Are Humans by Nature Aggressive?

If sexuality was the main issue that has preoccupied psychologists in the early twentieth century, aggression is the primary concern of the XXI century. Aggression has been studied a lot especially in terms of social significance. Most contradictory discussions about human aggression were focused on the innate-acquired main report. Some theories emphasize that aggression is fixed within our genetic code, while others sustain that factors such as education, environment, life experiences leave a mark on our behaviour, sometimes leading to aggression.

Anderson and Bushman describe human aggression as "any behaviour directed toward another individual that is carried out with the proximate (immediate) intent to cause harm. In addition, the perpetrator must believe the behaviour will cause harm and that the target is motivated to avoid the behaviour".

Concerning the origin of human aggression, two main theories were developed: on one side, there is the innate character of aggression, under the form of insinctive aggression, and on the other side, aggressive behavior is believed to be acquired through social determination.For the innate trait of aggression pleaded both ethologists and psychoanalysts and the reply to their statements came from the behaviourists.

The innate theories of aggression were supported by diverse arguments, biological, ethological and psychoanalytical concepts and among the promoters are McDougall, Lorenz, Freud, Brown, Conner.

Ethology or behavioral biology, is the science that studies the behavior of creatures, related to the habits and customs, the relations between species and the response to environmental stimuli. Through studies done over time, ethologists have sought to better understand the innate part o...

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...al differences between the two genres, by stimulating electrically certain parts of the cortex an individual is bound to engage in an aggressive behavior more easily, high levels of alcohol or low levels of blood sugar increase aggression.

In conclusion, although Sigmund Freud and Konrad Lorentz share the belief that aggression is, by nature, within us all, in Freud’s theory aggression appears to be primarily distructive, while Lorentz stands by the idea that aggressive behavior is essential for our survival.Although the innate theory is easy to imagine, I believe it is also false, because all of the studies conducted until now show clear evidence of external stimulation that leads to aggression (imitation-The “Bodo doll” experiment-, frustration –Dollard’s theory-, social learning –Berkowitz’s studies- ), but none shows proof of an internal origin of this behavior.