Experimental Aggression in Adolescent Peer Networks

Aggressive behaviour serves many useful social functions, yet can also have damaging consequences. In line with evidence showing adolescent development in social cognitive abilities, we hypothesised that the use of aggression would become more sophisticated with age. We investigated adolescents’ intent to aggress toward peers using an experimental aggression paradigm, the Hot Sauce Paradigm, in a school-based social network setting. Participants (N=162 aged 11-17, 98 male) indicated what strength of imaginary spicy sauce they would feed to each of their classmates. A social network questionnaire quantified strength of social ties with each classmate and the incidence of mutual or unilateral social aggression (e.g. teasing). Participants allocated stronger hot sauce to peers with whom they reported weak or negative social ties, and with whom they reported unilateral teasing, underscoring the validity of this experimental measure of aggression. With increasing age, there was evidence for greater subtlety in the use of aggressive tactics. Relative to younger adolescents, older adolescents were less disinclined to allocate strong hot sauce to their friends. Younger (compared with older) adolescents allocated more hot sauce in relationships characterised by self-reported unilateral teasing, while older (compared with younger) adolescents allocated more hot sauce in relationships characterised by self-reported mutual teasing. This pattern of findings suggests young adolescents use experimental aggression as an extension of real-world victimisation/retaliation, while older adolescent behaviour is consistent with playful, mutual aggression among friends. This extends our understanding of developmental determinants of adolescent aggressive behaviour using a new experimental model of aggression.