Aggression

Meaning:

 Aggression, according to social psychology, describes any behavior or act aimed at

harming a person or animal or damaging physical property.
 Aggression is hostile and antagonistic behavior, often with the intent to cause harm.
 Aggression refers to a range of behaviors that can result in both physical and
psychological harm to others, or objects in the environment. Aggression centres on
hurting another person either physically or mentally.
 A few examples of aggressive acts:
1. Acts of physical violence
2. Shouting, abusing, and using harsh language

 Purposes served by Aggressive behaviour:

 Expressing anger or hostility

 Asserting dominance
 Intimidating or threatening
 Achieving a goal
 Expressing possession
 Responding to fear
 Reacting to pain
 Competing with others
 Gossiping and spreading rumours
 Defamation

 Aggression and violence are often sandwiched together as one inseparable term. It’s
true that aggression and violence often coincide, but they are, in fact, two different
things.
 Violence refers to extreme physical aggression intended to cause serious harm. To
put it another way, aggression doesn’t always involve violence, but violence always
involves aggression.

 While we often think of aggression in its physical forms, psychological aggression

can also be very damaging. Intimidating or verbally abusing another person, for
instance, are examples of verbal, mental, psychological and emotional
aggression. Cyberbullying is another form of non-physical aggression that can cause
serious harm to others.
  Aggression can also affect relationships and even have professional or legal
consequences.

Types of Aggressive behaviors:

I. Physical, like beating, hitting, kicking, or stabbing another person. Damaging

property is also a form of physical aggression.
II. Verbal, which may include mocking, name-calling, Shouting, abusing, and using
harsh and abusive language
III. Relational Aggression,
 Relational aggression is a specific type of aggression, intended to harm or ruin
someone’s social status, social relationships, reputation etc.

 Relational aggressive behavior frequently includes social exclusion, online bullying,

silent treatments, and spreading rumors, telling lies etc. Relational aggression is
often subtle and overlooked. It can happen at any age ,in school, work, and even
online settings, making it even more challenging to address.

 Relational aggression is a covert set of manipulative behaviors used to hurt

someone through damage to relationships, threats of harm, or both—a non-
physical form of bullying.

 This form of aggression can often go unnoticed because it happens in discrete ways,
such as intentionally tarnishing a person’s reputation or cyberbullying.

 This type of aggression is often seen in social settings such as school or workplace
environments.

IV. Passive aggression

 Passive aggression refers to behavior that is indirectly aggressive, such as ignoring

someone, giving them the silent treatment, or being deliberately uncooperative.
 This type of aggression is often used to express anger or frustration in a non-
confrontational way, but it can also be a sign of underlying resentment or a desire
to avoid conflict.

 Passive-aggressive behavior is defined as behavior that is seemingly innocuous,

accidental, or neutral but that indirectly displays an unconscious aggressive
motive.
  People who are passive-aggressive are indirectly aggressive rather than
being directly aggressive. For instance, passive-aggressive behavior can appear in
the form of resistance to another person's requests by procrastinating, expressing
sullenness, or acting stubbornly.

 Someone who is passive-aggressive often lets others take control while someone
who is aggressive is more confrontational or directly forceful. So, someone who is
passive-aggressive exerts their control over situations in a less direct or
recognizable way.

 A passive-aggressive person might repeatedly make excuses to avoid certain people as

a way of expressing their dislike or anger toward those individuals.

 When someone is passive-aggressive, it can negatively affect their relationships.

Since they don't openly voice their feelings, the people they interact with may not
understand why they're getting the silent treatment or why their requests are being
ignored. This creates confusion about what is going on.

 Additionally, since the person who is being passive-aggressive doesn't open up about
how they are feeling, the underlying anger or frustration is never dealt with. The
situation continues to fester as opposed to resolving the issues and moving forward.

Causes of Passive-Aggressive Behavior

Passive-aggressive behaviors can have negative effects on relationships in families,

romances, and even in the workplace and school. So why is this often destructive behavior
so common? There are a few things that can contribute to passive aggression.

1. Family upbringing: Some researchers theorize that passive-aggressive behavior can

stem from being raised in an environment where the direct expression of emotions was
discouraged or not allowed.2 As a result, people may feel that they cannot express their
real feelings more openly and, instead, find ways to passively channel their anger or
frustration.

2.Mental health status: Research has found a connection between depression and
passive-aggressive behaviors toward oneself.3
It's thought that this is due to a combination of the person's attitude, how they explain
negative situations (their attributional style), and how they respond to distress.
 3.Situational circumstances: The situation may also have an influence on passive-
aggressive behavior. If you are in a place where displays of aggression are not socially
acceptable, such as at a business or family function, you might be more inclined to
respond in a covert way when someone makes you angry.

4.Discomfort with confrontation: Being assertive and emotionally open is not always
easy. When standing up for yourself is difficult or even scary, passive-aggression might
seem like an easier way to deal with your emotions without having to confront the source
of your anger.

Examples-

 Somebody may seem angry, but when you ask them what's bothering them, they say,
"I'm fine" or "nothing is bothering me," when something clearly is.
 Indirectly refuse your request (not tell you no, but also not do what you've asked)
 Procrastinate when you've asked them to do something
 Respond to your requests with sarcasm or subtle digs

V. Hostile Aggression-

 A type of aggression carried out in response to a Perceived threat or insult.

