AGGRESSION, DEFENSE, AND COPING IN HUMANS

One way of identifying emotional behaviors across species, language, a nd cultures is to describe the ''instrumental'' effects of each partic ular behavior, Since aggression and defense may be instrumental they a lso represent coping behavior. The term coping is being used partly to indicate whether or not the behavior is successful and partly to desc ribe how a situation is being handled (coping strategies), This review deals with how these behaviors are observed and quantified in humans and how they are linked to physiological changes, The internal state o f the individual is decided by the expectancy of the outcome of a give n situation, but each behavior strategy may have specific links to par ticular brain mechanisms and particular physiological effecters. (C) 1 995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.