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Anger: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Anger
Anger is not merely a mood or a fleeting thought; it is a full-body physiological event that mobilizes the human organism for immediate action. When a person experiences this intense emotional state, their heart rate accelerates and blood pressure rises to pump more oxygen to the muscles. The body releases stress hormones like adrenaline and noradrenaline, preparing the individual to fight or flee from a perceived threat. This response is so deeply rooted in human biology that it begins in infancy, where a baby struggles indiscriminately against any restraining force, whether it is a blanket or another person. The brain regions activated during this process include the amygdala, the thalamus, and the anterior cingulate cortex, which work together to facilitate autonomic arousal and the stress response. The physical manifestation of anger is unmistakable: the rib cage tenses, breathing becomes faster and deeper, the face flushes, the nostrils flare, and the jaw tenses. The body adopts a squared-off stance with arms raised, creating a subjective sense of strength and potency that often encourages the impulse to strike out. This biological machinery is designed to warn aggressors to stop their threatening behavior, and rarely does a physical altercation occur without the prior expression of anger by at least one of the participants.
The Psychology of Perception
While the body prepares for battle, the mind often loses its ability to see the situation clearly. Psychologists have long noted that an angry person can be mistaken because anger causes a loss in self-monitoring capacity and objective observability. When the brain is flooded with the chemicals of anger, it reduces cognitive ability and the accurate processing of external stimuli. Dangers seem smaller, actions seem less risky, and ventures seem more likely to succeed. This cognitive distortion leads angry people to make risky decisions and to rely more on stereotypes than on details. In inter-group relationships, anger makes people think in more negative and prejudiced terms about outsiders, making them less trusting and slower to attribute good qualities to others. The angry mind tends to anticipate other events that might cause anger, rating anger-causing events as more likely than sad events. This creates a feedback loop where the extra blame placed on another person makes the angry person angrier still, leading them to place yet more blame on the other person. Unlike other negative emotions like sadness and fear, which promote analytical thinking, anger focuses attention only on anger-causing events, ignoring the broader context of the situation.
The History of Wrath
The philosophical understanding of anger has shifted dramatically over millennia, from ancient Greece to the modern era. Ancient Greek philosophers like Galen and Seneca regarded anger as a kind of madness and generally showed a hostile attitude towards it, particularly when directed toward slaves. Seneca believed that the disciplined Roman army was regularly able to beat the Germans, who were known for their fury, and argued that it is a mistake to become angry in sporting contests. In contrast, Aristotle ascribed some value to anger that has arisen from perceived injustice because it is useful for preventing injustice. He stated that the person who is angry at the right things and toward the right people, and also in the right way, at the right time and for the right length of time is morally praiseworthy. During the Middle Ages, the concept of wrath became one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and medieval scholars believed that those prone to anger had an excess of yellow bile or choler. The humoral theory of the time suggested that men were choleric, or hot and dry, and thus dominant and aggressive, while women were phlegmatic, or cold and wet, and therefore passive and submissive. This gendered view of anger persisted for centuries, with many medieval authors assuming that men were more rational than women and that women were more prone to anger.
Common questions
What physiological changes occur when a person experiences anger?
When a person experiences anger, their heart rate accelerates and blood pressure rises to pump more oxygen to the muscles. The body releases stress hormones like adrenaline and noradrenaline, preparing the individual to fight or flee from a perceived threat. This response begins in infancy and activates brain regions including the amygdala, the thalamus, and the anterior cingulate cortex.
How does anger affect cognitive ability and decision making?
Anger causes a loss in self-monitoring capacity and objective observability, which reduces cognitive ability and the accurate processing of external stimuli. This cognitive distortion leads angry people to make risky decisions and to rely more on stereotypes than on details. The angry mind focuses attention only on anger-causing events while ignoring the broader context of the situation.
What did ancient Greek philosophers believe about anger?
Ancient Greek philosophers like Galen and Seneca regarded anger as a kind of madness and generally showed a hostile attitude towards it. Aristotle ascribed some value to anger that has arisen from perceived injustice because it is useful for preventing injustice. He stated that the person who is angry at the right things and toward the right people is morally praiseworthy.
How do religious traditions view the trait of anger?
In Judaism, anger is considered a negative trait, and Maimonides rules that one who becomes angry is as though that person had worshipped idols. In Christianity, wrath is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, yet some Christian writers have regarded the anger caused by injustice as having some value. In Islam, anger is considered to be instigated by Satan, and the Quran instructs people to restrain their anger.
What strategies exist for managing anger in modern psychology?
Modern psychology has developed strategies ranging from cognitive behavioral therapy to medication to manage anger. Conventional therapies involve restructuring thoughts and beliefs to bring about a reduction in anger, often using techniques like stress inoculation to teach relaxation skills. Certain psychiatric medications like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and anticonvulsant mood stabilizers show effectiveness in controlling symptoms of anger, hostility, and irritability.