 It is unplanned, reactionary and an impulsive behaviour that is motivated by a
desire to hurt or cause injury to someone.
 Hostile aggression refers to any violent behavior fuelled by emotion (as
opposed to desire to achieve a goal)
 That emotion maybe anger, frustration, annoyance, or just pure hate.
 There’s generally no goal behind the aggressive behavior and if there is, the goal
is to simply harm the victim -- physically, verbally, or socially.This intentional
form of aggression is meant to cause physical or psychological harm
 Examples: includes behaviors like bullying, malicious gossip, and rumor
spreading.

 With hostile aggression, the aggressor generally experiences a loss of control

in that moment, which is what causes them to take the sudden leap from being
in a calm state to being in a hostile state. Aggressors typically have a sense of a
loss of control during outbursts, and characteristically experience physiological
hyperarousal. It’s more reactive in its nature, but the reaction is never justified.

VI. Instrumental aggression-

  Instrumental aggression is an intentional form of aggression which is planned
and used to achieve a specific goal without any intention cause to pain.
 Instrumental aggression is defined as behavior that is deliberate and planned .
Unlike other types of aggression, the behavior is not due to anger or other
emotion but rather a calculated means to an end.
 Instrumental aggression is similar to bullying but with a specific, manipulative
purpose. instrumental aggression always has an underlying motive. Unlike hostile
aggression, the motivation is not simply to express emotions and act on impulse. It
is calculated behavior aimed abat controlling and manipulating the outcome of a
situation.

Types of Instrumental aggression : physical or social.

There are two types of instrumental aggression: physical and social.

Physical aggression refers to behaviors that cause physical harm to someone. This includes
punching, hitting, kicking, shoving, and biting. A schoolyard bully physically assaulting
someone to establish dominance among their peers would be an example of physical
instrumental aggression.

Social aggression refers to acts of relational aggression aimed at a specific social goal. This
can include malicious gossip, double-crossing during a negotiation, or manipulation in the
workplace. For a behavior to be classified as instrumental aggression, it must be aimed at a
specific goal, like taking someone’s place in the social group, gaining popularity or
influence, or ruining someone’s reputation.4

The goal of instrumental aggression is to obtain a preferred outcome or to coerce others and
is founded in the social learning model of aggressive behavior in which aggression is learned
through vicarious reinforcement and maintained because the perpetrator expects that the
behavior will result in a reward.

Instrumental aggression is often associated with traits such as lack of guilt and
empathy and can be either physical or relational.

 Example- A person harming someone’s car to make them late for something.
 A person taking credit for work they did not do in order to get a raise.

Why Do Individuals Engage in Instrumental Aggression?

1. A person may engage in instrumental aggression when they feel that is the easiest way
for them to get what they want. They may lack confidence or doubt their abilities to get
things done on their merit. They may doubt their intelligence, social standing, or abilities
and feel they must resort to aggression to get ahead.

2. Another possible reason for instrumental aggression is childhood trauma. Someone with
a history of childhood trauma likely had needs that their caregivers did not meet. They may
have found other ways to meet their needs, including aggressive tactics to get what they
want. People with childhood trauma often have difficulty trusting others to be there for them
and rely on any means necessary to meet their objectives.

3. Research has shown that aggression has a genetic component. In one study, researchers
found that people are more likely to engage in all types of aggression, including instrumental
aggression, when they have a certain combination of genetics and experience. 5

4. Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning states that people are motivated by

reinforcement or punishment occurring after a behavior. In the case of instrumental
aggression, someone whose aggression is reinforced by getting whatever they set out to get
is more likely to repeat this tactic. In other words, if instrumental aggression works, they
will be more likely to stick with it.

The common causes of aggression to the following:

1. Heredity disposition toward violence ( Genetic factors).Children are at more risk to

develop aggressive tendencies if they have a biological background for it.

Aggression can be transferred genetically. Children are at a higher risk

2. Personality traits and predisposition to developing aggression

3. Neurochemical imbalances and dysfunctional neurotransmitters (like dopamine and

serotonin) triggered by traumatic brain injury, meningitis, alcoholism, etc.

4. Hormonal imbalance: high testosterone can cause aggression and this explains why
males are characteristically more aggressive than females.

5. Environmental factors
Those Living in violent environments (like neighborhoods with gang wars) Learned
behavior from peers or media. . Poor parenting related to abuse and neglect. . Negative or
life-threatening home conditions that mandate aggression for survival.

Circumstances and challenges in your everyday life and environment can also
contribute to aggressive behavior.

Aggression can happen as a natural response to stress, fear, or a sense of losing

control. You might also respond with aggression when you feel frustrated, mistreated,
or unheard — especially if you never learned how to manage your emotions effectively.

You might also be more likely to behave aggressively if your upbringing exposed you to
aggression and violence. This could happen if you:

 had abusive parents and caregivers or siblings who bullied you

 grew up in a neighborhood or community where violence and aggression
happened frequently
 experienced cruel or unfair treatment from teachers and classmates

6. Lack of education on behavioral management Underlying mental health conditions

causing aggression like antisocial personality disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder, borderline personality disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, oppositional
defiant disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, etc.

7. Social learning- Aggression can be learned. Some become more aggressive due to
personal experiences or observational learning. For example, children are always looking
for cues on how to act, as illustrated by the Bobo doll experiment. They learn to act
aggressively when they watch someone else commit violent acts like in movies or video
games.