AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE

Aggression and Violence

Aggression and Violence

Introduction

In sports and in business, the term aggressive is frequently used when the term assertive, enthusiastic, or confident would be more accurate (Anderson & Bushman 2002, 27-51). For example, an aggressive salesperson is one who tries really hard to sell you something. Within psychology, the term aggression means something different. Most social psychologists define human aggression as any behaviour that is intended to harm another person who wants to avoid the harm. This definition includes three important features. First, aggression is a behaviour. You can see it.

For example, you can see a person shoot, stab, hit, slap, or curse someone. Aggression is not an emotion that occurs inside a person (Megargee 2002, 435-451), such as feeling angry. Aggression is not a thought that occurs inside someone's brain, such as mentally rehearsing a murder one is about to commit. Aggression is a behaviour you can see. Second, aggression is intentional. Aggression is not accidental, such as when a drunk driver accidentally runs over a child on a tricycle. In addition, not all intentional behaviours that hurt others are aggressive behaviours (Grisolia, Sanmartin, Luján, & Grisolia 1997, 8-17). For example, a dentist might intentionally give a patient a shot of novocaine (and the shot hurts!), but the goal is to help rather than hurt the patient. Third, the victim wants to avoid the harm. Thus, again, the dental patient is excluded, because the patient is not seeking to avoid the harm (in fact, the patient probably booked the appointment weeks in advance and paid to have it done!). Suicide would also be excluded, because the person who commits suicide does not want to avoid the harm. Sadomasochism would likewise be excluded, because the masochist enjoys being harmed by the sadist.

The motives for aggression might differ (Bushman & Anderson 2001, 273-279). Consider two examples. In the first example, a husband finds his wife and her lover together in bed. He takes his hunting rifle from a closet and shoots and kills both individuals. In the second example, a “hitman” uses a rifle to kill another person for money. Violence is aggression that has extreme physical harm as its goal, such as injury or death (Grisolia, Sanmartin, Luján, & Grisolia 1997, 13-22). For example, one child intentionally pushing another off a tricycle is an act of aggression but is not an act of violence. One person intentionally hitting, kicking, shooting, or stabbing another person is an act of violence. Thus, all violent acts are aggressive acts, but not all aggressive acts are violent; only the extreme ones are.

Is Aggression Innate or Learned?

For decades, psychologists have debated whether aggression is innate or learned. Instinct theories propose that the causes of aggression are internal, whereas learning theories propose that the causes of aggression are external. Sigmund Freud argued that human motivational forces such as sex and aggression are based on instincts. In his early writings, Freud proposed the drive for sensory and sexual gratification as the primary human instinct, ...