How does the expression of anger vary across different cultures?
Research by Matsumoto found that participants were unable to assign a nationality to people demonstrating expression of anger, suggesting that there are no ethnic-specific expressions of anger. However, other studies have found differences in how someone expresses an emotion, especially the emotion of anger, in people with different ethnicities, based on frequency. White non-Hispanic Americans expressed more verbal aggression than Mexican Americans, although when it came to physical aggression expressions there was no significant difference between both cultures.
Religious traditions have long grappled with the nature of anger, often viewing it as a negative trait that must be controlled or suppressed. In Judaism, anger is considered a negative trait, and Maimonides rules that one who becomes angry is as though that person had worshipped idols. The Book of Genesis records Jacob condemning the anger that had arisen in his sons Simon and Levi, calling it fierce and cruel. In Christianity, wrath is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, yet some Christian writers have regarded the anger caused by injustice as having some value. The Catholic Catechism states that anger is among the passions, and that the neutral act of anger becomes the sin of wrath when it is directed against an innocent person, when it is unduly unbending or long-lasting, or when it desires excessive punishment. However, Roman Catholic pastoral theologian Henri J.M. Nouwen pointed to the spiritual benefits in anger toward God, suggesting that it is clear that only by expressing our anger and hatred directly to God will we come to know the fullness of both his love and our freedom. In Islam, anger is considered to be instigated by Satan, and the Quran instructs people to restrain their anger. The removal of anger from the hearts of believers is seen as a praiseworthy quality, and controlling anger is the doorway for restraining other blameworthy traits like ego and envy.
The Modern Science of Control
Modern psychology has developed a multitude of strategies to manage anger, ranging from cognitive behavioral therapy to medication. Conventional therapies involve restructuring thoughts and beliefs to bring about a reduction in anger, often using techniques like stress inoculation to teach relaxation skills. The skills-deficit model states that poor social skills are what render a person incapable of expressing anger in an appropriate manner, and social skills training has been found to be an effective method for reducing exaggerated anger. Medication therapy has also been explored, with certain psychiatric medications like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and anticonvulsant mood stabilizers showing effectiveness in controlling symptoms of anger, hostility, and irritability. However, the suppression of anger may have harmful effects, as the suppressed anger may find another outlet, such as a physical symptom, or become more extreme. John W. Fiero cites the Los Angeles riots of 1992 as an example of sudden, explosive release of suppressed anger, which was then displaced as violence against those who had nothing to do with the matter. The dual threshold model of anger in organizations suggests that organizational norms establish emotion thresholds that may be crossed when employees feel anger, and that the higher probability of negative outcomes from workplace anger likely will occur when organizational members suppress rather than express their anger.
The Social Power of Anger
The experience and expression of anger vary significantly across different cultures, challenging the notion that it is a universal emotion. Research by Matsumoto found that participants were unable to assign a nationality to people demonstrating expression of anger, suggesting that there are no ethnic-specific expressions of anger. However, other studies have found differences in how someone expresses an emotion, especially the emotion of anger, in people with different ethnicities, based on frequency. For instance, Hatfield, Rapson, and Le concluded that there was a difference between how someone expresses an emotion, especially the emotion of anger, in people with different ethnicities, with Europeans showing the lowest frequency of expression of negative emotions. Research also investigated anger within different ethnic groups who live in the same country, finding that Black participants did not feel or express more anger than Whites after controlling for sex and age. Deffenbacher and Swaim compared the expression of anger in Mexican American people and White non-Hispanic American people, concluding that White non-Hispanic Americans expressed more verbal aggression than Mexican Americans, although when it came to physical aggression expressions there was no significant difference between both cultures. These findings suggest that while the physiological response to anger may be universal, the social and cultural context in which it is expressed plays a crucial role in shaping how it is
The Cultural Lens
perceived and managed.
The study of anger continues to evolve, with new research revealing complex relationships between anger, health, and social dynamics. A 2023 study revealed that the relationships between 46 subscales of publicly available self-report measures of anger suggest five primary factors: anger-arousal, anger-rumination, frustration-discomfort, anger-regulation, and socially constituted anger. This five-factor model provides a useful framework for examining the distinct domains of anger, from the tendency for frequent and intense anger experiences to the cognitive strategies that modify the expression and experience of anger. Modern psychologists have also begun to take the issue of gender differences into account, with scholars like Soraya Chemaly arguing that anger is a critically useful and positive emotion that warns us that something is wrong and needs to change. Rebecca Traister has argued that holding back anger has been an impediment to the progress of women's rights, suggesting that women and minorities are not allowed to be angry to the same extent as white men. The field continues to explore the genetic and environmental influences on anger expression, with studies like the Georgia Cardiovascular Twin Study suggesting that the tendency for anger may be genetic. As research progresses, the understanding of anger moves beyond simple suppression or expression, toward a more nuanced view of its role in human survival, social justice, and personal well-being.