A Test for The Validity of the Axiom of Consummation and a Model for Interpersonal Hostility

Axiom C₂ of the behavioral constitution states that an adopted structure will be consummated. Violating an axiom of the behavioral constitution breaks a norm if the axiom is indeed valid. A control experiment where the Axiom of Consummation has not been violated uses exactly the same message sequences. This chapter presents empirical investigation of the validity of the Axiom of Consummation. The actions of the confederates that prevented consummation violated the behavioral constitution. The trigger event in the experiment is created by intervening after adoption to prevent consummation. Conflict, frustration, fear, hostility, anger, instrumental and noninstrumental aggression, and violence are interrelated concepts that have been subjects for numerous scientific, philosophical, and rhetorical discussions. One of these concepts, hostility, is usually viewed as a special type of attitude mediating between stimuli and overt behavior. Conceptualizations of hostility tend to be imprecise.