When a criminal beats up a person in the community for mentioning his name to the police he is demonstrating:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Hostile aggression
Option (1) Instrumental aggression — Incorrect. In instrumental aggression the act is meant to obtain a certain goal or object, as when a bully slaps a new student to snatch her/his chocolate. The criminal gains nothing by the beating.
Option (2) Hostile aggression — Correct. Hostile aggression 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. The criminal beats the person in anger for mentioning his name to the police.
Option (3) Verbal aggression — Incorrect. Verbal aggression is aggression through words, such as name-calling and swearing. Beating up a person is physical, not verbal.
Option (4) Pro-active aggression — Incorrect. Proactive aggression means dominating and bullying others without provocation. The criminal acts because the person gave his name to the police, in reaction to what was done, not without provocation.
Note: The distinction between instrumental aggression and hostile aggression, with hostile aggression as an expression of anger, was there in the chapter ‘Psychology and Life’ of the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023, and is not there in the NCERT book (2025-26). The NCERT book (2025-26) names hostile, verbal and proactive aggression only among the kinds of aggressive behaviour children show.
NCERT (2025-26): “…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.…” |