The social context of physical aggression among adults

Adult respondents to a telephone survey who had been involved in an inciden t of physical aggression in the past 12 months were asked open- and closed- ended questions regarding the social context of the most recent incident, I ncidents that occurred in bars were more likely to involve male participant s, drinking by the respondent and opponent, more than ht a participants, an d low emotional impact. Incidents in public places also tended to involve m ales and drinking by the opponent. Aggression in social gatherings occurred primarily among friends or acquaintances and was reported equally often by males and females with most incidents involving both genders or males only . Incidents in the home were more likely to be reported by females than mal es and tended to occur between intimate couples, involve only two participa nts, and have high emotional impact. The usefulness of a contextual approac h for developing a better understanding of naturally-occurring aggression i s discussed.