Self-esteem and its Relationship with Aggressive Behavior among a Sample of Fourth-Year Middle School Students

This study examines the relationship between self-esteem and aggressive behavior among 4th-year middle school students.Aggression, which is common during adolescence, can manifest in various forms-physical, verbal, and emotional-and may be influenced by an individual's self-perception.The main objective is to assess the extent to which low self-esteem is linked to increased aggression, while also observing gender differences.To achieve this, a descriptive correlational method was adopted with a sample of 153 students (71 boys and 82 girls) from a middle school in the commune of Berrika, Batna province.Two tools were used: Maliji Bada's Aggression Scale (1996) and Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory.The results revealed a significant negative correlation between selfesteem and aggression, suggesting that students with high self-esteem are less aggressive.Furthermore, boys were found to be more aggressive than girls.These findings highlight the importance of fostering self-esteem as a means of reducing aggressive behavior among adolescents.