Copyright Malvin Porter, Jr. 2010 - acumen - The University of ...

lie in the lack of variability in CBS scores and the inconsistency of the CBVS scores. Without
question, future research should focus on the redesign and methodological uses of the CBVS
before it can be employed as a valid assessment of children’s social behavior and social
reasoning in the context of bully victimization.
Gender
This study found that males were as likely to select Prosocial Action Choices and
Aggressive Action Choices as females. In general, most studies find that boys and girls have an
equal capacity for prosocial behavior, but that boys tend be more physically aggressive than
girls, and that girls tend to be more relationally aggressive than boys (Crick et al., 2002; Phelps,
2001). Studies of children enrolled in the 2 nd through the 9 th grades found that while young
children engage in both prosocial and aggressive behavior that over time boys tend to prefer
physical aggression, whereas girls tend to prefer use of relational ostracism as well as indirect
relational harassment and manipulation, which is psychologically harmful and distressing
(Cairns, Cairns, Neckerman, Ferguson, & Gariepy, 1989; Foster, DeLawyer, & Guevremont,
1986; T. Nansel et al., 2001a; Olweus, 2003). Gender differences may be mediated by
differential physical development and social awareness of social norms for possession and
conflict resolution (Hay, Nash, & Pedersen, 1983). One explanation for the homogeneous
findings in this study may be that the population sample was skewed toward typical middle-class
social norms. The population sample was made up of 74.7 percent white children in urban
schools that tend to report lower incidence rates for child aggression and tend to promote typical
middle-class prosocial values and social support networks as opposed to lower socioeconomic
inner schools which tend to report higher rates of aggression among children and fewer available
resources for social support.
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