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 phenomena of verbal aggression and verbal discrimination have largely been neglected in the psychology of aggression. Connecting the research fields of aggression, discrimination, and discourse, and discussing the common definition of aggression as intentional harmdoing, it is argued that verbal discrimination, i.e., the verbal treatment of others as members of an allegedly inferior group or category, must be considered a case of aggression as this practice is a violation of other persons’ rights or dignity.