AGGRESSION: ARE MEN MORE AGGRESSIVE THAN WOMEN?

Aggression is a very dangerous part of our social behavior.  As we can go back in time, the recorded history also says that aggression is an intentional effort by a person to harm others. An aggressive person’s actions, words and violent behavior are enough to destroy a relationship and tear down their social life.

Intentionally causing harm to an individual for even simple argument or any event that exceeds to hurt a person’s ego and self-respect is an action caused due to aggression.

We often say that people are aggressive when they yell at someone, just out of frustration and anger. Some scenarios like when a speeding car goes by breaking the traffic rules, getting crushed in a crowded train by the mob and many other situations where you are in a spot of getting irritated and your privacy is invaded can give rise to aggression. These situations can give a rise to verbal or physical aggression. If a person got into a fight while playing any sport or intended to cause harm by causing the person injury then it is said as physical aggression. Whereas having an heated argument can be an example for verbal aggression.

Social psychologists says that aggression is something that involves perception of intent, violence, extreme physical harm sometimes leading to the death of the victim.  Aggression can lie between emotional and impulsive where emotional aggression is the condition in which there is a rush of extreme negative emotions and impulsive aggression is the spontaneous reaction towards someone.

SOURCES OF AGGRESSION

Aggression is usually the response to something in our social world. It is a repulsive action that takes place when something is said or done by someone to make us angry, annoyed and frustrated.

• INCITEMENT: This is when you are provoked by someone to react aggressively. One of the strongest causes for aggression is incitement. It is often said that if we are been provoked by someone, then we should just ignore the stuffs and turn our back. Well, this phrase is hard to imply as our mind is not always in control, when we are in an aggressive state. People feel that lashing out is the easiest way to show their anger but little that they know that this can turn into an aggressive behavior that can be unfair, sarcastic and involves physical assault. A very common example of incitement as a source of aggression is teasing and bullying. This usually happens among teenagers when a nerd student is been provoked by other students on basis of popularity, academic or appearance. The humiliation faced by the nerd can incite aggression and they could indulge into a physical fight causing each other intentional harm.
• FRUSTRATION: The known and the main source for aggression. It is the feeling of being annoyed and irritated where even the simplest thing can make one angry. Frustration usually occurs when someone is not able to achieve their goal. A frustrated person unnecessarily removes their anger on someone who is innocent and not a part of the situation. Like for example if a person loses his job, and is frustrated with the thought of earning money and finding a new job, he/she eventually ends up removing their frustration on their family.

Frustration as a cause is explained from the ‘Frustration-aggression hypothesis.’ The hypothesis involves two assertions-

• Extreme Frustration can lead to aggression.

• Aggression can be a stem to frustration.

The human tendency to bare something is Minimum. If a person faces deep sorrowful sadness, despair and depression, then they may have frustration within themselves which can turn into aggression at any point of time. Frustration is not an automatic response for aggression but it is clear that frustration can lead to aggression.

WHY SOME PEOPLE ARE MORE AGGRESSIVE THAN OTHERS
?

The capacity of aggression is different for every individual. Some are very aggressive in nature and some are tolerant to the state of aggression. Why this happens? Well, there are several reason behind the aggressive behavior, which may include:

• Hormonal imbalance:  Some people are very aggressive and violent in nature due to the hormonal imbalance in their body. For example-  as the hormone testosterone increases the level of aggression also increase  this can be reason for men being more aggressive than women.

• Temperament: A person mood and behavior has a major effect on their aggression. If he/she is a moody person, then it is possible that they are more aggressive than a person who is not moody and calm.

• Genetics: Many cases had been observed by social psychologist where it is proved that aggression can be in genes. It is genetically passed down. Children are at a high risk of adapting an aggressive behavior if their parents are aggressive.

• Psychological illness: Extreme stress or depression can be a reason why some people are more aggressive than other. People going through stress and depression are always worried and frustrated which can bring in an aggressive behavior.

• Lifestyle and learning: It is the human tendency to learn and adapt certain things from each other, this includes behavior as well. Philosophy says that human adapt the negative behavior faster than a positive behavior, so it is easy to adapt an aggressive behavior. If you are living a pleasurable lifestyle it is very obvious that you don’t face a lot of social crisis and frustration, so you are less aggressive than a person with problem in their life.

• Toxic intakes:  When a person is drunk, they tend to be more aggressive. The combination of alcohol and aggression can be very dangerous. People under alcohol or drugs are usually responsible for fight as their body and mind are not in their control, which makes them respond quickly and aggressively to even small accident or mishap.

ARE MEN MORE AGGRESSIVE THAN WOMEN? 

Gender is the key aspect for aggression. An individual’s gender has a huge proportion in the tendency of aggression. Statistically is it proved that men or males are more aggressive than females (Boys exhibit both verbal as well as physical aggressive behavior than girls). Men are generally assumed to be more prone to commit a crime than women but that does not mean that women cannot attempt a crime.

Gender differences in aggression is a very complex scenario where men are more likely to cause pain and physical injury whereas women show their aggression in a more verbal way. This happens maybe because man has more intensity an short-temperedness than women. Another important reason of men being more aggressive than women are hormone which plays an important part in aggression. A basic example to prove men are more aggressive than women is stated by social psychologists that all the mass shooting are attempted by men and not women because they are more aggressive than women.

CONCLUSION

Aggression is not something that is inevitable, the tendency can be reduced by prevention and control. As aggression involves our behavior, it can be reduced using several behavioral techniques . Here are few tips to reduce aggressive:

• Non aggressive thought: To keep our mind away from things that makes us angry and provoke us to act aggressively.

• Avoid negative conversations.

• Don’t make judgement and go onto conclusion without knowing the entire situation.

• Talk to someone trust worthy, if you are in an aggressive mood. Taking is the best method to change mood.

• Be encouraging

• If you are frustrated try to reduce your frustrations by diverting your mind and doing some activities that you love.

• Try not to indulge in any physical fights.

• If you have an extreme case of aggression, consult a therapist for your well-being.

We can summarize aggression  as an intentional harm to a person physically as well as verbally which is an uncontrollable behavior and can cause tremendous harm to our social life. So aggression must be controlled or the tendency should be reduced so that it won’t affect your relationship and reputation among the society.