Taming the Impulsive Beast: Understanding the Link Between Self-Regulation and Aggression

Why do not people behave aggressively? Most people experience aggressive urges, but they restrain their wish to lash out. Self-regulation helps make this possible. This chapter discusses two approaches to understanding the relationship between self-regulation and aggression. Using the strength model of self-regulation as a starting point, we review evidence that self-regulatory fatigue increases aggression. One reason why mental fatigue increases aggression is that it impairs inhibition when people experience an aggressive urge. A second approach suggests that aggressive impulses can motivate people to behave aggressively as a way to regulate their emotions. We then outline a balance model in which mental fatigue motivates aggression by both impairing self-regulatory restraint and magnifying aggressive impulses. We conclude by suggesting how these two approaches to self-regulation can inform interventions to reduce aggression.