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The Role of Psychological Maturity in Direct and Indirect Aggressiveness in Spanish Adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2014

Fabia Morales-Vives ,
Elisa Camps ,
Urbano Lorenzo-Seva  and
Andreu Vigil-Colet
Fabia Morales-Vives*
Affiliation:
Research Center for Behavior Assessment, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain)
Elisa Camps
Affiliation:
Research Center for Behavior Assessment, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain)
Urbano Lorenzo-Seva
Affiliation:
Research Center for Behavior Assessment, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain)
Andreu Vigil-Colet
Affiliation:
Research Center for Behavior Assessment, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Fabia Morales Vives. Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Departament de Psicologia. Campus Sescelades. Carretera de Valls s/n. 43007. Tarragona (Spain). Phone: +34–977558086. Fax: +34–977558088. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Understanding which factors are related to different kinds of aggressive behaviors in adolescents might help to improve violence-prevention programs for schools and families. Although some studies show that adolescents who are less psychologically mature tend to display more behavioral problems, few studies have been performed on the relationship between aggressive behavior and psychological maturity in adolescence, and no studies have focused specifically on indirect aggression. For this reason, the current research tests the role of psychological maturity in direct and indirect aggressiveness in a sample of 193 Spanish adolescents (49% boys and 51% girls) between 14 and 18 years old (M = 16.1, SD = 1.18). The results show that psychological maturity is related to both kinds of aggressiveness. In fact, less mature adolescents tend to show higher levels of direct aggression (r = –.22, p < .01) and indirect aggression (r = –.44, p < .01). More specifically, the dimensions of psychological maturity most related to aggressiveness are self-reliance and identity: self-reliance is the main predictor of indirect aggression (p < .01) and identity is the main predictor of direct aggression (p < .01). Moreover, overall psychological maturity is more related to indirect aggression in men than in women (p < .05), so the increase in psychological maturity implies a greater decrease of indirect aggression in men.

Keywords

psychological maturityaggressionself-relianceidentityadolescence
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 17 , 2014 , E16
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2014 

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