Autism spectrum disorders

Decoding aggressive behavior in autistic children

A number of news media reports have detailed physical or even sexual assaults by children with autism or intellectual disabilities. In some cases, the victims have suffered serious head injuries.

Obstetrics & gynaecology

Hormone found to regulate mothers' behavior

University of Otago researchers have discovered a new function for the hormone prolactin—it limits a new mom's investment in aggressive behavior and instead focuses them on interacting with their babies.

Psychology & Psychiatry

Laughter isn't always the best medicine for work stress

Humor helps us deal with the stress of juggling work and family commitments, but only when we seek it out, according to a new study led by The Australian National University (ANU).

Psychology & Psychiatry

Childhood empathy important predictor of aggression

Young children who are less empathetic than their peers are more likely to be aggressive when older. This is what Malou Noten concludes in her dissertation. Ph.D. defense on 25 November.

Psychology & Psychiatry

Can you unintentionally bully someone? Here's the science

I was nine. Some girl, maybe around 15 or 16, old enough to tower over me, asked whether Bill Beattie was my brother. I nodded. Without saying another word she grabbed me by my hair and started to drag me across the street—pulling ...

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Aggression

In psychology, as well as other social and behavioral sciences, aggression refers to behavior between members of the same species that is intended to cause pain or harm. Predatory or defensive behavior between members of different species is not normally considered "aggression." Aggression takes a variety of forms among humans and can be physical, mental, or verbal. Aggression should not be confused with assertiveness, although the terms are often used interchangeably among laypeople, e.g. an aggressive salesperson.

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 have lower IQs than those with tendencies toward predatory aggression. If only considering physical aggression, males tend to be more aggressive than females. One explanation for this difference is that females are physically weaker than men, and so need to resort to other means.

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