View article

The concept of reactive aggression has its roots in the frustration-anger theory of aggression. According to this perspective, aggression is a response triggered by goal blocking and is accompanied by high autonomic arousal (ie, anger). Conversely, the concept of proactive aggression is more in line with the social learning model of aggression, which postulates that aggression is an acquired behavior governed by reinforcement contingencies. Proactive aggression can be used as an instrumental means to secure goods from others or to dominate others. Synonyms for proactive aggression are" offensive,"" predatory," and" instrumental" aggression. This chapter asks the question whether reactive and proactive aggression are indeed two distinct types of aggressive behaviors and more closely examines the empirical evidence. Because the main focus of this book is the investigation of the developmental origins of …