The Impact of Indirect Aggression on College Student Adjustment

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of indirect aggression on college student adjustment. Specifically, this study examined the relationship between perpetration by indirect aggression and victimization by indirect aggression on three domains of college adjustment. The three domains were overall college adjustment, social adjustment to college, and personal-emotional adjustment to college. In addition to this analysis, gender differences in the use of indirect aggression and victimization by indirect aggression were evaluated. 135 undergraduate college students participated in the study, of which 114 were females and 21 were male. Participants completed four assessments, the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire, the Indirect Aggression Scale—Aggressor Version, the Indirect Aggression Scale—Target Version, and a demographic measure. Bivariate correlations and regression analysis were used to evaluate the relationship between indirect aggression and college adjustment. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to examine gender differences in the use of aggression. Results indicated that perpetration of indirect aggression is unrelated to overall college adjustment, social adjustment, and personal-emotional adjustment to college. Victimization by indirect aggression was found to significantly relate to personal-emotional adjustment to college but not overall college adjustment to college or social adjustment to college. On the “Use of malicious humor’ subscale, males reported significantly greater use of this subtype of indirect aggression and victimization by this subtype of indirect aggression. No other gender differences were found.