ABSTRACT
It is clear from everyday observation that people differ in predictable ways in their tendency to show aggressive behaviour. Some go ballistic at the slightest provocation, others are almost impossible to fall out with, and there is a broad spectrum in between. In this chapter we shall take a closer look at the development of individual differences in aggression and relate them to other psychological characteristics. The ¿ rst section takes a necessarily selective look at the wide developmental literature on aggression, focusing on the role of social experience in shaping an aggressive personality from early childhood onwards. This will be followed by a review of the evidence on personality variables associated with aggressive behaviour that can help to clarify some of the processes underlying differences in dispositional aggression. Finally, gender will be examined as an individual difference variable to put the common-sense notion that men are more aggressive than women to the test of systematic empirical investigation.
