Redirected Behavior

Classically, most discussion of redirected behavior has centered on aggression, which when not expressed at the cause of aggressive drive, is redirected at another animal or at an inanimate object. An animal which has been attacked by the dominant individual it its social group may not attack back (due to the possibility of stimulating a more severe attack by the dominant) but may instead redirect its aggression to other, less-dominant, members of the social group. Musth elephants redirect aggression to other species of animal, such as humans or to inanimate objects.

Recently, studies of animal welfare have considered stereotypic movements in captive animals, such as repetitive pacing, as redirected behavior. In this context, there may be overlap between redirected behavior and displacement behavior.