Aggressive behavior is commonly defined as antisocial behavior that involves causing harm to another individual through physical, psychological, or verbal means (Shachar et al., 2016). Such destructive behavior has a significant negative impact on the physical and mental health of adolescents (Clarke et al., 2020), often contributing to anxiety, depression, and suicidal tendencies in the victims (McGirr & Turecki, 2007; Min et al., 2012). Therefore, investigating mechanisms that may reduce instances of aggressive behavior among adolescents is an urgent social priority with significant implications for national public health and safety initiatives.

 

Scholars have used various research paradigms to study the prevention of aggressive behavior, including questionnaire surveys, big data analysis, and experimental interventions (Artinian et al., 2010; Kelly, 2013; Ouyang & Liu, 2023; Patel et al., 2019). Across these paradigms, there is consensus in the literature that physical exercise can significantly inhibit adolescent aggressive behavior (Ouyang & Liu, 2023). For example, researchers have found that physical exercise can both effectively alleviate and reduce the occurrence of problematic aggressive and antisocial behavior in adolescents (Artinian et al., 2010; Kelly, 2013; Patel et al., 2019). However, despite widespread research on both physical exercise and aggressive behavior, the impact mechanisms of sports on adolescent aggressive behavior remain poorly understood.

 

In the field of sports psychology, self-esteem has often been examined as a psychological benefit of physical exercise, serving as a critical outcome variable that reflects the positive impact of regular physical activity. Numerous studies have demonstrated that physical exercise can significantly increase the self-esteem of adolescents. For instance, Kim and Ahn (2021) found that physical exercise positively impacts the self-esteem of middle school students, with longer durations of physical exercise associated with higher self-esteem levels (Liu et al., 2015). Klizienė et al. (2018) reported that after a 7-month soccer training intervention, students had significantly higher self-esteem and significantly lower social anxiety. Ahmed et al. (2017) found that adolescents who regularly participated in physical exercise had significantly higher self-esteem levels than those who did not engage in physical exercise, and Belcher et al. (2021) showed that physical exercise not only enhances physical fitness but also effectively promotes mental health.

 

A large body of empirical research has shown that self-esteem has a significant impact on aggression (Tsaousis, 2016). For example, Kumar et al. (2014) found that the self-esteem level of adolescents is negatively correlated with their level of aggression. Individuals with lower self-esteem are more likely to exhibit aggressive tendencies (Amad et al., 2021), while individuals with high self-esteem are less likely to engage in aggressive behavior (Kumar et al., 2014). Despite the significant impact that physical exercise and self-esteem have been found to have on aggressive behavior, no study to date has investigated the correlations between these mechanisms in adolescents. This gap in the literature underscores the necessity of a comprehensive exploration of the relationship between physical exercise and self-esteem, providing justification for the research framework of this study.

 

We determined that multiple theoretical frameworks would be useful for our investigation of the significant impact that both physical exercise and self-esteem have on aggression. According to cognitive–affective–behavioral theory, individuals strive to adjust their behavior to be consistent with their emotions as well as their cognition (Pachankis, 2007; Zhan et al., 2020, 2021). Self-esteem is an overall positive evaluation of oneself, an identification of self-worth, and the variable that best predicts individual emotional and behavioral changes (Orth & Robins, 2014). Social bonding theory suggests that individuals with low self-esteem have fewer social connections, which increases their inconsistency with social norms and raises the incidence of aggressive behavior (Young, 2006). Meanwhile, surplus energy theory suggests that individuals can release excess energy through games to avoid conflict and violent incidents (Zhan et al., 2020, 2021). This study utilized all of these frameworks to illuminate the relationships between physical exercise, self-esteem, and aggressive behavior among adolescents. Therefore, we proposed the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: Physical exercise will negatively predict adolescent aggressive behavior, such that adolescents who engage in more physical exercise will exhibit less aggressive behavior.

Hypothesis 2: There will be a negative correlation between self-esteem and aggressive behavior.

Hypothesis 3: Physical exercise will predict higher levels of self-esteem in adolescents.

Hypothesis 4: Self-esteem will play a mediating role in the relationship between physical exercise and aggressive behavior.

