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Threatened Egotism Theory of Aggression

Definition

The threatened egotism theory of aggression states that violence is related to a highly favorable view of the self, combined with an ego threat. This theory does not suggest that high self-esteem necessarily causes violence or that there is any direct relationship between self-esteem and violence. Furthermore, although there is evidence that most violent criminals, bullies, and terrorists tend to think highly of themselves, most people who think highly of themselves are not violent. An accurate characterization of the theory is that violence is perpetrated by a subset of people who exhibit an unstable and overly inflated high self-esteem. They respond with hostile aggression to what they perceive as challenges to these selfviews to express the self's rejection of ego-threatening feedback.

Context and Importance

This theory runs ...

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