Test of the Language-Aggression Hypothesis

Abstract

This study tested the hypothesis that language is related to aggression in two ways: that relatively low levels of proficiency in the use of language should be associated with relatively high levels of observable aggression and that high levels of language proficiency should be associated with low levels of aggression. The vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), the Metropolitan Achievement Test in Reading, the total number of words spoken during a free speech session, and the number of different words used during that session constituted the language measures. Aggression of 132 subjects, ranging in age from 9 to 13 yr., was measured using an adaptation of the physical and verbal aggression categories used by Walters, Pearce, and Dahms (1957). The results supported both predictions for the comparisons between black subjects and Puerto Rican subjects but not for the white subjects.