Anger is the most toxic emotion. Should negative emotions be suppressed? Causes of anger

• The main causes of anger
• Should negative emotions be suppressed?
• How to deal with anger?

Anger is one of the most powerful emotions a person can experience. Anger can be directed at a person, a phenomenon, an action. Characteristic this emotion is short-lived, anger is strong, but passes quickly enough. Quite often, anger leads to insults, after which a person experiences in front of the one to whom they inflicted. When we are angry, there is a feeling that something is “boiling” inside and is about to explode. If a person sees the source of his irritation, it becomes difficult for him to control himself, as a result, all the anger spills out on the object of hatred. The definition of anger is quite broad, it is dangerous feeling, accompanied by active gestures (not always), rudeness, increased emotional reaction.

An angry person behaves inappropriately: he knocks on the table, breaks dishes, throws objects that come to hand on the floor.

The extreme degree of this state is rage, which happens in a state of passion, in such situations a person can commit an act that will lead to undesirable consequences.

The main causes of anger

To overcome negative emotions, you need to clearly know what anger is and how to deal with it. Each person is different from his friend, the cause of anger can be a clash with the opposite belief, because each of us is brought up differently, respectively, has his own special outlook on life. We have different interests, priorities, beliefs. We have certain morals and principles that dictate this or that model of behavior to us. Our opinion may not coincide with the opinion of another person, and this is quite normal! Psychology says that the manifestation of anger takes place when opposing beliefs collide.

Let's take an example. The guy and the girl entered into a legal relationship: they became husband and wife. The girl has a conviction: as soon as a guy becomes her husband, he must fulfill the duties of a husband in her understanding, that is: give flowers, give her all her free time, be attentive, gentle, more courteous. The girl thinks that her man should know these requirements, he simply cannot not know them! The guy, in turn, does not even know about all these "rules", in connection with this, he does not follow them, which leads to a quarrel. If a man is convinced of the opposite, namely that a woman should take more care, wash, clean, the couple clashes in opinions, this leads to even more misunderstanding.

Frequent quarrels can cause anger if the young do not compromise. Another example of anger. Grandmother believes that everyone should give way to her because of her age, if someone did not do this, he automatically became a scoundrel and a boor (in her understanding).

Psychology says that anger arises from fear, and this undoubtedly affects our emotional state. If a person is afraid, a feeling of anxiety, irritability, anxiety appears in his mind. If he is afraid of layoffs, he may have intrusive thoughts, which will lead to a deterioration in the quality of his work, because in everything and everywhere he will see a reason for own dismissal. If an employee does not cope with the tasks set, the boss calls him to tell him about it, however, he is not going to fire him. The subordinate mentally resigned himself to the idea that he would be fired, as a result of the accumulated excitement, he splashes out on the boss.

Back to index

Should negative emotions be suppressed?

Anger situations are varied. For example, a person who is very well brought up accumulates stress. It is fair to say that this stress does not disappear, but only grows. If a person was taught not to express his opinion in a given situation, so as not to upset others, he will accumulate negativity in himself, but sooner or later emotions will make themselves felt. Frequent suppression of anger harms the psyche as a whole, the existing emotions still come out. One of the causes of anger can be poor health, which worries for a long time. If a person periodically experiences pain that depresses and makes him helpless, he will be nervously excited, which can also lead to aggression.

It is very important to listen to yourself, you must remember that the appearance of anger is difficult to predict. This feeling has one harbinger - irritability. Harbingers of anger are also obsessive thoughts about something. To overcome anger, you need to learn to listen to yourself: try to remember those moments that lead you to emotional stress, remember in what situations you have irritability. Do not take on overwork, it can also cause a fit of anger.

Back to index

How to deal with anger?

If you want to be more attentive to yourself, it is recommended to write down all disturbing thoughts, so you will know what bothered you and at what moment, so it will be easier for you to control situations in the future. You can make an individual table that will reflect the features and reasons for your negative reaction. It should be divided into two columns: in the first write down what exactly happened to you at a particular moment and what was your reaction, in the second column write the reason why you reacted to the situation that way. Thanks to this table, you will be able to track brain signals about leaving the comfort zone, as well as understand the reason for the negative reaction.

