Fish who share our personal shortcomings?

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Fish who share our personal shortcomings?

June 17, 2004
Special to World Science

It's one of the most ubiquitous, if pathetic, human behaviors. We often react to other people's aggression by taking out our frustration on someone who had nothing to do with it—but who might be a convenient target because they're weaker.

Whatever its psychological roots, this defense mechanism, called displaced aggression, is not unique to humans: researchers have found fish do it too.

"Rainbow trout that briefly encountered large, aggressive fish reacted with increased aggression toward smaller individuals," the University of South Dakota researchers wrote in the May issue of the research journal Hormones and Behavior.

"Subordinate individuals may serve as stress-reducing means of aggressive outlet, and displaced aggression toward such individuals appears to be a behavioral stress coping strategy in fishes."

Whether we inherited this tendency from distant fish ancestors or evolved it separately is unknown, the researchers wrote.

—EJL