AGGRESSION, CATEGORIES, NATURE OF AGGRESSION
WHAT IS AGGRESSION? In psychology, as well as other social and behavioral sciences, aggression (also called combativeness) refers to behavior between members of the same species that is intended to cause pain or harm. Aggression takes a variety of forms among human beings, and it can be physical, mental, or verbal. Aggression should not be confused with assertiveness. CATEGORIES There are two broad categories of aggression. These include hostile, affective, or retaliatory aggression and instrumental, predatory, or goal-oriented aggression. Empirical research indicates that there is a critical difference between the two, both psychologically and physiologically. Some research indicates that people with tendencies toward "affective" aggression, defined in this study as being "impulsive, unplanned, overt, or uncontrolled" have lower IQs than those with tendencies toward "predatory" aggression, defined here as being "goal-oriented, planned, hidden, or c...