We conducted a paper-and-pen survey at a middle school in Guangxi, China, which we selected due to its accessibility. Utilizing stratified random sampling, we selected five classes from Grades 10 to 12, amounting to 15 classes overall for the survey. The survey was administered in October 2023, with distribution and collection completed over a 2-week period to ensure comprehensive participation and minimal disruption to the academic schedule. Surveys were distributed and collected at a single point during class time to streamline the process and ensure consistency.

 

Prior to the survey, we disseminated informed consent forms that detailed the study’s purpose, procedure, potential risks, benefits, and confidentiality assurances. Participation was restricted to students whose parents or guardians and supervising teachers signed the consent forms, ensuring that all involved parties were informed and agreed to participate. Furthermore, we obtained approval for the study protocol from an institutional review board to ensure adherence to ethical standards.

 

Of 800 questionnaires we distributed, we retained 756 valid responses, resulting in an effective response rate of 94.5%. The participants comprised 325 boys and 431 girls with a mean age of 16.20 years (SD = 0.58).

We used the Physical Exercise Level Scale to assess the physical exercise level of the respondents (Liang, 1994). The scale consists of five items that measure the intensity of physical activity (e.g., “In the past month, how often did you engage in moderate-intensity physical activity each week?”). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very low intensity/frequency) to 5 (very high intensity/frequency) with higher scores indicating greater exercise intensity. Cronbach’s alpha in this study was .83.

 

We used the Chinese version of the Self-Esteem Scale to assess the respondents’ self-esteem (Tomas & Oliver, 1999; Zili & Taisheng, 2008). The scale consists of 10 items (e.g., “I am satisfied with myself as a person”) rated on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (completely disagree) to 4 (completely agree), with higher scores indicating higher self-esteem. The questionnaire has good reliability and validity. Cronbach’s alpha in this study was .85.

 

We used the Chinese version of the Buss–Perry Aggression Scale to assess the students’ aggressive behavior (Buss & Perry, 1992). This 29-item scale consists of four dimensions: physical aggression (e.g., “Given enough provocation, I may hit another person”), verbal aggression (e.g., “I can’t help getting into arguments when people disagree with me”), anger (e.g., “I flare up quickly but get over it quickly”), and hostility (e.g., “Other people always seem to get the breaks”). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with higher scores indicating stronger aggression. The questionnaire has good reliability and validity. Cronbach’s alpha in this study was .87.

We used SPSS 24.0 software to check for common method bias. In addition, we performed a one-way multivariate analysis of covariance to explore the relationships between physical exercise, self-esteem, and aggressive behavior. We conducted a Pearson correlation analysis to explore the correlations between physical exercise, self-esteem, and aggressive behavior, and employed the bootstrapping method to test the mediating effects. A significance level of p < .05 was set to indicate a statistically significant difference.

We used Harman’s single-factor test to assess common method bias. The results showed that there were 11 factors with eigenvalues greater than 1, and the maximum variance explanation rate was 28.23%, which is below the accepted cut-off of 40%. Since there were no factors with excessively high explanatory power, common method bias did not significantly affect this study.

We conducted independent sample t tests to measure the physical exercise, self-esteem, and aggressive behavior of adolescents boys and girls. The results showed that the level of physical exercise of boys was significantly higher than that of girls. Regarding self-esteem levels, there was no significant difference between adolescent boys and girls, indicating that both groups exhibited similar self-esteem scores. In terms of aggressive behavior, there was no significant gender difference among the students (see Table 1). All variables were normally distributed.

In addition, we conducted a correlation analysis of physical exercise, self-esteem, and aggressive behavior (see Table 2). The results showed that higher levels of physical exercise were associated with lower levels of aggressive behavior, supporting Hypothesis 1. Self-esteem was also significantly and negatively correlated with aggressive behavior, supporting Hypothesis 2. Last, physical exercise was positively correlated with self-esteem, supporting Hypothesis 3.

