Every person at least once in his life has faced emotional outbursts that are not always controllable. Whether it is a defensive reaction to irritating factors, or, conversely, an action aimed at achieving a goal. Does this manifestation come from another person, or is the source of this explosion yourself? The most important thing is that this is the same natural process as heart palpitations when experiencing exciting moments. After all, this is what distinguishes people from machines – the ability to experience emotions and feelings.
They are difficult to describe, and each person feels them differently. There is a popular opinion that joy, anger and fear are the three main emotions. The rest are only derivatives or components of the fundamental emotional manifestations. Let’s say a person feels guilty. But initially he is afraid, afraid of punishment. Rage is one of the manifestations of anger. And when a person grieves, fear and anger are intertwined in his soul.
Table of Contents
What is aggression?
In a broad sense, it is a form of behavior that can be expressed in the form of harmless jokes and hints, and can manifest itself in the form of physical or extreme moral influence. The only thing that unites all these manifestations is a common goal. It consists in suppressing a person’s personality, both morally and physically, or simply in causing harm of varying severity. This should not include harm that was caused by negligence, without intent, since in this case a person is aware of some possible negative consequences of his or her own and others’ actions.
For example, getting behind the wheel of a car, a person understands that he is driving a high–risk vehicle and may commit a traffic accident in which people may suffer. Or during dental treatment, medical intervention will cause pain in any case. But this pain will not be the result of a negative emotional manifestation on the part of the doctor. Thus, aggression is a form of behavior expressed in physical or verbal form, the purpose of which is to harm someone.
In modern theories, there are 7 main factors that can excite aggressive behavior in a person:
PAIN.
Strange as it may sound, but scientists in their studies of pain have come to the conclusion that it has a direct relationship with emotional outbursts. Moreover, this process can be completely uncontrolled. Remember your reaction when, walking through the dark basement of your house, you accidentally hit your head against a pipe or another object. Almost simultaneously with acute pain, most people have a desire to hit (and maybe break) the source that caused the pain.
In some cases, the manifestation of aggression can end only when a person is convinced that he has destroyed the hated thing. Similar reactions can also cause aching pains (head, muscles). Scientists have repeatedly tested this theory on animals. Their reaction to stimuli is not always intelligible, and the responses are primitive in nature. When receiving a small electric discharge, the animal simply attacked what was nearby, as if considering this object a source of negative impact.
ELEVATED TEMPERATURE.
Here, the researchers also did their best. It seems that there is nothing special about increasing the ambient temperature by a couple of degrees. But let’s think about what a person can experience at the same time. The normal human body temperature is 36.6 * C. Remember your feelings when, having fallen ill, your temperature rises to 39 * C. Aches, weakness, accompanied by fever and chills, I don’t want to do anything (and it’s impossible). And this is only more than the normal value by 3 degrees. Now imagine that someone has increased the temperature of the room in which you are. There will be some discomfort.
At the same time, any irritating factor can serve as a detonator for an emotional explosion. This hypothesis was proved by researchers by increasing the temperature in the room where students filled out questionnaires, bringing its value above average. Their behavior was different from those who performed the same actions in more comfortable conditions. People in a hot room got tired faster, became irritable, reacted sharply to other people. And all this was expressed not only by raising the voice, but also by aggressive attacks with physical impact.
ATTACKING BEHAVIOR.
It has long been known that all people are different. Their reactions and ways of achieving their goals are also different from each other. For one, the means to achieve his goal is calm communication and persuasion. But for another, it is easier to morally suppress a person and take supposedly his own. This is the exciting factor for the manifestation of aggression. Some people will want to respond to the aggressor with his own manners, or simply protect themselves from negative consequences.
LIMITED SPACE, TIGHTNESS.
In conditions of a large number of people, not everyone will feel at ease. Most simply can’t stand being pushed, even if not on purpose. Therefore, with every contact with another person, the brain automatically accuses him of clumsiness, inattention and other deadly sins. And if this happens in combination with other irritating factors (slow public transport, long waiting for your turn to see a doctor), then any awkward movement can serve as an irritating factor and trigger aggression.
EMOTIONAL OUTBURST.
In simple words – excitement. Sports, anticipation of a successful outcome, and more. All this is able to excite a person’s feelings and inject a certain dose of adrenaline. Negative environmental factors can turn a seemingly harmless feeling of euphoria into an outburst of aggression. The fact is that when aroused, all the functions of the body work a little differently, feelings become aggravated.
That is, along with the fact that the usual pleasant news can cause in this case an unprecedented storm of positive emotions, negative events instead of the usual sadness and sadness will generate aggression.
THE PRINCIPLE OF A CROWD OR A SUBGROUP.
In this case, it should be understood that it is possible to provoke the aggression of a group of people spontaneously or purposefully. For example, at a football match, a group of fans allows themselves too much, and the guards are forced to intervene. At the moment when it seemed to someone that conversations lead to nothing, this someone begins to prove his case by physical methods. Looking at him, the other participants in the conflict, who may not have thought about using force before, also begin to show aggression. And they don’t always think about why.
Another example is planned rallies and strikes, which have their own ideological leader. He, in turn, manages the entire process. To activate aggressive manifestations, it is enough to simply shout out the necessary phrases with the appropriate emotional background, or perform certain actions. Then the crowd will pick up aggressive notes in the behavior of its leader and almost everyone, without thinking about the consequences, will make a negative contribution to achieving the goal.
Aggression has become a common thing nowadays. Social factors, the environment become the causative agents of aggressive behavior of people. There are a lot of videos on the Internet that insignificant things lead to uncontrolled reactions and irreparable consequences. In any case, it is necessary to control your emotions, to keep in check any manifestation of aggression towards other people. Because they can do the same to you, even for a nice joke.