Aggression Scales

Abstract

The Aggression Scales, developed by Robert R. Sears in 1961, constitute a psychometric instrument designed to measure various dimensions of Aggression and aggressive attitudes in children. The instrument employs a 5-point Rating Scale format, where subjects respond to declarative sentences indicating their level of agreement or disagreement. Initially comprising 73 items, the final revised version consists of 60 items, including 20 buffer items, organized into five distinct subscales: Aggression anxiety, Projected aggression, Self-aggression, Prosocial aggression, and Antisocial aggression.

Scoring involves assigning a score of 5 to the extreme ends (“strongly agree” or “strongly disagree”), signifying acceptance of the aggressive concept being measured, with lower scores assigned to intermediate positions. Total scores for each scale are derived by summing item scores within each respective scale. Psychometric data collected from sixth-grade students indicated satisfactory internal Reliability, with coefficients for four of the five subscales measuring .6 or better, and the coefficient for self-aggression achieving statistical significance at the p = .01 level.

Keywords

Aggression Scales, Aggressive Attitudes, Child Aggression, Aggression Anxiety, Antisocial Aggression, Prosocial Aggression, Projected Aggression, Self-Aggression, Test Development, Inter-Item Correlation

Authors

Sears, Robert R.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Aggression Scales is to systematically assess and quantify various facets of aggressive attitudes held by the respondent. By differentiating between types of aggression—such as those directed internally (Self-aggression) versus those directed externally (Projected aggression)—the scale provides a nuanced view of how an individual processes and expresses aggressive tendencies.

The scale was specifically developed to support research into the relationship between early socialization experiences and the emergence of aggressive behavior patterns during middle childhood, providing researchers with a standardized tool for attitude measurement.

Construct

The central psychological construct measured by this instrument is Aggression, defined broadly as the set of attitudes and tendencies related to hostile or destructive behavior. The scale operationalizes this broad construct into five specific dimensions:

• Aggression Anxiety: Measures feelings of apprehension or fear related to one’s own aggressive impulses or actions.
• Projected Aggression: Measures the tendency to attribute one’s own aggressive feelings or intentions onto others.
• Self-Aggression: Measures attitudes reflecting aggression directed toward the self.
• Prosocial Aggression: Measures attitudes toward aggression used in contexts that might be socially acceptable or beneficial (e.g., defending others).
• Antisocial Aggression: Measures attitudes reflecting hostile or destructive behavior that violates social norms or harms others.

Validity

The instrument demonstrated acceptable levels of Validity based on early developmental analyses. Specifically, the intrasex validity of the 33 items retained from the original form was deemed uniformly acceptable within the tested population groups.

Furthermore, the intersex validity, which examines whether the scale functions equivalently across male and female respondents, was found to be acceptable for all but four items. This suggests a generally robust measurement across genders in the sampled population, supporting the use of the instrument for assessing aggressive attitudes in both boys and girls.

Reliability

The psychometric assessment indicated satisfactory internal Reliability, specifically demonstrating acceptable odd-even reliability coefficients during the development phase. The internal consistency of the subscales was generally strong when tested on sixth-grade students.

Reliability coefficients for the subscales measuring aggression anxiety, projected aggression, prosocial aggression, and antisocial aggression were all reported as .6 or higher. While the reliability for the Self-aggression scale was slightly lower, it was still reported to be statistically significant (p = .01), indicating that the instrument provides reasonably consistent measurement across its various dimensions.

Factor Analysis

No formal factor analysis was indicated in the source documentation regarding the structure of the final 60-item scale. The establishment of the five subscales appears to have been based primarily on theoretical considerations and item correlation during the initial test development and revision phases.

Instrument

Test Type: Rating Scale

Format: The scale consists of declarative sentences requiring a subjective response from the participant.

Language Available: English (Original development language)

Population Group: Human; Male; Female

Age Group: Middle Childhood (Approximate age of sixth-grade students)

Population Details: Sample consisted of Sixth Grade Students located in the United States.

Test Methodology: A 5-point Likert-type scale is used, ranging from “strongly agree” through “not sure” to “strongly disagree.” A score of 5 is assigned to the extreme response poles that indicate acceptance of the specific type of aggression portrayed in the item, with lower scores assigned to the intermediate positions. The final instrument contains 60 items, including 20 buffer items.

Keywords

Aggressive Behavior, Antisocial Behavior, Anxiety, Measurement, Prosocial Behavior, Rating Scales, Statistical Correlation, Test Construction, Personality Assessment, Child Psychology

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in source material.

Correspondence Address: Not specified in source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: The instrument is listed as available for use in Research and Teaching activities.

Fee: Fee information is not specified in the source material.

Test Year: 1961

References

• Sears, R. R. (1961). Relation of early socialization experiences to aggression in middle childhood. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63(3), 466–492. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0041249

Items of the Aggression Scales

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

The original scale items were not provided in the source content. The final version of the instrument consists of 60 items, covering the five subscales: Aggression anxiety, Projected aggression, Self-aggression, Prosocial aggression, and Antisocial aggression.