ABSTRACT
This chapter explores empirical evidence addressing the origins of individual differences in aggressive behavior. It examines developmental approaches looking at the emergence of aggressive behaviour in a child's repertoire of social behaviour. The chapter describes characteristic pathways of aggression from childhood to adolescence along with factors that discriminate between those different pathways. It reviews evidence on the relationship between stable personality traits and individual differences in aggression in adulthood. An important change in the pattern of aggressive behaviour from childhood to adolescence is that aggression and violence tend to become more socially organised. The chapter looks at differences in aggressive behaviour as a function of a particular individual characteristic, that is, gender. It explains whether there are differences in aggressive behaviour between men and women. The fact that high stability coefficients were found for aggressive behaviour from childhood into adolescence and early adulthood should not lead investigators to overlook the variability in aggressive behaviour between individuals.
