How love can trigger aggression in people?

Research by two Universities at Buffalo found that in situations where people care about someone very much, they were motivated to benefit them, but if there was someone else in the way, they might do things to harm that third party. And that reaction was not because the third party has done anything wrong.

It was mentioned that two neurohormones appear to be among the mechanisms contributing to the counterintuitive response. These are chemicals that act as both hormones in the blood stream and neurotransmitters in the brain.

Michael J. Poulin said that both oxytocin and vasopressin seem to serve a function leading to increased "approach behaviors" and people are motivated by social approach or getting closer to others but they approach one another for many other reasons also, including aggression.

So it stands to reason that if compassion was linked to the action of these hormones and these hormones are linked to social approach behaviors that they might help account for the link between compassion and aggression, he further added.

The study is published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.