Anger and aggression

The common stereotype that regards anger and aggression as closely related is questioned. First, theoretical assumptions regarding the relationship between anger and aggression are-reviewed. According-to theorectial assumptions aggressive behavior can not only be instigated by anger, but by other emotions as well. Whether emotional arousal leads to aggressive behavior, thus a further complexity, crucially depends learned mechanisms of how to regulate emotions. In the second part of the article research on the regulation of anger is summarized. Results show that in reacting to anger non-aggressive responses are very common besides verbal aggressive behavior Finally, the social construction of how to appropriately regulate anger is discussed in order to account for the assumingly great influence that collective constructions and normative beliefs exert on individual behavior.