Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 25, 2026

The Resident-intruder Paradigm: A Standardized Test for Aggression, Violence and Social Stress
Published on: July 4, 2013
Characterizing aggressive behavior
Matthew S Stanford1, Rebecca J Houston, Charles W Mathias
1Department of Psychology, University of New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, USA. mstanfor@uno.edu
Abstract:
In the research literature, aggressive behavior has traditionally been classified into two distinct subtypes, impulsive or premeditated. Impulsive aggression is defined as a hair-trigger aggressive response to provocation with loss of behavioral control. Premeditated aggression is defined as a planned or conscious aggressive act, not spontaneous or related to an agitated state. The present study outlines the development of a clinically useful self-report instrument, the Impulsive/Premeditated Aggression Scales (IPAS), designed to characterize aggressive behavior as predominately impulsive or predominately premeditated in nature. The IPAS showed strong reliability and validity. Analysis of the IPASscores demonstrated thepresence of two types of aggressive behavior, impulsive and premeditated, in men referred for anger problems. The aggression of most individuals in the present sample was characterized as predominately impulsive in nature (90%).
Related Concept Videos
Aggression
Secondary Motives: Affiliation Motivation and Aggression Motivation
Conduct Disorder
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Behavioral Characteristics and...
Bullying
Attribution Theory

