Disentangling the Psychology and Law of Instrumental and
Reactive Subtypes of Aggression Reid G. Fontaine Florida State
University - College of Law Psychology, Public Policy, and Law,
Vol. 13, pp. 143-165, 2007 Arizona Legal Studies Discussion
Paper No. 08-01 Behavioral scientists have distinguished an
instrumental (or proactive) style of aggression from a style
that is reactive (or hostile). Whereas instrumental aggression
is cold-blooded, deliberate, and goal driven, reactive
aggression is characterized by hot blood, impulsivity, and
uncontrollable rage. Scholars have pointed to the distinction
between murder (committed with malice aforethought) and
manslaughter (enacted in the heat of passion in response to
provocation) in criminal law as a reflection of the
instrumental-reactive aggression dichotomy. Recently, B. J.
Bushman and C. A. Anderson (2001) argued that the instrumental-
reactive aggression distinction has outlived its usefulness in
psychology and pointed to inconsistencies and confusion in
crimina