title: Perceived marginalization and aggression: a longitudinal study with low-educated adolescents.
abstract: Social exclusion can evoke aggression. In the past two decades research has demonstrated this effect both for interpersonal and societal forms of exclusion. In addition, recent violent uprisings, like the London riots in August 2011, have been linked to social exclusion in the media. However, so far there is a lack of longitudinal studies which examine the aggression-enhancing effect of societal-level exclusion (i.e., marginalization) in disadvantaged groups. This research investigates the impact of perceived marginalization on aggression in a sample of N = 181 adolescents with a low educational background by means of a two-wave longitudinal study. The results of structural equation analyses are consistent with the hypothesis that perceived marginalization enhances aggression, and that this effect is mediated by the extent of negative societal meta-stereotypes. Furthermore, the reverse path from aggression to perceptions of marginalization is also significant. We discuss the implications of these findings and highlight practical consequences.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Issmer
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wagner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010465:Perception; D062487:Social Marginalization / Q000523:psychology*; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior
keywords: Marginalization; aggression; cross-lagged analyses; meta-stereotypes; social exclusion; structural equation modelling