ABSTRACT
Everybody knows and uses the word “aggression.” Entering it as a search term into Google returns about 50 million entries. It derives from the Latin verb “aggredi”, which means “to approach” or “to go to,” and has found its way from Latin into a wide range of different languages. But what exactly do we mean when we talk about aggression? Is aggression always a bad thing or can it also be good? Should people refrain from it altogether or is there something like a “healthy” level of aggression that enables people to stand up for themselves in different domains of life? How can we explain why people engage in aggressive behaviour and why some individuals seem to be more aggressive than others? Why is it that a person may be calm and composed in one situation but À y off the handle in another?
