Emotion Regulation and Reactive-Proactive Aggression among Generation Alpha Students: Preparing for Board Examinations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62843/jssr.v6i1.711Keywords:
Emotion Regulation, Reactive-Proactive Aggression, Board Exams, Generation AlphaAbstract
Generation Alpha, generally defined as individuals born between 2010 and 2024, represents the first cohort to be raised entirely within a digitally integrated environment. As many members of this generation approach significant academic milestones, including school and board examinations, they encounter unique developmental and educational challenges. In the present study, the aim was to examine the relationship between emotion regulation and reactive-proactive aggression among Generation Alpha, preparing for the board examination, by using a cross-sectional research design. Purposive sampling technique was utilized by targeting 9th Grade 13-15 years old boys/girls (N=150) preparing for the board examination. Self-Report measures include: Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (Gullone & Taffe, 2012) and Reactive Proactive Questionnaire (Raine et al., 2006) were used for data collection. Analysis of Spearman correlation indicated a positive correlation between emotion regulation and reactive-proactive aggression. Cognitive reappraisal showed a positive correlation with reactive aggression but a negligible correlation with proactive aggression. Expressive suppression depicts a positive correlation with proactive aggression, whereas it shows a weak relationship with reactive aggression. However, gender differences for emotion regulation among boys and girls displayed no significant differences, whereas, in reactive-proactive aggression, boys (M=93.86) showed higher scores than girls (M=59.44; U=2610.00, p=.472). This study highlights the importance of promoting emotion regulation skills among students preparing for board examinations. School psychologists, counselors, and mental health professionals may work on emotion regulation skills as part of an intervention designed to reduce aggressive behavior and improve emotional adjustment among Generation Alpha.
References
Aldao, A., Sheppes, G., & Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation flexibility. Cognitive therapy and research, 39(3), 263-278. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-014-9662-4
Allen, J. J., Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2018). The general aggression model. Current opinion in psychology, 19, 75-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.03.034
Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2002). Human aggression. Annual review of psychology, 53(1), 27-51. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135231
Baker, E. R., & Jensen, C. J. (2024). Linking teacher-versus child self-report discrepancies in aggression to demographic and cognitive profiles. Early Childhood Education Journal, 52(2), 443-458. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-023-01446-2
Blair, K. S., Newman, C., Mitchell, D. G. V., Richell, R. A., Leonard, A., Morton, J., & Blair, R. J. R. (2006). Differentiating among prefrontal substrates in psychopathy: Neuropsychological test findings. Neuropsychology, 20(2), 153–165. https://doi.org/10.1037/0894-4105.20.2.153
Dodge, K. A., & Pettit, G. S. (2003). A biopsychosocial model of the development of chronic conduct problems in adolescence. Developmental psychology, 39(2), 349. https://doi.org/10.1037//0012-1649.39.2.349
Garofalo, C., Gillespie, S. M., & Velotti, P. (2020). Emotion regulation mediates relationships between mindfulness facets and aggression dimensions. Aggressive behavior, 46(1), 60-71. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21868
Gratz, K. L., and L. Roemer. 2004. “Multidimensional Assessment of Emotion Regulation and Dysregulation: Development, Factor Structure and Initial Validation of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale.” Journal of psychopathology and behavioral assessment 26, no. 1: 41–54. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOBA.0000007455.08539.94
Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of general psychology, 2(3), 271-299. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271
Gross, J. J. 2002. “Emotion Regulation: Affective, Cognitive and Social Consequences.” Psychophysiology 39, no. 3: 281–291. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0048577201393198
Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: implications for affect, relationships, and wellbeing. Journal of personality and social psychology, 85(2), 348. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348
Gullone, E., & Taffe, J. (2012). The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CA): A Psychometric Evaluation. Psychological Assessment, 24, 409-417.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025777
Gutiérrez-Cobo, M. J., Megías-Robles, A., Gómez-Leal, R., Cabello, R., & Fernández-Berrocal, P. (2023). Emotion regulation strategies and aggression in youngsters: The mediating role of negative affect. Heliyon, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14048
Haq, S., Shahed, S., & Quraishi, U. (2025). A quantitative analysis of gender differences among psychosocial correlates of juvenile delinquency. Annals of Human and Social Sciences, 6(3), 98-111. https://doi.org/10.35484/ahss.2025(6-III)09
John, O. P., & Gross, J. J. (2004). Healthy and unhealthy emotion regulation: Personality processes, individual differences, and life span development. Journal of personality, 72(6), 1301-1334. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2004.00298.x
Kjærvik, S. L., Thomson, N. D., & Fanti, K. A. (2025). The impact of media violence, narcissism and sex on reactive and proactive aggression in adolescents: A one-year follow-up study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 54(4), 917-927. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-024-02106-3
McCrindle, M., & Fell, A. (2020). Understanding Generation Alpha. McCrindle Research.
Navas-Casado, M. L., García-Sancho, E., & Salguero, J. M. (2023). Associations between maladaptive and adaptive emotion regulation strategies and aggressive behavior: A systematic review. Aggression and violent behavior, 71, 101845. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2023.101845
Raine, A., Dodge, K., Loeber, R., Gatzke‐Kopp, L., Lynam, D., Reynolds, C., ... & Liu, J. (2006). The reactive–proactive aggression questionnaire: Differential correlates of reactive and proactive aggression in adolescent boys. Aggressive Behavior: Official Journal of the International Society for Research on Aggression, 32(2), 159-171. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20115
Roberton, T., Daffern, M., & Bucks, R. S. (2012). Emotion regulation and aggression. Aggression and violent behavior, 17(1), 72-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2011.09.006
Rohmaniyah, A., Atiyah, A., & Ani, A. (2025). A systematic literature review: The phenomenon of academic burnout among generation Alpha amid the hectic dynamics of modern learning. Priviet Social Sciences Journal, 5(11), 427-436. https://doi.org/10.55942/pssj.v5i11.1025
Smith, K., Jones, A., Daly, N., Widdrington, H., Garofalo, C., & Gillespie, S. M. (2026). Emotion regulation and aggression: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Aggressive behavior, 52(1), e70055. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.70055
van Dijk, A., Hubbard, J. A., Deschamps, P. K., Hiemstra, W., & Polman, H. (2021). Do distinct groups of reactively and proactively aggressive children exist? A confirmatory latent profile approach. Research on child and adolescent psychopathology, 49(10), 1303-1317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-021-00813-0
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Copyright in the Journal of Social Sciences Review is retained by the author(s). Authors also grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its integrity is maintained and its original authors, citation details and publisher are identified.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
JSSR's Editorial Board shares the vision of providing free access to information, education, and science for everyone, thus promoting its content through an OPEN ACCESS POLICY, fulfilling the DOAJ definition of open access. The JSSR adheres to an Open Access and Copyright Licensing Policy based on the belief that making research freely accessible to the public promotes greater global knowledge sharing.
The JSSR uses the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. The authors who apply and publish in JSSR consent to abide by the copyright policy set out in the Creative Commons 4.0 license (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license).
- Copyright in the Journal of Social Sciences Review is retained by the author(s).
- Authors also grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its integrity is maintained and its original authors, citation details and publisher are identified.
While "By 'open access' to this literature, we mean its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself."
