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Aggressive behavior in children is due to genetics
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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One study was conducted at one of the universities of Moreal and Sainte-Justine Hospital in Canada, aimed at studying aggression in young children. Aggression is usually understood as an active form of anger. An aggressive child shows a quick reaction to an "irritant", this can manifest itself in causing physical or other damage to a person or object that acts as an "irritant".
Scientists suggest that physical aggression in young children is largely due to genetic predispositions, rather than being the result of social environment, as was previously believed. Over the past couple of decades, the main theory in research on childhood aggression has been that aggressive behavior in childhood developed over time under the influence of aggressive examples (in the child's social environment or through the media). In addition, experts have determined that aggression begins to form in infancy, reaching its peak between 2 and 4 years of age. But many children outgrow this difficult period and gradually begin to control and muffle aggression towards others.
The new research project (the results of which were published in the journal Psychological Medicine) involved more than 600 pairs of twins (identical and fraternal). The children's parents were asked to rate their aggression levels (biting, fighting, hitting, etc.) at the ages of 1.8, 2.8, and 4.2 years. The researchers then compared the children's environmental behavior with the twins' genetic indicators.
As one of the researchers at the University of Montreal, Eric Lacorse, assures, genetic predispositions have always been able to explain most of the personal differences in aggressive behavior. However, this does not mean that early manifestations of aggression cannot be influenced. Genetic factors are always interconnected with other environmental factors, thus explaining any human behavior.
As a result, the conducted study confirmed the fact that the peak of aggressive behavior in children occurs at an early age, but the frequency of angry outbursts and the level of aggression, as it turned out, were influenced not only by genetic, but also by external factors. According to researchers, genes that contribute to aggressive behavior towards others are 50% to blame. However, this does not mean that nothing can be done about the genetic predisposition to aggression. According to the researchers themselves, genetic factors are always in close interaction with other environmental factors that can influence the child's behavior to a greater or lesser extent, so aggressive displays of emotion can partially or completely disappear over time. With age, most children (as well as teenagers and adults) begin to control their aggressive outbursts and learn to use alternative, more peaceful ways of resolving conflicts.
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