Anger is a very strong reaction that immediately seeks to break out. In a fit of anger, people often throw hurtful words at each other, which they later regret. You need to learn how to properly suppress anger. The expression of this emotion is inevitable, if every time you suppress it, a person may overflow his "cup of patience", as a result, anger will be even more fierce. Accumulated, "unvented anger" will do much more harm, in some cases it leads to diseases. You need to learn how to deal with such strong negative emotions. Psychologists recommend restraining anger at the moment when it asks to come out.

After an unpleasant conversation, you can let your emotions run elsewhere. If you've got conflict situation, try to smooth the conversation and not develop a topic that annoys you. If you need to continue the conversation, try to control yourself.

After this situation, you can give vent to your anger if you feel that he has not left you. You can write a hateful letter on a piece of paper and then tear it up and throw it away. The main thing is to make the anger leave you, you need to get rid of this "emotional dirt". Some people claim that exercise helps them get rid of anger, and it's true! you can make a long distance run, while running, imagine that all the negativity comes out and literally evaporates in the air.

There are many ways to get rid of negativity, choose the one that you like the most. To avoid anger in the future, try to do relaxation exercises more often, take time to rest - this is very important! Relaxation exercises will help make your nervous system more stable. With their help, you will learn to control yourself better.

To make it easier to survive negative emotions, you need to work on yourself. The reasons for anger lie in ourselves: in our beliefs, fear of something. To avoid anger and irritation, it is not necessary to change, just reconsider your attitude to certain situations.

