found to feel less selfcontrol and more guilt and anxiety about acts of direct aggression than do boys as early as 8 years of age (Archer and Parker 1994). These gender differences are well established by pre-adolescence, with girls tending to use ‘relational aggression’ (Crick and Grotpeter
1995), such as spreading rumours, social exclusion and gossiping, more than boys do, whilst they use less direct aggression (Lagerspetz et al. 1988). Why this should be so, is not clear. There are several hypotheses available, depending on whether one favours an explanation based on biological determination, one which is based on environmental or evolutionary factors, or the influence of the interactions of all these (Campbell 1996).
