Objective:  To identify principal components and patterns in the perception of aggression by psychiatric nurses and to explore relationships between the perception of aggression and personal and workplace characteristics. Method:  Seven hundred and twenty‐nine nurses working in psychiatric inpatient departments of German‐speaking Switzerland completed the perception of aggression scale (POAS). Data analysis included factor analysis, group comparisons and multivariate analysis of covariance. Results:  Two plausible factors were identified, representing different dimensions in the perception of aggression and accounting for 35% of the variance. Firstly, aggression is perceived as dysfunctional/ undesirable and, secondly, aggression is perceived as a functional/ comprehensible phenomenon. Only minor differences were found in the perception of aggression with regard to personal characteristics or work environment of the nurses. Conclusion:  Nurses perceive aggression not just as a negative phenomenon. The perception of aggression as measured by POAS is independent of many characteristics expected to be related to the perception of violence, such as grade of education, work experience, etc.

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