Research has consistently demonstrated a link between certain personality disorders (PDs) and increased rates of aggression and violence. At present, understanding of the mechanisms that underlie this relationship is limited. This study was designed to examine the contention (Gilbert & Daffern, 2011) that the application of a contemporary psychological aggression theory, the General Aggression ...

The purpose of the current study is to examine the association between self-esteem and the forms and functions of aggression. Research supports the existence of four aggressive subtypes (i.e., reactive overt, reactive relational, proactive overt, and proactive relational), and past research has found associations between aggression and self-esteem. However, past studies have not examined the re...

What determines whether people tolerate partner aggression? This research examined how norms, relationship experiences, and commitment predict personal standards for judging aggressive acts by a partner. Studies 1a and 1b (n = 689) revealed that experiencing aggression in a current relationship and greater commitment predicted greater tolerance for common partner aggression. Study 2 longitudina...

Psychologists have often categorized human aggression as hostile or instrumental. Hostile aggression is "hot," impulsive behavior that is motivated by a desire to hurt someone; instrumental aggression is "cold," premeditated behavior used as a means to some other end. This dichotomy was useful to the early development of aggression theories and continues to capture important features of nonhuma...

Research has shown that ostracism results in aggressive behavior towards the ostracising other, but also causes displaced aggression-aggression directed towards an innocent person. Our study investigated whether displaced aggressive responses to ostracism were increased by three types of aggression proneness (readiness for aggression) based on different mechanisms: emotional-impulsive, habitual...

Investigating different types of aggression is important to facilitate a better understanding of excessive maladaptive aggression in referred youth. Using regression analysis, the authors investigated demographic, historical, diagnostic, and treatment correlates of proactive aggression and reactive aggression in a heterogeneous population (N = 323) of psychiatrically referred youths. Ratings of...

There is much neurological and cognitive research contributing to explanations of physically aggressive behavior. The brain’s activity and functioning are significant in the determination of reasons for this form of aggressive behavior. Relational aggression is another form of aggression, however, and most research in this area focuses on the social or peer relationship side of relational aggre...

A new questionnaire on aggression was constructed. Replicated factor analyses yielded 4 scales: Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Anger, and Hostility. Correlational analysis revealed that anger is the bridge between both physical and verbal aggression and hostility. The scales showed internal consistency and stability over time. Men scored slightly higher on Verbal Agression and Hostilit...

This current study analyzes the content of popular pornographic videos, with the objectives of updating depictions of aggression, degradation, and sexual practices and comparing the study’s results to previous content analysis studies. Findings indicate high levels of aggression in pornography in both verbal and physical forms. Of the 304 scenes analyzed, 88.2% contained physical aggression, pr...