An aggression score was calculated for MIDUS respondents based on the following items: is physically aggressive; enjoys upsetting and frightening others; enjoys scenes of violence; victimizes others for own advantage; will retaliate; is vindictive. Here are the means by race/ethnicity (Sample size = 3,392):
Mean aggression scores
Males (n = 1,783)
White 5.72
Black 6.13
Amerindian 5.75
Asian 8.43*
Mexican 5.50
Females (n = 2,209)
White 5.11
Black 5.84*
Amerindian 5.72
Asian 5.74
Mexican 5.61
* significantly higher than white counterpart
The high score for Asian males might be anomalous (there are only 7 respondents) but in an analysis of GSS data, I found that Chinese Americans were most likely to agree with a pro-violence statement. Black men are only two-tenths of a standard deviation above white men--a small difference. On the other hand, the mean for black women is more than four-tenths of a standard deviation above that of white women, a moderate difference. Notice how scores for Amerindian women are similar to their male counterparts, while Mexican American women are higher than the men.
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"is physically aggressive; enjoys upsetting and frightening others; enjoys scenes of violence; victimizes others for own advantage; will retaliate; is vindictive"
ReplyDeleteThats ugly stuff isn't it?
I'd like to chuck this off as "video-game" or "movie-screen" responses, but Im afraid that it probably reflects what these people are really like.
A poodle is not thought of as a dangerous animal, but they are really much more ill-mannered than St. Bernards and Great Danes, but they are so much smaller that you dont instinctively fear them. Its good that Mexican females and Asian males tend to be smaller if they really do enjoy "upsetting and frightening others" and "victimizing others for their own advantage" and are "vindictive".
It it a coincidence that black women and asian men are also the two groups most left out of the dating market?
ReplyDeleteIt's probably not possible to know if the two are really related, but interesting to contemplate.