Abstract
This exploratory study applied attribution theory to explain aggressive behaviors using a sample of thirty children who are deaf, ages 9-12. Students were shown four hypothetical scenarios of a child causing another child minor harm, such as bumping into him or her in the hall. The intention of the provocateur was ambiguous. Participants were instructed to pretend they were the child who had been harmed. Subsequently, they were questioned about the provocateur's intentions, their own emotional responses, and their likely behavioral response. Consistent with our predictions, many children demonstrated hostile (i.e., hostile) attributional biases. Moreover, the results support the cognition, emotion, behavior sequence posited by attribution theory: the more intent participants ascribed to the provocateur, the angrier they reported being, and the more likely they were to anticipate responding aggressively. The relation between hostile attributions and aggressive responding was mediated by emotion. The findings underscore some potential cognitive and emotional antecedents of behavioral problems in a deaf population.
Recommended Citation
Murdock, T. B., & Lybarger, R. L. (2019). An Attributional Analysis of Aggression Among Children who are Deaf. JADARA, 31(2). Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/jadara/vol31/iss2/5
