The Biology of Aggression – Simple Explained Facts In any incident , t here is always one person who is aggressive and anot her who is a pot ent ial vict im. T here t hen f ollows some int eract ion bet ween t he t wo, af t er which, as a result of t he int eract ion, t here is an in out come. T he qualit y of t he out come depends on how t he int eract ion t akes place and of t en on how t he pot ent ial vict im manages t he int eract ion. When aggression is direct ed at us we have an age-old choice bet ween t wo opt ions: ‘Fight or Flight’. But t here is also a t hird opt ion – we can choose t o t ry t o cont rol or manage t he int eract ion. If t hat doesn’t work we can st ill ret urn t o t he ‘f light’ opt ion, t hough in t he vast majorit y of sit uat ions, managing t he int eract ion well will def use t he aggression and result in a non-violent out come.
T h e ‘f ight or f light’ react ion t o a sit uat ion was developed during t he evolut ion of t he human race (and t he animal kingdom) as a way of making us react very quickly t o danger, so t ending t o keep us saf e. T his primit ive react ion causes adrenaline and ot her chemicals t o inst ant ly ent er t he bloodst ream and prepare us t o f ight or t o run. However, we learn t hroughout our lives t hat some sit uat ions we t hought were dangerous are not so and t he rapid react ion is not necessary. T his abilit y t o assess what is happening can allow us t o override t he ‘f ight or f light’ react ion and choose dif f erent alt ernat ives. So we might perhaps reason wit h someone, remain in t he sit uat ion t o help ot hers or remain in t he sit uat ion so as not t o lose f ace. Percept ions of event s and people also af f ect how we deal wit h event s in our lives. We look at what we see and make judgment s based on such t hings as
t he sit uat ion, people’s body language, t one of voice and how someone is dressed. T he judgment is also af f ect ed by what we have learned during our lives. Issues such as how t olerant we are, our way of st ereot yping ot hers, how we perceive someone’s int ent ions, cult ural and racial dif f erences, and even whet her we bear a grudge, can all make a dif f erence t o how we end up f eeling during t he int eract ion. Emot ions such as f ear, dist ress, and annoyance, sense of f ailure or injured pride will t hen af f ect how we react in any sit uat ion. Generally, people become aggressive or violent because t hey are unable t o get somet hing t hey want , or some wish or desire is blocked. T hat causes f rust rat ion which leads t o aggressive f eelings. T here is t hen some f orm of t rigger which t ips t he aggressive f eelings over int o act ual aggression in t he f orm of t hreat s, abuse or violence. T he movement f rom a blocked desire t o f rust rat ion is likely t o be made worse by ment al illness, excess alcohol or if t he
person is in pain. Aggression may t ake t he f orm of : Shout ing and swearing Abuse, including sexual and racial T hreat s Menacing looks T hreat ening or abusive gest ures
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