The Learned Attitude That Makes Children More Anxious and Violent

Posted on April 13, 2017

New research has shown that children who expect others to be aggressive are more aggressive themselves as well. When a child believe that others are aggressive and hostile towards them, they are more likely to react with aggression in order to defend and protect themselves.

The research involved children interpreting situations that often allow for varied interpretations and explanations. For instance, when someone bumps into us, it could be an aggressive and deliberate move but it could also be interpreted as an accident. From the research, countries whose children were the least aggressive included Sweden and China. The most aggressive children were found in Italy and Jordan.

The research also suggests that cultural values tend to differ in their tendencies to socialise their children to become defensive and these differences may explain why some cultures are more aggressive than others. Therefore, it is critical to note that it is important for us to socialise our children differently in order to create a more peaceful and forgiving society.

With that being said, we should teach our child to think for others and give them the benefit of the doubt. In this way, we will then be able to help our child grow up to be less aggressive and anxious, allowing them to live a happier and more fulfilled life.


Category(s):Child Development

Source material from Psyblog