TY - JOUR TI -

The Role of Perceiving Police and Government Officials in Adolescents Aggression

T2 - Psychology. Journal of Higher School of Economics IS - Psychology. Journal of Higher School of Economics KW - аggression KW - adolescents KW - authorities KW - officials KW - police KW - political violence KW - government institutions AB - The paper presents the results of a study of aggressiveness and the socio-perceptual image of the police and government officials in the minds of adolescents. Our study is based on a survey of 7468 young people between the ages of 16 and 19, of whom 42% were men (2759) and 58% were women (3804). The survey was conducted in eight Russian regions. We used an original methodology to assess individuals' perceptions of their social environment, the "80 adjectives", as well as a positive perception coefficient developed on its basis. The analysis of the data showed that negative perceptions of the police were positively related to the aggressiveness of the young audience, youth's perception of government officials showed no significant correlation with studied psychological parameters. At the same time, the strongest relationship negative perception formed with reactive aggression, arising as a response to external aggression or threat. It was also found that the negative perception of law enforcement agencies in 1996 and 2016 did not change in a meaningful way and, therefore, is characterized by a high degree of inertia and stability. Also, the entrenched thesis in psychology about the influence of family wholeness on personality aggression did not find confirmation in the study. At the same time, adolescents raised by two parents demonstrate a lower level of shyness, and thus can more successfully overcome socialization difficulties. The analysis of exogenous factors of aggression showed a correlation between the aggression of the respondents and the size of the city they live in. Young people in large and densely populated cities are more prone to aggression than their peers in the countryside. AU - Arthur Rean AU - Igor Shagalov UR - https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2022-19-1/581962015.html PY - 2022 SP - 93-109 VL - 19