Characterizing Aggressive Behavior

TLDR

Aggressive behavior is traditionally classified as impulsive, a rapid loss of control response to provocation, or premeditated, a planned, conscious act. The study developed the Impulsive/Premeditated Aggression Scales (IPAS) to classify individuals’ aggression as predominantly impulsive or premeditated. The IPAS was created as a clinically useful self‑report questionnaire to assess the predominance of impulsive versus premeditated aggression. The IPAS demonstrated strong reliability and validity, identified both impulsive and premeditated aggression in men with anger problems, and found that 90 % exhibited predominantly impulsive aggression.

Abstract

In the research literature, aggressive behavior has traditionally been classified into two distinct subtypes, impulsive or premeditated. Impulsive aggression is defined as a hair-trigger aggressive response to provocation with loss of behavioral control. Premeditated aggression is defined as a planned or conscious aggressive act, not spontaneous or related to an agitated state. The present study outlines the development of a clinically useful self-report instrument, the Impulsive/Premeditated Aggression Scales (IPAS), designed to characterize aggressive behavior as predominately impulsive or predominately premeditated in nature. The IPAS showed strong reliability and validity. Analysis of the IPAS scores demonstrated the presence of two types of aggressive behavior, impulsive and premeditated, in men referred for anger problems. The aggression of most individuals in the present sample was characterized as predominately impulsive in nature (90%).