Social–Cognitive Factors in Antisocial Behavior and School Violence: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Greek Vocational Students

<b>Background/Objectives:</b> School violence represents a significant concern for educational communities worldwide, affecting student well-being and academic development. While prior research has documented prevalence rates and risk factors, limited studies have examined social-cognitive factors associated with antisocial behavior specifically within vocational education contexts using integrated analytical approaches. This exploratory cross-sectional study examined social-cognitive factors-specifically self-reported attitudes about aggression norms, prosocial attitudes, and school climate perceptions-associated with violence-supportive attitudes among Greek vocational students. <b>Methods:</b> A cross-sectional design employed validated self-report instruments and traditional statistical methods. The sample comprised 76 vocational high school students (38.2% male; ages 14-18; response rate 75.2%) from one school in Patras, Greece. Validated instruments assessed attitudes toward interpersonal peer violence (α = 0.87), peer aggression norms across four subscales (α = 0.83-0.90), and school climate dimensions (α = 0.70-0.75). Analyses included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations with bootstrapped confidence intervals, MANOVA for multivariate group comparisons, independent samples <i>t</i>-tests, propensity score matching for urban-rural comparisons, polynomial regression for developmental patterns, and path analysis for theoretical model testing. <b>Results:</b> Strong associations emerged between perceived school-level and individual-level aggression norms (r = 0.80, <i>p</i> < 0.001, 95% CI [0.71, 0.87]), representing one of the strongest relationships documented in school violence research. Violence-supportive attitudes demonstrated inverse associations with prosocial alternative norms (r = -0.37, <i>p</i> < 0.001, 95% CI [-0.55, -0.16]). Significant gender differences emerged for teacher-student relationships (d = -0.78, <i>p</i> = 0.002), with females reporting substantially more positive perceptions. Propensity-matched urban students demonstrated higher aggression norm endorsement compared to rural students across multiple indicators (d = 0.61-0.78, all <i>p</i> < 0.020). Polynomial regression revealed curvilinear developmental patterns with optimal teacher relationship quality during mid-adolescence (ages 15-16). Path analysis supported a sequential association model wherein school-level norms related to individual attitudes through prosocial alternative beliefs (indirect effect β = -0.22, <i>p</i> = 0.002, 95% CI [-0.34, -0.11]). <b>Conclusions:</b> This preliminary investigation identified social-cognitive factors-particularly normative beliefs about aggression at both individual and environmental levels-as strongly associated with violence-supportive attitudes in Greek vocational education. The exceptionally strong alignment between school-level and individual-level aggression norms (r = 0.80) suggests that environmental normative contexts may play a more substantial role in attitude formation than previously recognized in this educational setting. Gender and urban-rural differences indicate meaningful heterogeneity requiring differentiated approaches. Future research should employ longitudinal designs with multi-informant assessment and larger multi-site samples to establish temporal precedence, reduce method variance, and test causal hypotheses regarding relationships between normative beliefs and behavioral outcomes.