# Catharsis **Domain:** Psychology / Conflict theory **Doc Type:** Developed Wiki Node **Maturity:** Developed **Collection:** [[collections/Gamification|Gamification Collection]] ## Definition **Catharsis** is the hypothesis that expressing or symbolically enacting aggressive impulses reduces later aggression by discharging accumulated tension. In the article it is the hydraulic version of sport-as-war-substitute. ## Significance The empirical status of catharsis must remain separate from the institutional claim that regulated contest structures rivalry. ## Sources - [[articles/gamification/Lex Sportiva and Winning Without Bloodshed|Lex Sportiva and Winning Without Bloodshed]] - [Primary or institutional source](https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-pspi0000080.pdf) ## Routes [[wiki/Structuration|Structuration]] · [[wiki/Catharsis vs. Structuration|Catharsis vs. Structuration]] · [[wiki/Mimetic Activity|Mimetic Activity]] · [[articles/gamification/Lex Sportiva and Winning Without Bloodshed|Lex Sportiva and Winning Without Bloodshed]]