‘Is aggression down to nature or nurture’ discuss both sides of this argument.
There is strong evidence to suggest that aggression is an emotion which many people experience on a daily basis. This leads to great debate concerning whether aggression is stimulated by nature or nurture. Aggression is defined by the oxford dictionary as ‘the act of initiating hostilities or invasion’. Aggression can also be defined as behavior directed towards another living being with the intent of harming or injuring them in some way, and can be defined as either Hostile Aggression or Instrumental Aggression. The difference being that Hostile Aggression is aggressive behavior which its main focus is, on causing or bringing harm to someone. For example, a parent yelling at a child to make them feel bad. It is usually driven by arousal, impulsivity, and immediate to situational provocation. It may be closer to the kinds of aggression identified by instinct theories. It includes irritable aggression. While Instrumental aggression is a learned response, and aggression is used, for achieving certain goals, for example a parent yelling at a child to prevent them running in the road and been hit by a car. Many psychologists believe that aggression is down to nature wholesomely; however there are also many who believe that aggression is due to the nurture and the home bringing of the individual. Consequently, it is necessary to consider a variety of perspectives that explore both sides of this argument.
Psychologists are more prone to support the nature debate because it deals with the genetic make-up of a person. A person’s physical traits, such as eye colour and blood type are genetically determined; also personality is proven to be heritable to an extent. Studies have proven that biological siblings are more similar in personality than adoptive siblings. In addition, a person’s genes can determine whether a person is predisposed to a disease or illness, such