Utilization of Self-Schemas as a Mechanism of Interpretational Bias in Aggressive Children

The goal of this research was to examine social information-processing mechanisms that may be responsible for hostile interpretational biases among aggressive children. In Study 1, 32 aggressive and 42 nonaggressive adolescent boys and girls were presented with hypothetical stories in which they were to imagine being the object of an ambiguous provocation by a peer. Their task was to interpret the peer's intention. Equal numbers of cues supporting a hostile interpretation and a benign interpretation accompanied the stories. Aggressive subjects demonstrated a relative bias toward attributing hostile intent to the peer provocateur. It also was found that aggressive subjects were less likely than others to utilize presented cues and more likely than others to utilize self-schemas when asked to explain their decisions. This pattern of cue utilization was not responsible for the interpretational patterns, however. In Study 2, similar stories were presented, but the numbers of hostile and benign cues were weighted in one direction or the other. Again, aggressive subjects (n = 30) were less likely than nonaggressive subjects (n = 30) to utilize relevant cues and more likely to utilize self-schemas. In this study, utilization of relevant cues was predictive of an accurate interpretation decision. These findings are interpreted as evidence of a failure to utilize appropriate cues in aggressive children and as partial support for a self-schema mechanism in interpretational processes in aggressive children.