Girls may not be so mean: Study of Aggression

Forrest Munro walked with three of her friends from Central Junior High School on Massachusetts Street after school had let out. The 15-year-old and her friends were playfully bumping into each other while chatting and giggling. Passers-by might be quick to assume that the group of junior high girls was simply gossiping about the day's happenings.

"Girls like to gossip because we like to know what's going on all the time, but boys do it too," Munro said. "Boys gossip so much!"

Today, society expects boys to express anger by physically fighting, while girls are expected to gossip or spread rumors. But researches at KU ate showing that this widely-held notion may be wrong.

Over a four year period, these researchers compiled about 150 studies on aggression in about 74,000 children and adolescents. After the research was completed, the researchers concluded that boys express as much social aggression as girls do. Boys are just as guilty of gossiping or spreading rumors.

"Aggressive behavior is a broad phenomenon, but we were very careful about summarizing clearly," said Todd D. Little, a KU professor of psychology who contributed to the analysis.

Little says that they did not find the causes or reasons for the aggression in boys and girls, but found many social similarities between them after observing the studies.

Sixth grade teacher Becky Nunn, at Cordley Elementary School, understands. Most of her students get along, she said. But she sees aggression released when they play sports at recess. She has seen the boys tackle each other during a game of football and she has seen girls "accidentally" trip another student during dodge ball.

"They all fume in different ways, but I'd say that physical aggression is something that happens with students that don't have good communication skills," Nunn said. "The girls step over that line as often as boys do."

Nunn said there aren't many social clicks in her classroom yet, but she believes boys and girls are both likely to become more socially aggressive as they grow into their adolescent ages.

Jenny Farnsworth, a childcare worker at The Shelter Inc., said she's seen boys punch holes in walls, and girls gang up on each other.

Both boys and girls at the shelter use words to express aggression, but Farnsworth thinks girls are sneakier about proving their points.

"They steal or destroy each other's things," Farnsworth said. "One time, a girl poured bleach on another girl's clothes."

Professor Todd D. Little speaks about the study.

Farnsworth said girls cuss at each other and start clicks to single each other out. But she also believes girls are more concerned with expressing their feelings verbally before they lash out physically, while boys don't give any kind of forewarning before they get physically aggressive.