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The link between emotion and aggression: Does anger really make us more aggressive?
Aggressive behavior is oppositional or aggressive behavior toward something or someone. While this behavior is often intended to cause harm, for some, the emotion can also lead to creative and practical outlets. Aggressive behavior in humans can be caused by a variety of triggers, such as when it is driven by accumulated frustration due to unfulfilled goals or feelings of perceived disrespect.
Aggressive behavior is not just physical or verbal threats, it also includes behaviors intended to harm in a variety of social relationships.
According to common definitions from the social and behavioral sciences, aggression is a behavior or reaction intended to inflict something unpleasant on another person. These attacks can be divided into direct and indirect attacks. Direct aggression involves causing physical or verbal harm to others, while indirect aggression is intended to disrupt social relationships among individuals or groups.
Emotional sources of aggression
According to the theory of Dollard et al., aggression stems from frustration, which can be defined as any emotion that prevents the achievement of rewarding goals. This theory was later enhanced by Berkowitz, who proposed that it is not the frustration itself that triggers aggressive behavior, but the resulting negative emotions.
All unpleasant events lead to negative emotions, which trigger aggressive tendencies and fearful tendencies.
These affective aggressive behaviors are usually spontaneous responses to external environmental stimuli. Research shows that aggressive behaviors can be triggered by factors such as pain, novelty, and frustration. This type of behavior tends to escalate in social situations and may exacerbate disputes.
Diversity of attacks
Aggressive behavior can manifest in many forms and may be physical, verbal or non-verbal. This includes defensive aggression, territorial aggression, maternal aggression, and many other forms. Human aggression can also be subdivided into a controlling instrumental (goal-directed) type and a reactive-impulsive type, with the latter often resulting in uncontrolled, inappropriate behavior.
Aggressive behavior is not only motivated by emotions, but is also closely related to the characteristics of the social environment.
Social and cultural influences
Culture and social context also have significant effects on the expression of aggressive behavior. For example, in competitive sports, certain forms of aggression may be viewed as acceptable or even appreciated. In other social settings, it might be condemned.
Research shows that aggressive behavior is associated with a variety of adjustment problems and psychological disorders, such as antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality disorder. The biological perspective sees aggression as an intrinsic drive, while the psychological perspective sees it as a response to frustration, or as the result of social learning.
Reflection on aggressive emotions
When examining aggressive behavior, the connection between anger, fear, and curiosity cannot be ignored. Many scholars have proposed that aggressive behavior can be viewed as a way of trying to reduce the inconsistency between expectations and reality. When the inconsistency is too great, it often leads to adverse emotional reactions, which in turn triggers aggressive behavior.
Such behavior is also widespread in the animal kingdom and meets the needs of survival and reproduction.
An evolutionary perspective on aggressive behavior
From an evolutionary perspective, aggressive behavior may contribute to species survival under certain circumstances and as a strategy for competition between individuals for access to resources and mating opportunities. Research shows that while species persist in aggressive behavior, these behaviors are often resolved through intimidation or posturing.
Gender and aggression
Gender plays an important role in the study of aggressive behavior. Generally speaking, men tend to display higher levels of physical aggression, while women may resort to more indirect aggression. These differences stem in large part from biological sex competition and the influence of social roles.
The latest research shows that gender differences in early childhood will appear around the age of two, and as age increases, this difference will become more obvious. This change may be related to the development of language and social skills.
This may make us wonder, does the triggering of anger really strengthen people's aggressive behavior?
