What Lies Beneath: The Surprising Truth About Aggressive People

An aggressive strike can come out of the blue, when there seems to be little or no incentive or motivation. Sometimes subtle, sometimes not, they can be at their most damaging when expectation of attack isn’t even on the radar.

Researchers have now uncovered what may lie beneath an unexpected aggressive encounter.

Rather than being about inflicting harm, pre-emptive aggressionseems to be a form of self-defence, motivated by the fear of being attacked first. The underlying assumption being that ‘those who strike first don’t get hurt’.


 

The Research. What They Did.

In a study published in The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, researchers devised a game in which participants were faced with a decision:

  1. Press a red button, resulting in the player paying 100 points, the opponent paying 1000 points and losing capacity to press the button; or
  2. Do nothing, with the risk that the opponent will press the red button.

If neither player pressed the button, both players received the highest possible payoff of 1500 points. The only reason for either participant to press the button was to defend against the possibility of the other player pressing the button and costing the player 1000 points.

What They Found

When players considered their opponent as capable of attack, most made a preemptive strike by pressing the red button first. However, when the partner was seen as not having the capability, they did nothing.

There didn’t necessarily need to be any history that would point to an attack being likely, just the belief that the other person was capable of attack.


This defensive type of aggression seems to be different to other forms of aggression as it is done to protect the self, rather than to hurt the other person.

Despite the intention, defensive aggression can produce consequences as serious as those of spiteful aggression.

Aggression feels like aggression and whether or not harm is intended, harm is often what is done.

It’s not always possible to avoid angry people. Similarly, it is not always possible to know what fuels an angry fire. What we do know is that something fuels it – anger is a secondary emotion. There is always another emotion hiding beneath it. Always. The common ones are jealousy, sadness or, as demonstrated by this study, fear or insecurity.

Having this knowledge won’t calm a savage beast, but it can help blanket the temptation to take their aggression personally and let their emotional fallout seep beneath your skin.

Knowing that for some people an aggressive response is a self-preservation one, there is a lot to gain in showing your hand as a safe, unloaded one.

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“Karen Young - Hey Sigmund has such a wonderful way with words especially around anxiety. This is her latest beautiful picture book that explains anxiety through the lens of the Polyvagal theory using the metaphor of a house. This shows how sometimes anxiety can be hard to notice. I think this book can help kids and teens better understand stress and anxiety. I loved it! This would be great for homes, schools and in libraries.
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Of course we love them, no matter what - but they need to feel us loving them, no matter what. Especially when they are acting in unlovable ways, or saying unlovable things. Especially then.

This is not ‘rewarding bad behaviour’. To think this assumes that they want to behave badly. They don’t. What they want is to feel calm and safe again, but in that moment they don’t have the skills to do that themselves, so they need us to help them. 

It’s leading with love. It’s showing up, even when it’s hard. The more connected they feel to us, the more capacity we will have to lead them - back to calm, into better choices, towards claiming their space in the world kindly, respectfully, and with strength. 

This is not about dropping the boundary, but about holding it lovingly, ‘I can see you’re doing it tough right now. I’m right here. No, I won’t let you [name the boundary]. I’m right here. You’re not in trouble. We’ll get through this together.’

If you’re not sure what they need, ask them (when they are calm), ‘When you get upset/ angry/ anxious, what could I do that would help you feel loved and cared for in that moment? And this doesn’t mean saying ‘yes’ to a ‘no’ situation. What can I do to make the no easier to handle? What do I do that makes it harder?’♥️
Believe them AND believe in them. 

‘Yes this is hard. I know how much you don’t want to do this. It feels big doesn’t it. And I know you can do big things, even when it feels like you can’t. How can I help?’

They won’t believe in themselves until we show them what they are capable of. For this, we’ll have to believe in their ‘can’ more than they believe in their ‘can’t’.♥️
Sometimes it feels as though how we feel directs what we do, but it also works the other way: What we do will direct how we feel. 

When we avoid, we feel more anxious, and a bigger need to avoid. But when we do brave - and it only needs to be a teeny brave step - we feel brave. The braver we do, the braver we feel, and the braver we do… This is how we build brave - with tiny, tiny uncertain steps. 

So, tell me how you feel. All feelings are okay to be there. Now tell me what you like to do if your brave felt a little bigger. What tiny step can we take towards that. Because that brave is always in you. Always. And when you take the first step, your brave will rise bigger to meet you.♥️
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#anxietyinkids #consciousparenting #parentingtips #gentleparent #parentinglife #mindfulparenting #childanxiety #heywarrior
If anxiety has had extra big teeth lately, I know how brutal this feels. I really do. Think of it as the invitation to strengthen your young ones against anxiety. It’s not the disappearance of brave, or the retreat of brave. It’s the invitation to build their brave.

This is because the strengthening against anxiety happens only with experience. When the experience is in front of you, it can feel like bloodshed. I know that. I really do. But this is when we fight for them and with them - to show them they can do this.

The need to support their avoidance can feel relentless. But as long as they are safe, we don’t need to hold them back. We’ll want to, and they’ll want us to, but we don’t need to. 

Handling the distress of anxiety IS the work. Anxiety isn’t the disruption to building brave, it’s the invitation to build brave. As their important adult who knows they are capable, strong, and brave, you are the one to help them do that.

The amygdala only learns from experience - for better or worse. So the more they avoid, the more the amygdala learns that the thing they are avoiding is ‘unsafe’, and it will continue to drive a big fight (anger, distress) or flight (avoidance) response. 

On the other hand, when they stay with the discomfort of anxiety - and they only need to stay with it for a little longer each time (tiny steps count as big steps with anxiety) - the amygdala learns that it’s okay to move forward. It’s safe enough.

This learning won’t happen quickly or easily though. In fact, it will probably get worse before it gets better. This is part of the process of strengthening them against anxiety, not a disruption to it. 

As long as they are safe, their anxiety and the discomfort of that anxiety won’t hurt them. 
What’s important making sure they don’t feel alone in their distress. We can do this with validation, which shows our emotional availability. 

They also need to feel us holding the boundary, by not supporting their avoidance. This sends the message that we trust their capacity to handle this.

‘I know this feels big, and I know you can do this. What would feel brave right now?’♥️

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