Which type of aggression is described as goal-directed behavior to achieve an outcome, possibly harming others?

• A. Hostile aggression
• B. Instrumental aggression
• C. Reactive aggression
• D. Aggressive behavior

Answer: (B)

Instrumental aggression involves pursuing a specific goal and using aggression as a tool to reach that outcome. The harm to others is a means to achieve something—money, status, control, or another payoff—so the behavior is planned or calculated rather than purely driven by emotion.

This differs from hostile aggression, which is driven by anger with the aim of hurting the other person for its own sake, and from reactive aggression, which is an impulsive retaliation to a provocation. The term aggressive behavior is broad and does not specify the goal-directed nature of the act.

So the situation described—a goal-directed action aimed at achieving an outcome, even if it harms others—fits instrumental aggression.