Identifying the Aggressive Personality

• NCJ Number: 209778
• Journal: Journal of Emotional Abuse Volume: 4 Issue: 3/4 Dated: 2004 Pages: 81-93
• Author(s): Shawn M. Bergman; Michael D. McIntyre; Lawrence R. James
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Special issue on Aggression in Organizations: Violence, Abuse, and Harassment at Work and in Schools.

Annotation

This article explores the reasoning processes used by aggressive individuals to rationalize hostile behaviors and discusses various types of workplace aggression.

Abstract

Both employers and employees face the problem of workplace aggression, including workplace violence. Acts of workplace aggression cost companies and organizations billions of dollars annually, as well as placing a tremendous toll on the emotional and physical health of employees. Aggression in the workplace refers to aggression committed by anyone in a place of work. In order to address the problem of workplace aggression and reduce the incidence of aggression-prone individuals, organizations need to identify aggressive individuals. This paper presents a new, indirect personality instrument that offers an alternative to self-report tests for identifying aggression-prone individuals, the Conditional Reasoning Test of Aggression. Researchers are encouraged to develop alternative methods to self-report tests as a way of improving the identification of aggression-prone individuals. The paper begins by discussing the personality traits of aggression and various forms of aggressive behavior in the workplace. References