Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T12:41:56.774Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - From Country Girl in Southern Finland to Longitudinal Research into Alternatives to Aggression and Violence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2021

By
Lea Pulkkinen
Edited by
Richard E. Tremblay
Richard E. Tremblay
Affiliation:
Université de Montréal
Get access

Summary

Lea Pulkkinen, born in Finland in 1939, is Emerita Professor of Psychology at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland). She is best known for creating the ongoing Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JLSPSD). The study was specifically intended to test the hypothesis that the human brain allows for more variation in behavior than the simple ‘fight or flight’ response observed in animal studies of aggression. She further hypothesized that humans’ capacity for cognitive control over emotional behavior was the key factor involved in controlling aggressive behavior. These hypotheses led her to devise an impulse control model to depict behavioral alternatives, which she tested with teacher and peer ratings of aggressive and nonaggressive behaviors. Forty years later, the JLSPSD revealed the long-term significance of self-regulation for socio-emotional behavior. Results from the study showed that aggressive behavior during childhood tends to be associated with other types of under-controlled behavior during adulthood. On the other hand, ‘constructive’ behavior in childhood tends to lead to positive social relations, mental health, and successful integration in the work force.

Keywords

longitudinal studypersonalitysocial developmentfight or flightcognitive controlemotional behaviorimpulse controlself-regulationmental healthwork force
Type
Chapter
Information
The Science of Violent Behavior Development and Prevention
Contributions of the Second World War Generation
 , pp. 71 - 94
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bartels, M., Hendriks, A., Mauri, M., Krapohl, E., Whipp, A., Bolhuis, K., … Boomsma, D. I. (2018). Childhood aggression and the co-occurrence of behavioural and emotional problems: Results across ages 3–16 years from multiple raters in six cohorts in the EU-ACTION project. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 27(9), 1105–1121.Google Scholar
Committee Report (1980 ). Educational objectives in day care (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland: Government Printing Centre.Google Scholar
Dubow, E. F., Huesmann, L. R., Boxer, P., Pulkkinen, L., & Kokko, K. (2006 ). Middle childhood and adolescent contextual and personal predictors of adult educational and occupational outcomes: A mediational model in two countries. Developmental Psychology, 42(5), 937–949.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duncan, G. J., Bergman, L., Duckworth, K., Kokko, K., Lyyra, A.-L., Metzger, M., … Simonton, S. (2012 ). The role of child skills and behaviors in the intergenerational transmission of inequality: A cross-national study. In Ermisch, J., Jäntti, M., & Smeeding, T. (Eds.), From parents to children: The intergenerational transmission of advantage (pp. 207–234). New York, NY: Russell Sage.Google Scholar
Hinde, R., & Pulkkinen, L. (2001 ). Human aggressiveness and war. Pugwash: Occasional Papers, 2, 5–37.Google Scholar
Kokko, K., Bergman, L. R., & Pulkkinen, L. (2003 ). Child personality characteristics and selection into long-term unemployment in Finnish and Swedish longitudinal samples. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 27(2), 134–144.Google Scholar
Kokko, K., & Pulkkinen, L. (2000 ). Aggression in childhood and long-term unemployment in adulthood: A cycle of maladaptation and some protective factors. Developmental Psychology, 36(4), 463–472.Google Scholar
Kokko, K., Simonton, S., Dubow, E., Lansford, J. E., Olson, S. L., Huesmann, L. R., … Dodge, K. A. (2014 ). Country, sex, and parent occupational status: Moderators of the continuity of aggression from childhood to adulthood. Aggressive Behavior, 40(6), 552–567.Google Scholar
Pitkanen, L. (1969 ). A descriptive model of aggression and nonaggression with applications to children’s behaviour. Jyväskylä Studies in Education, Psychology and Social Research, No. 19. Jyväskylä: University of Juväskylä.Google Scholar
Pitkänen, T. (2006). Alcohol drinking behavior and its developmental antecedents. Jyväskylä, Finland: Jyväskylä University Printing House.Google Scholar
Pulkkinen, L. (1982 ). Self-control and continuity from childhood to late adolescence. In Baltes, P. B. & Brim, O. G. (Eds.), Life-span development and behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 63–105). New York, NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Pulkkinen, L. (1983 ). The search for alternatives to aggression. In Goldstein, A. P. & Segall, M. (Eds.), Aggression in global perspective (pp. 104–144). New York, NY: Pergamon Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pulkkinen, L. (1986 ). The role of impulse control in the development of antisocial and prosocial behavior. In Olweus, D., Block, J., & Radke-Yarrow, M. (Eds.), Development of antisocial and prosocial behavior (Vol. 2, pp. 149–175). New York, NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Pulkkinen, L. (1988 ). Delinquent development: Theoretical and empirical considerations. In Rutter, M. (Ed.), The power of longitudinal data: Studies of risk and protective factors for psychosocial disorders (pp. 184–199). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pulkkinen, L. (1989 ). Progress in education for peace in Finland. In Hinde, R. & Parry, D. A. (Eds.), Education for peace. Nottingham: Spokesman (pp. 88–101). Nottingham, England: Russell.Google Scholar
Pulkkinen, L. (2012 ). The integrated school day – improving the educational offering of schools in Finland. In Clouder, C., Heys, B., Matthes, M., & Sullivan, P. (Eds.), Improving the quality of childhood in Europe 2012 (Vol. 3, pp. 40–67). Brighton, England: ECSWE.Google Scholar
Pulkkinen, L. (2014 ). Self-control at the heart of successful development. In Lerner, R. M., Petersen, A. C., Silbereisen, R. K., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (Eds.), The developmental science of adolescence: History through autobiography (pp. 373–385). New York, NY: Psychology Press Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Pulkkinen, L. (2017 ). Human development from middle childhood to middle adulthood: Growing up to be middle-aged. London, England: Routledge.Google Scholar
Pulkkinen, L. (2018 ). Longitudinal study of personality and social development: Insights about aggression after five decades. In Vazsonyi, A. T., Flannery, D. J., & DeLisi, M. (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Violent Behavior and Aggression (2nd ed.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pulkkinen, L., & Caspi, A. (2002 ). Paths to successful development: Personality in the life course. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pulkkinen, L., Kaprio, J., & Rose, R. J. (2006 ). Socioemotional development and health from adolescence to adulthood. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pulkkinen, L., & Tremblay, R. E. (1992 ). Patterns of boys’ social adjustment in two cultures and at different ages: A longitudinal perspective. International Journal of Behavioural Development, 15(4), 527–553.Google Scholar
Pulkkinen, L., Virtanen, T., Klinteberg, B. A., & Magnusson, D. (2000 ). Child behaviour and adult personality: Comparisons between criminality groups in Finland and Sweden. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 10(3), 155–169.Google Scholar
Screen, J. E. O. (2014). Mannerheim: The Finnish years. London, England: C. Hurst.Google Scholar
Walder, L. O., Abelson, R. P., Eron, L. D., Banta, T. J., & Laulicht, J. H. (1961 ). Development of a peer-rating measure of aggression. Psychological Reports, 9(3), 497–556.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×