Sex, race, and experiences of aggression

Most previous research on sex differences in experienced aggression has confounded the sex of the aggressor and of the target by considering married or dating couples. In the present study, black and white male and female college students were asked about specific acts of aggression which they had received from or directed toward a male or female. As predicted, males were likely to have both received and exhibited more forms of aggressive behavior, although females were somewhat more likely to have been honked at, to have been forced by a male to have sex, and to have slapped someone. Few racial differences were found, but it appeared that blacks might have been relatively more likely to exhibit physical aggression and whites to exhibit nonphysical aggression. Some differences were found in specific behaviors directed toward and received from males and females, but in general subjects said that they received more aggressive behaviors than they directed toward others. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.