Aggression
Aggression may be defined as
- The act of initiating hostilities or invasion.
- The practice or habit of launching attacks.
- Hostile or destructive behavior or actions.
Aggression is one of the most important and most controversial kinds of
motivation. Its use as a category in the
psychology of motivation has often been criticised, because it is clear that it encompasses a vast range of phenomena, from modern
war to squabbles between individuals, and it is far from clear that these have anything in common other than the risk that someone gets hurt. There is a constant danger that concepts and explanations that are useful in the study of one kind of aggression will be misapplied in a different field. However, it remains one of the most important topics in many areas of psychology and other
social sciences, including:
Not all aggression is direct or readily identifiable, especially aggression which occurs between girls. Such aggression may occur in the context of what appear to be
friendships. Such Relational aggression may involve
domination, even
sadism as the more powerful friend torments the weaker through threats of exclusion. Indirect aggression involves such actions as spreading
rumors about others, even
lies; as may social aggression which attacks
self esteem or
social status. Together these are charactrized by Rachel Simmons in
Odd Girl Out as alternative aggression.
Further reading
- Rachel Simmons, Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls, Harcourt, 2002, hardcover, 296 pages, ISBN 0151006040
External link