Is sexism associated with the use of relational aggression by young adults? The moderating effect of gender.

Abstract

Relational aggression refers to behaviors intended to harm a target's social relationships either in response to a threat (reactive form) or with an ulterior motive (proactive form). The use of relational aggression is associated with internalizing symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and somatic complaints, as well as externalizing problems including conduct disorder symptoms, attention problems and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms (Murray-Close et al., 2016). Considering these consequences, the factors that may explain the use of relational aggression need to be explored. By adopting a macro-systemic perspective, this paper addresses the role that sexism may play in the use of relational aggression by young adults. Using data from an ongoing longitudinal study of social adaptation during the transition into adulthood (571 participants aged 17-22 years; 49.3 % women), this paper focused on the association between relational aggression and sexism in young adults, and on the moderating role of gender in this association. Results showed a positive association between hostile sexism and proactive as well as reactive relational aggression. However, benevolent sexism was associated with neither form of relational aggression. Gender only moderated the association between hostile sexism and reactive relational aggression, which was stronger for men than for women. These results allow for a more complex analysis of relational aggression and show the relevance of variables related to the broader social context, such as sexism, for understanding young adults' aggressive behaviors.