Conversely, if one person harms another by accident, this would not be considered an aggressive act. As a result, the dentist's behavior would not be considered aggressive. Another aspect of the definition of aggression involves the infliction of harm. Consequently, aggression can result in either physical or psychological harm to the target. Workplace aggression can involve aggression by one coworker against another, superior against subordinate, or subordinate against superior.
Bullying involves deliberate, hurtful and repeated mistreatment of a target.
A very important aspect of the definition of bullying involves the fact that bullying involves repeated mistreatment of a target. In other words, the bully engages in repeated attacks against the target. This is one area where bullying and aggression are somewhat different. It is my contention that not all forms of aggression represent acts of bullying but all forms of bullying involve aggression. For example, product tampering, sabotage directed against an organization, and vandalism of company property are all forms of workplace aggression but they are not instances of bullying.