Aggression

Aggression is a large and very real problem that affects all members of society. Obviously, aggression works some of the time. For example, if a parents yells and threatens to punish the child, the child is more likely to behave; if a sibling gets the reputation of hitting the hardest, the weaker sibling will most likely become submissive to the aggressor; if a teacher gives the hardest tests and threatens to flunk students, sometimes their …

…provides us with harmful expectations, self-fulfilling prophesies, and with excuses for being aggressive. The good news is that the evidence shows that humans can in the right circumstances and with appropriate training be kinder to one another. The bad news is that thus far, we seem to be loosing the battle against violence. We are all exposed to a myriad of responses to frustration, but in many ways, the message again is aggression gets results.