We used the PROCESS macro for SPSS to conduct a mediating effect analysis. The regression equation results showed that physical exercise, β = −.08, t = −2.76, df = 755, p < .001, and self-esteem, β = –.23, t = –6.75, df = 755, p < .01, significantly and negatively predicted aggressive behavior, while physical exercise significantly and positively predicted self-esteem, β = .21, t = 6.10, df = 755, p < .01. Next, we used the bootstrapping method with 5,000 resamples to construct the confidence intervals and test the mediating effect. Table 3 shows that physical exercise had a significant direct effect on aggression, β = –.08, accounting for 36.36% of the total effect. The indirect path of physical exercise → self-esteem → aggressive behavior was β = –.14, accounting for 73.63% of the total effect. The direct effect of physical exercise on aggressive behavior and the indirect effect through self-esteem as a mediator were both significant. The 95% confidence interval did not include 0, indicating that self-esteem had a significant mediating effect on the relationship between physical exercise and aggressive behavior.

This study explored the mechanism through which physical exercise affects adolescents’ aggressive behavior. While our independent sample t tests showed that boys had significantly higher levels of physical exercise compared to girls, there was no significant gender difference in self-esteem scores.

 

In line with our first two hypotheses and previous research findings (Kelly, 2013; Kim & Ahn, 2021; Ouyang & Liu, 2023), we found that both physical exercise and self-esteem were negatively correlated with adolescent aggressive behavior. Adolescents who engaged in a higher frequency of physical exercise also exhibited a lower frequency of aggressive behavior; likewise, higher self-esteem was associated with lower rates of aggressive behavior.

 

These findings build on the work of other scholars who explored the relationship between physical exercise and aggression by incorporating self-esteem as a mediating variable. For example, Fung and Lee (2018) showed that physical exercise in the form of traditional Chinese martial arts skills reduced the occurrence of campus violence and aggressive behavior among high school students. Similar conclusions have been evidenced in other groups (Ronen & Rosenbaum, 2010). The reason for this correlation may be that physical exercise provides adolescents with an outlet for the negative emotions that they often experience in daily life, such as jealousy and anger, which they may otherwise express through aggressive behavior (Kim & Ahn, 2021; McGirr & Turecki, 2007).

 

Although some researchers have argued that athletes who have a strong desire to defeat others are more likely to cheat and believe that aggression can lead to victory, this is more common in competitive sports (Oproiu, 2013). Sports, as a carrier of games, incorporate elements of fun and rules, and various types of physical exercise provide individuals with places to expend energy, greatly reducing the probability of aggressive behavior (Evans & Pellegrini, 1997).

 

In line with our third hypothesis and previous research findings, this study also found a significant positive correlation between physical exercise and self-esteem, whereby adolescents who indicated a higher frequency of physical exercise also reported higher self-esteem. Researchers have previously shown that physical exercise reduces adolescent depression and anxiety, improves body satisfaction, and consequently enhances self-esteem (Liu et al., 2015; Ouyang & Liu, 2023).

 

In line with our fourth hypothesis and previous research results, we found that self-esteem played a mediating role in the relationship between physical exercise and aggressive behavior, reducing aggressive behavior by increasing adolescents’ self-esteem. Individuals with high self-esteem can confidently handle negative emotions, restore their psychological state, and subsequently inhibit impulsive aggressive behavior (Amad et al., 2021). As stated above, social bonding theory suggests that individuals with low self-esteem also have fewer social connections, which contributes to inconsistency with social norms and subsequently may lead to a higher occurrence of aggressive behavior and crime (Young, 2006). Building on this theory, engaging in sports offers a practical avenue for enhancing social connections and, in turn, fostering higher self-esteem. The acquisition of sports skills is based on imitation, and the observation of sports skills further strengthens the mastery of skills. In this process, action skills are gradually acquired and adolescents become more proficient, and their self-esteem also shows an increasing trend (Kangas et al., 2015). Regular physical exercise also allows individuals to master action skills; in this process, self-esteem increases as well (Ahmed et al., 2017).

Use of a cross-sectional research design limited our ability to establish a causal relationship between physical exercise and aggressive behavior, as it precludes the observation of temporal changes and the sequence of events. In future research a longitudinal study design could be employed to track the same participants over time, providing stronger evidence for causal inference.

 

This study explored the relationship between physical exercise and adolescent aggressive behavior, revealing the mediating role of self-esteem. Through showing that physical exercise reduces aggressive behavior by enhancing self-esteem, this study provides strong evidence for the prevention of adolescent aggressive behavior through physical exercise.

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