Relative deprivation and aggressive behavior: The serial mediation of school engagement and deviant peer affiliation

According to previous studies and ecological systems theory, relative deprivation may influence aggressive behavior, and individual contexts may mediate this relationship. The present study examined whether and how the factors of ecological microsystems (i.e., school engagement and deviant peer affiliation) act as serial mediators in this relationship. To investigate this issue, the current study surveyed 1153 adolescents (601 males, 52 %, mean age = 14.76, SD = 1.64) who enrolled in six middle and high schools in Guangdong and Henan provinces, China. The serial mediation model was used to test the relationship between relative deprivation, school engagement, deviant peer affiliation, and aggressive behavior. The study’s results support the serial mediation of school engagement and deviant peer affiliation, providing a promising serial mediation pathway for intervening in adolescents’ aggressive behavior. Specifically, the mediation pathway of deviant peer affiliation was significant. However, the effect of relative deprivation through the mediating effect of school engagement is significant only with the serial mediation of deviant peer affiliation. Relative deprivation presented a risk for the aggressive behavior of adolescents and the effect of relative deprivation was serially mediated by school engagement and deviant peer affiliation. Implications and interventions for educational strategies about aggressive behavior must consider factors related to the individual (relative deprivation), school, and peers.