Anger is one of the most important emotions. Anger is often perceived as an undesirable reaction, and a person, as a rule, seeks to avoid it. Surely there have been times in your life when, remembering the experience of anger, you experienced embarrassment and shame, especially if you could not restrain a flash of anger in front of a person whom you respect and whose opinion you value. You are ashamed of that. Angry words or other manifestations of anger can cause temporary discord in relationships between people. As already mentioned, anger can be associated with sadness, and angry feelings that a person feels towards himself, in combination with sadness and other emotions, can contribute to the development of depression. Anger can also interact with the emotions of guilt and fear.
By holding back anger, a person may suffer from not being able to freely express his feelings or remove barriers that prevent him from striving for his desired goal. Under certain circumstances, the containment of angry manifestations can cause a pathological increase in the activity of the autonomic nervous system, which is expressed in an increase in diastolic pressure, increased heart rate, and other physiological disorders. Regular repetition of situations that cause such disorders in the cardiovascular and other systems of the body can lead to psychosomatic disorders.
But if the consequences of anger are so unfavorable for a person, then why do we consider it one of the most important emotions? In order to assess the individual and social significance of anger, it is necessary to consider in detail the characteristics and functions of this emotion, to analyze its relationship with other emotions, with urges, with thought processes and behavior.
In a situation of frustration, emotions such as disgust and contempt are often activated simultaneously with the emotion of anger, and then a complex of emotions is formed, which we call the hostility triad. This triad of negative emotions can be activated in the most different situations, and in extreme cases leads to the fact that life turns into a series of quarrels and altercations. A person may experience hostile feelings towards himself, towards other people, or he may be dissatisfied with the situation, experiencing hostility towards the whole. Although anger, disgust and contempt very often act in combination, each of these emotions has its own distinctive features. In order to control our emotions, we must first of all be able to distinguish one emotion from another, be able to identify an emotion and name it. We will look at the characteristics of all members of the hostility triad, starting with the emotion of anger.
REASONS FOR ANGER
Restriction of freedom
The feeling of physical or psychological lack of freedom, as a rule, causes an emotion of anger in a person. Campos and Stenberg (1981) found that restriction of the freedom of movement of the hands causes an anger response in 4-month-old infants. At the request of the experimenters, the mother held the child's hands, not allowing him to move them. The mimic reaction that 4-month-old babies showed to such a restriction of freedom was evaluated by the experimenters as a reaction of anger. The seven-month-olds responded to it not only with angry facial expressions, they could already identify its source, as evidenced by the fact that they directed their eyes at the mother.
Even in the absence of systematic research within other cultures, we can presumably argue that the restriction of physical freedom is a universal activator of the emotion of anger. The basis for this statement can be the fact that almost any restriction of freedom causes anger in a person. Thus, older children and adolescents react to verbal restrictions and prohibitions, perhaps even more violently than to physical lack of freedom. As adults, we often get angry at all sorts of rules and regulations that make us feel bound by conventions. The psychological meaning of any restriction, both physical and verbal, is that it limits the freedom of human activity, prevents the achievement of the desired goal.
Obstacles in achieving the goal
So, in order to understand the reasons for the anger of a particular person, it is necessary to consider them in relation to his attitudes and goals. Any obstacle on the way to achieving the intended goal can cause anger in a person. In such cases, the forced temporary suspension of activities is perceived by him as an obstacle, restriction, failure. If you approach a person who is immersed in a complex task or who is frantically trying to complete a task by a deadline with an outside question, you risk incurring anger. Of course, sometimes a person himself is looking for opportunities to escape from work, but this happens only in those cases when he does not feel an urgent need to quickly complete the work he has begun, or when the need for rest comes to the fore.
Rice. 11-1. The little girl sucks her thumb; attempt older sister interfere with it provokes an angry reaction.
Aversive stimulation
Berkowitz (1990), after many years of research into the problem of anger and aggression, came to the conclusion that irritating stimulation itself is a source of anger and aggression. He argues that unpleasant events, such as immersion in cold water, prolonged exposure high temperature, bad smells or constantly repeating dirty, obscene scenes, cause unpleasant sensations in a person, or a negative affect, which is a direct activator of anger. Challenging cognitive theories of emotional activation, Berkowitz argues that the emotion of anger can be activated directly, only through irritating stimulation and negative affect, without prior evaluative (Frijda, 1986; Lazarus, 1984) or attributive (Weiner, 1985) processes. Only then, being activated, is it reinforced or suppressed by cognitive processes. So, for example, you are unlikely to plunge into the abyss of anger if the heat irritates you, but you will be told in time that you will soon be able to plunge into cool water. The promise of a quick relief from pain can have the same effect. The Berkowitz model is in many ways similar to the differential emotion theory.
Although Berkowitz has been able to recognize the non-cognitive causes underlying anger and aggression, he calls his theory the cognitive-associationist model. This model suggests that certain feelings (eg, anger) are associated through a network of associations with certain thoughts and memories (eg, aggressive plans and fantasies), as well as motor-expressive and physiological responses. The activation of any of the components of this associative network, which includes negative affect, angry feelings, thoughts and memories, causes the activation of all other components. As already noted, even non-cognitively activated (for example, by pain) anger can be moderated by subsequent processes of cognitive evaluation and attribution.
Living in Anger: A Very Personal Story
The thought of a mistake, injustice or undeserved offense can also become a source of anger, and this is evidenced by the story of Jonel. Jonel was passionate about sports; Once, in high school, during a training session, she was seriously injured, after which she began to experience visual impairment and severe headaches. It is clear from her story that her diagnosis was erroneous. Persistent headaches and her constant suspicion that she was being treated incorrectly led to chronic outbursts of anger. But before Jonelle was filled with anger at the doctors, she experienced several emotions, including a strong fear caused by the thought that she might go blind. This is how she talks about the accident that happened to her, and about the subsequent events that caused her anger.
