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Self-aggression, stereotypy and self-injurious behaviour in man and monkeys

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Current Psychological Reviews

Abstract

Self-aggression (SA) in monkeys is sometimes referred to as an animal analogue of self-injurious behaviour (SIB) in humans. However, the initiating and maintaining conditions of SA, along with other considerations, make it unlikely that SA can serve as a very useful model of human SIB. Instead, another, more widespread behaviour in nonhuman primates, namely stereotypy, appears to share more in common with human SIB and therefore seems likely to provide a more suitable model. It is concluded that SA is interesting from the point of view of the study of aggression, and that greater understanding of it should have theoretical and practical consequences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Primate Unit, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA, Stirling, Scotland, UK

    A. S. Chamove & J. R. Anderson

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  1. A. S. Chamove
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  2. J. R. Anderson
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Chamove, A.S., Anderson, J.R. Self-aggression, stereotypy and self-injurious behaviour in man and monkeys. Current Psychological Reviews 1, 245–255 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02684487

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