Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire: Family and Peer Study
This paper applies the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire to eight participants — four family members and four randomly selected students — to explore how physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility manifest across individuals. Drawing on Archer and Webb's (2006) research linking aggression to competitiveness, dominance, and jealousy, the paper interprets each participant's self-reported scores in light of observable personality traits and social context. Findings reveal notable variation across gender and temperament, challenge some generalizations about sex differences in aggression, and highlight gaps between outward demeanor and self-reported hostility. The study offers a practical, observational illustration of how the questionnaire functions as a self-assessment tool.
- Overview of the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire: Instrument design, scoring, and study setup
- Family Participants: Don and Betty: Contrasting scores of married couple
- Competitiveness and Aggression in Betty's Daughters: Athletic daughters score higher than their mother
- Random Participants: Rick and Kathy: Two peer participants show unexpected hostility patterns
- Random Participants: Sarah and George: Sarah's hidden bitterness; George's high verbal aggression
- Conclusions and Observations: Variation in scores and self-report limitations
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What makes this paper effective
- It grounds each participant's score in observable personality details, making abstract scale numbers concrete and meaningful for the reader.
- It consistently connects findings to the Archer and Webb (2006) research, demonstrating awareness of empirical literature even in a small observational study.
- It acknowledges limitations honestly — for example, questioning whether George was entirely truthful in his self-assessment — which adds credibility to the analysis.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied interpretation of psychometric data: rather than simply reporting scores, the writer compares quantitative results against qualitative behavioral observations to identify inconsistencies (e.g., cheerful demeanor versus high hostility subscores) and contextual explanations (e.g., competitive athletic environments influencing scores). This case-by-case approach models how self-report instruments can be evaluated critically rather than taken at face value.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a concise instrument description, then introduces the participant groups. Family members are analyzed first as a paired unit (Don and Betty), followed by the daughters as a thematic cluster tied to competitiveness. The four unrelated participants are then profiled individually in ascending order of aggression score, culminating with the highest-scoring and most analytically complex case. This progression creates a natural narrative arc from low to high aggression.
Overview of the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire
The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire consists of twenty-nine statements designed to assess four factors: physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility. It is a self-scoring test in which subjects evaluate themselves according to the degree to which they agree with each statement. The questionnaire uses a five-point scale, with one point indicating a statement is "extremely uncharacteristic" and five points indicating "extremely characteristic." A score of three on any statement is considered neutral. Two statements are reverse scored; a "5" on either or both of those statements indicates a lower level of aggression.
For the purpose of this study, four family members and four randomly selected individuals evaluated themselves using the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire. All names have been changed to protect participants' privacy.
References
Archer, J., and Webb, I. A. (2006). The relation between scores on the Buss-Perry aggression questionnaire and aggressive acts, impulsiveness, competitiveness, dominance, and sexual jealousy. Aggressive Behavior, 32, pp. 464–473.
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