Now I can only be angry at all those people who participated in all this and who made it.
On October 1, 1977, my life changed dramatically. During a hockey game, I collided with one of my opponents and fell, losing consciousness. When I woke up some time later, I felt fear and confusion. I did not understand what happened, I did not remember how I fell and what happened next; it seemed to me that I only closed my eyes for a second, and in the blink of an eye someone carried me off the field.
But I quickly came to my senses. The pain brought me to my senses, it burned my head and pierced my neck. On the forehead above the left eye, I felt a hefty lump, and the eye itself was almost invisible. Panic seized me from the pain. My heart was pounding and I rolled onto my side and curled up so I could breathe easier. After a while I was able to sit down, and then I managed to stand up. The coach put me in his car and drove me home.
Jonel's account of her trauma and subsequent pain unfolds rapidly. Her first line is retrospective, but if Jonel hadn't passed out, she probably would have been angry right after the fall. Our research, in which we studied young children's reactions to the pain of an injection, showed that anger is a natural response to unexpected pain. Babies, who do not yet know how to anticipate that the vaccine will hurt them, nevertheless respond to this pain with anger. Jonel, although she did not expect an accident, was able to foresee the consequences of the pain she experienced, and it was this foresight that gave rise to fear. Later, however, the incessant pain aroused anger, which became the dominant emotion.
Chronic pain does not always lead to a state of chronic anger. This, as you remember, did not happen to Michelle, who was struggling with her scoliosis. Of course, both situational and individual characteristics play a role here.
Jonel felt more than just anger. She experienced bouts of extreme fear and anxiety, as well as sadness and depression.
My head was spinning terribly. I literally fell into the back seat of the car and my parents took me to the hospital.
Examinations, probing, injections, tests, x-rays - it seemed to me that there was no end to these painful procedures, this sterile existence. But all these examinations and analyzes did not reveal anything, except for what was already obvious: the headache and visual impairment were caused by contusion. Aspirin and sleep - such treatment was prescribed to me by doctors. They assured me that I would get better soon. But this did not happen.
For two whole years I was tormented by terrible, unbearable headaches, and in addition to this I could not get rid of the disgusting feeling of a stiff neck. I started falling behind in my studies. My friends have moved away from me. I felt exhausted, irritated, and therefore behaved impudently and selfishly, became poisonous and malicious. And yet I was depressed. Nothing could cheer or please me - this happened to me for the first time. Nothing could interest me. Even a half-hour TV show now seemed unbearably long to me. I was tormented by terrible anxiety, I constantly felt nervous tremors and bit my nails. In the autumn of 1979, something changed in my condition, but for the worse. I probably should have dropped out of school altogether. I rarely went there, but when I did, I constantly violated discipline (however, outside of school I was not distinguished by exemplary behavior). But on the morning of September 14, I was at school. There was a biology lesson, we were doing laboratory work when I suddenly stopped seeing at all. It happened instantly, nothing foretold this strange blindness, except for the headache that had been tormenting me for two years. I didn’t gasp in horror, I didn’t even flinch - maybe because I was completely exhausted physically. Or because during the depression I developed a kind of self-destructive attitude, and any worsening of my condition caused even some kind of evil joy in me. But be that as it may, I quite calmly told my desk mate to ask the teacher to take me to the school infirmary. No one in the class even suspected anything.
Thinking about it now, I don’t know if a person can contain their horror or not notice it, but I definitely remember that I walked, holding the teacher’s hand, two flights of stairs and entered the infirmary without any fear, without fear of stumbling , fell. It never even crossed my mind that I was blind for life. Perhaps it was mechanical behavior, or maybe it was a manifestation of my will, determination to do everything necessary in order to survive - perhaps that fighting spirit woke up in me, which, as it seemed to me, I left forever on the hockey field. years ago.
But as I lay on the couch, waiting for the doctor, a terrible despair seized me. I screamed, I thrashed my arms and legs, my body shook with sobs. I don’t remember what I was thinking at that moment, I remember only one thought that was itching in my head, the thought that I don’t need such a life.
An hour later I was in the hospital. Sight gradually returned to me, I began to distinguish bright light, but nothing else. The doctor on duty in the emergency room quickly examined me and left. Then I was told that I would be consulted by a renowned neurosurgeon, Dr. Petterson. He came to my room early the next morning. After examining me and talking to me, he ordered me an autoradiogram, an X-ray of the skull and an EEG. I don’t remember if he managed to get out or was still in the ward when convulsions suddenly ran through my body, white and black spots swam before my eyes and I almost lost consciousness - it was the first seizure in my life. Then, exhausted, I fell asleep.
The next episode from Jonel's story shows that the girl was able to experience and express anger even in the midst of the strongest fear, which we usually call horror. Like all other emotions, anger has an adaptive function. In the case of Jonel, the role of anger was, at least, that firstly, anger weakened fear, and secondly, he gave the girl strength and determination () to resist the disease.
I woke up in the evening and wanted to call my sister, but found that I could not speak - my tongue was slurred. At first I was numb with fear. I was struck by the thought that I had a brain disease. I suddenly wanted to go back to the day I got injured and beat up the girl I ran into on the field and who then got off with only a slight fright. A thirst for revenge leaped up in me, it splashed out in my awkward movements, confused words. I was filled with anger and rage; I cursed the whole wide world and even God for allowing this. But I can’t say that I only felt anger and rage. I was still terribly scared. For days on end, I cried non-stop. My parents consoled and encouraged me, but my soul was torn with fear and despair. I so wanted it all to end, to be forgotten... It was unbearable. But at some point, I suddenly realized that I have the will, that I can stop this slow dying and return to a full life.
At first, I dutifully put myself in the hands of clueless nurses and young doctors who constantly took some tests from me and did some research, but the lack of any definite results and my inability to speak irritated me, and sometimes this irritation was so great that I stopped listening to doctors. So two weeks passed, and during this time I experienced several more seizures, after which I completely lost my sight and could not speak at all. