Aggression is a type of anti-social behavior that is performed with the purpose of harming other individuals or groups. It can assume the form of physical, verbal or relational aggression [1, 2]. Aggression and violence are major social problems affecting adolescents [3]. Adolescents are particularly likely to be perpetrators of aggression or victims of bullying. According to an America study, 23.6% of adolescents in Grades 9–12 reported experiencing at least one incident of physical conflict within a year [4]. Globally, interpersonal violence is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-19-year-olds, with a mortality rate of 5.5% [5]. Similar to other countries, school bullying is common among adolescents in China. The study demonstrated that self-reported rates of traditional victimization and violence were as high as 66% and 34%, respectively [6].
Any form of aggression can cause long-term negative effects on both the perpetrators and victims, including character disorders, increased risk of dropping out of school, substance abuse, and economic hardship [7, 8]. Previous studies also showed that a high tendency of aggression can lead to a series of adverse psychosocial and academic consequences, such as internalizing problem behavior, poor academic performance and low social competence [9, 10]. Therefore, it is imperative to determine the tendency of adolescent aggression and analyze the risk factors triggering it.
Leisure Experience and Aggression
Leisure is important for adolescents’ personal development. As teenagers mature, they begin to gain more behavioral and emotional autonomy. Leisure environment is generally more liberal than others, allowing for further self-exploration and experimentation [11]. Positive leisure practice and experience can help adolescents develop their potential and improve their subjective well-being [12]. Leisure experience refers to the individual's perception of the meaning of leisure activities, and it is a construction with theoretical tradition and practical application [13]. Many scholars have acknowledged that the two basic components of perceived leisure experience are perceived freedom and intrinsic motivation [14]. Additionally, scholars have determined that individuals are driven by both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations [15] building on Neulinger's findings [16]. Walker and Wang [17] proposed that extrinsic motivations can be categorized into "rewards" (e.g., others see me in a positive light) and "punishments" (e.g., others make me feel ashamed), which relate to interpersonal relationships. According to self-determination theory (SDT), scholars study leisure behavior and experience mainly from three inherent human needs: autonomy (freedom), competence, and relatedness [18]. Combining these findings, we studied leisure experience from four aspects: perceived freedom, perceived intrinsic motivation, perceived extrinsic motivation, and perceived competence.
Perceived freedom is a fundamental element of leisure life, understood as being capable of participating in leisure activities without restriction [19]. This feeling emphasizes the subjective experience of voluntary behavior. The perception of freedom is not only an important aspect of leisure participation [20], but also influences leisure motivation, leisure satisfaction and thereby life satisfaction [21, 22]. Primarily, whether adolescents choose positive or negative leisure activities, it is based on the premise of having freedom of choice. Freedom of choice is one of the defining elements of leisure [23]. Moreover, people naturally desire to do things freely. The study has shown that offering choices can enhance intrinsic motivation, and that a high level of perceived freedom can lead to positive leisure experience [24].
Perceived motivation affects overall leisure satisfaction by influencing leisure participation and benefits [25]. The source of motivation can be classified into two types: intrinsic and extrinsic. In general, intrinsic motivation fits better with the definition of leisure motivation because we understand leisure as an activity we want to perform from our hearts. However, extrinsic motivation also plays a part in leisure participation and experience. Extrinsic motivation refers to the external factors that control an individual's behavior, such as the promise of reward or the threat of punishment [26]. The authors further proposed that extrinsic motivation contains minimal self-determination and lacks energy, direction, and persistence [27]. Therefore, extrinsic motivation is in contrast to intrinsic motivation. Generally, people are likely to engage in leisure activities more frequently and consistently based on intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation [28]. Kim and his colleagues [29] found that intrinsic motivation was the strongest predictor of leisure satisfaction. People are sometimes enticed by extrinsic rewards (material or non-material) to participate in certain leisure activities [30]. However, it has been found that people who engaged in leisure activities for motivations with lower levels of self-determination had lower subjective well-being, lower positive feelings, and higher negative feelings [31]. For teenagers, leisure life is the best opportunity to make spontaneous choices from intrinsic motivation.
In addition to perceived freedom and perceived motivation, researchers also focus on the role of perceived competence. Based on the perception that leisure is an emotional experience and state, the "flow" theory helps in understanding the importance of leisure competence in leisure experience [32]. When individuals apply all their energies into a certain leisure activity and pays no attention to anything else, it is called entering "the best experience" [33, 34]. People experience optimal "flow" only when their perception of competence and challenges are balanced [35]. Caldwell and Witt [23] believe that leisure is an outstanding context for adolescents to develop perceptions of competence. For the reason that even if they do not excel in academics, they may find a leisure activity that they are good at.
The type, time, experience and medium of leisure activities are some of primary factors that affect the healthy development of adolescents. Some suggested that excessive television viewing and computer games in childhood were associated with an increase in anti-social behavior in early adulthood [36, 37]. Some others added that it was the violence in the media that triggered aggressive thoughts and feelings [38, 39]. Nevertheless, the positive relationship between aggression and watching violent television disappeared when the initial level of aggression and intelligence was corrected [40]. In some cases, physical contact sports (such as football) encouraged physical aggression and violence [41]. However, there are also evidences that violence was not significantly associated with sport participation [42, 43]. The aforementioned literature suggests that the content and time of leisure activities does not necessarily imply aggression in adolescents. Since leisure is a complex human need that related to personal tastes, skills and resources, individual heterogeneity should be taken into account [44]. People's experience in leisure can be extremely different. In a sense, leisure is fulfilled through the consumption and production of leisure experiences [44]. Previous studies have shown a link between leisure satisfaction and aggressive behavior [45, 46]. Nevertheless, the role of leisure experience requires in-depth exploration. Therefore, we attempted to study the correlation between leisure and aggression from the perspective of perceived freedom, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and competence.
According to the leisure boredom theory, different leisure feelings have diverse influences on individual emotional experience and behavior mode of life [47]. Higher levels of leisure experience imply higher levels of freedom, competence and pleasure [48]. Positive leisure experience helps cultivate higher levels of mental health and promote the physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development of individuals [49]. These can reduce aggression [50]. Conversely, negative leisure experience may hinder the healthy development of individuals [51, 52]. The study has found that participating in community leisure education programs can effectively improve leisure ability and satisfaction of children from low-income families, improve their emotional control, enhance their self-understanding and provide them positive social interaction [53]. It seems that even inferior individuals can gain long-term development and self-realization in quality leisure.
We can also discuss this relationship from each dimension of leisure experience. From the frustration–aggression theory, we know that frustration can lead to aggression. One of the conditions to reduce frustration is the perception of freedom [54]. Mannell and Iso-Ahola [55] believed that freedom, as compensation for the messy life, is the driving force to eradicate negative emotions and to imbibe positive ones. Specifically, when teenagers believe that they have control over leisure time in their daily lives, their anger levels will reduce, making them less likely to attack or hurt others [56]. From the perspective of intrinsic motivation, individuals pursue the satisfaction of psychological needs in leisure. This process can help people relieve pressure [57]. Conversely, individuals under the control of extrinsic motivation may develop anger due to lack of freedom and competence [58]. In addition, engaging in leisure activities also requires skills. Based on the theoretical framework of SDT, frustration of perception competence leads to easier acquisition of aggressive thoughts, higher levels of aggressive tendency, and the likelihood of aggressive behavior [59]. Moreover, leisure is the social environment for adolescents. Lack of specific leisure skills may lead to poor integration with peer groups and ultimately loss of social skills [60], which are not conducive to promoting pro-social behavior.
The Mediating Role of Self-esteem
Cognitive-behavioral therapy emphasizes the impact of changes in people's cognition on behavior [61]. Specifically, the ABCs of rational-emotive theory demonstrate that it is not the events and scenes which people experience that directly lead to the generation of emotions and behavior, but people's cognition and self-evaluation of events [62]. Self-esteem is a self- evaluation that affects an individual’s cognition of events [63].
Self-esteem is defined as a cognitive schema (representation of the self) that is based on experience and influences how information is subsequently processed [64]. There is a robust relationship between lower self-esteem and externalizing problems such as aggression [65]. Low self-esteem has been found to be associated with physical aggression [66]. A meta-analytical study of Chinese students found a moderate negative correlation between self-esteem and aggression [67]. Self-esteem is even related to the recipients of aggressive behavior. Korean adolescents of high self-esteem were characterized by a high level of reactivity and defensiveness in aggressive behavior [68].
Meanwhile, leisure experience is one of the reasons for the changes in self-esteem. For example, higher self-esteem was found to be associated with leisure activities that are significant for the individual [69]. Sedentary activities or activities that cause stress were associated with loss of self-esteem [70]. Leisure participants may withdraw from activities and even develop a generalized state of learned helplessness if they continue to experience a lack of control and pleasure in activities [71]. Leisure satisfaction has been shown to have a positive impact on self-esteem [72]. In addition, cognitive–behavioral therapy is now more focused on the role of emotion in changing cognition [73]. Exceptional leisure experience is not only a cognitive source of self-esteem, but also an emotional source. Leisure experience plays an important role in creating positive emotions and building resources [74].
Therefore, negative leisure experience may lead to aggression by inducing a generalized sense of incompetence and low self-esteem. For young people, the benefits of leisure promote the development of pro-social skills, self-efficacy and responsibility [75]. Similarly, leisure satisfaction contributed positively to self-esteem, life satisfaction and psychological well-being [76, 77].
Based on the related findings of leisure experience, aggression and self-esteem, this study proposed the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: Adolescents' leisure experience is negatively correlated with aggression.
Hypothesis 2: Self-esteem plays a mediating role between leisure experience and aggression.