Gender and aggressive behavior: A meta-analytic review of the social psychological literature.

Reviewed sex differences in aggressive behavior, using 63 studies (appended) reported in the social psychological literature, and found that although men were somewhat more aggressive than women on the average, sex differences were inconsistent across studies. The magnitude of the sex differences was significantly related to various attributes of the studies. In particular, the tendency for men to aggress more than women was more pronounced for aggression that produced pain or physical injury than for aggression that produced psychological or social harm. In addition, sex differences in aggressive behavior were larger to the extent that women, more than men, perceived that enacting a behavior would produce harm to the target, guilt and anxiety in oneself, as well as danger to oneself. It is suggested that aggression sex differences are a function of perceived consequences of aggression that are learned as aspects of gender roles and other social roles. (96 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)