Predicting Aggression based on Subconscious Structure, Belief System, and Social Skills in Adolescents

Adolescence is among the major stages of human growth and development; the developmental characteristics of which can lead to aggression, behavioral disorders, delinquency, and substance abuse. Aggressive behaviors lead to negative effects not only on victims but also on perpetrators. Furthermore, adolescents of different ages present more aggressive behaviors, compared to other individuals. Besides, this issue is accompanied by psychosocial maladaptation, low academic performance, and absenteeism from school, the incidence of delinquency, substance use disorders, and various mental health problems. Some psychologists consider aggression to be a behavior that causes harm to others or can potentially harm others. The necessity to assist aggressive adolescents requires understanding subconscious structure, belief system, and social skills. The present study aimed to predict aggression based on subconscious structure, belief system, and social skills in adolescents.

The research method was descriptive–correlational. The statistical population of the present study consisted of all students of Shahriar Secondary School in 2019. Accordingly, 291 subjects were selected based on Krejcie and Morganchr('39')s Table (1970) by convenience sampling method. The inclusion criteria of the study were adolescents with a history of aggression based on the Aggression Questionnaire (obtaining scores above 70) (Bass & Perry, 1992), the lack of a psychosis history, and providing verbal satisfaction for attending the research. The exclusion criteria of the study included non–compliance with the rules of the group expressed in the first meeting and absence from more than two research sessions. To collect the required research data, the Meta–Emotion Questionnaire (Mitmansgruber et al., 2009), the Aggression Questionnaire (Bass and Perry, 1992), the Social Skills Assessment Scale (Matson et al., 1983), and the Systems of Belief Inventory (Holland et al., 1998) were employed. The obtained data were analyzed by multiple linear regression in SPSS. The significance level of the tests was set at 0.05.

Data analysis data indicated that negative subconscious structure (β=0.17, p=0.024), appropriate social skills (β=0.13, p=0.008), inappropriate audacity (β=0.23, p=0.038), impulsion (β=0.30, p=0.007), jealousy/resenting (β=0.23, p=0.031), religious beliefs and practices (β=–0.14, p<0.001), and social support (β=–0.13, p=0.005) played predicting roles in explaining aggression among the study participants. In general, subconscious structure, belief system, and social skills could explain 31% of aggression scores in the study subjects.

Based on the current study findings, subconscious structure, belief system, and social skills predict adolescent’s aggression.