Date of Award

12-1993

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Patricia Meinhold

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Campus Only

Abstract

Research has indicated that in young children, aggressive behavior often occurs in the context of struggles over the acquisition of desired objects. Aggressive and possessive behaviors appear to be influenced by environmental factors, but the relationship is not clear.

This research looked at the effects of two environmental factors on rates of aggressive and possessive behaviors. Level of adult supervision was manipulated within session, while amount of material available was manipulated across session. Subjects were recruited from a state funded preschool program for ''at risk" children. Two groups of four subjects each participated in seven small group activity sessions. Observational data were obtained for the rates of possessive and aggressive behavior present during these sessions.

Visual inspection of the data did not show a relationship between either of the independent variables and aggressive or possessive behavior. Further, aggressive and possessive behaviors were not found to be correlated with each other.

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