VERBAL-DISCRIMINATION - A NEGLECTED CHAPTER IN THE SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGY OF AGGRESSION

While in our culture it is a common experience that hurting others is done more frequently by means of words than by physical force, the phe nomena of verbal aggression and verbal discrimination have largely bee n neglected in the psychology of aggression. Connecting the research f ields of aggression, discrimination, and discourse, and discussing the common definition of aggression as intentional harm-doing, it is argu ed that verbal discrimination, i.e., the verbal treatment of others as members of an allegedly inferior group or category, must be considere d a case of aggression as this practice is a violation of other person s' rights or dignity.