The act of aggression meant to obtain a certain goal or object is called:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Instrumental Aggression
Option (1) Instrumental Aggression — Correct. In instrumental aggression the act of aggression is meant to obtain a certain goal or object, as when a bully slaps a new student so that he can snatch the newcomer’s chocolate.
Option (2) Hostile Aggression — Incorrect. Hostile aggression is an expression of anger towards the target, meant to harm her/him, even when the aggressor wants to obtain nothing from the victim; for example, a criminal beats up a person for mentioning his name to the police.
Option (3) Pro active Aggression — Incorrect. Proactive aggression means dominating and bullying others without provocation. The question defines aggression by its purpose of getting something, which is the instrumental kind.
Option (4) Verbal Aggression — Incorrect. Verbal aggression is aggression through words, such as name-calling and swearing. It names the form of the act, not its goal.
Note: Instrumental aggression, in the chapter ‘Psychology and Life’, was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023, and is not there in the NCERT book (2025-26). Hence this question has been picked from the pre-rationalised NCERT.
NCERT (2025-26): “Disruptive, Impulse-Control and Conduct Disorders … The behaviours typical of conduct disorder include aggressive actions that cause or threaten harm to people or animals, nonaggressive conduct that causes property damage, major deceitfulness or theft, and serious rule violations. Children show many different types of aggressive behaviour, such as verbal aggression (i.e. name-calling, swearing), physical aggression (i.e. hitting, fighting), hostile aggression (i.e. directed at inflicting injury to others), and proactive aggression (i.e. dominating and bullying others without provocation).” NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “Aggression, Violence and Peace … A distinction is also made between instrumental aggression and hostile aggression. In instrumental aggression, the act of aggression is meant to obtain a certain goal or object. For example, a bully slaps a new student in school so that s/he can snatch the newcomer’s chocolate. Hostile aggression is that which is shown as an expression of anger towards the target, with the intention of harming her/ him, even if the aggressor does not wish to obtain anything from the victim. For example, a criminal may beat up a person in the community for mentioning his name to the police.…” |