A qualitative investigation into beliefs about aggression on an Indian sample

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate Western studies on beliefs about aggression which have found that men typically hold instrumental beliefs and women hold expressive beliefs.

Design/methodology/approach – To investigate whether beliefs about aggression are qualitatively different in an Indian sample, interviews were undertaken with focus groups of 16 and 26-year-olds from north-east India.

Findings – IPA analysis indicated that respondents viewed their aggression in terms of: how they might appear; honour or shame; gender roles; and as a loss of self-control. These findings indicate that beliefs about aggression held in this Indian sample are more complex than can be characterised by the instrumental/expressive dimension.

Practical implications – Implications of these findings for developing more culture-specific measures of beliefs about aggression are discussed.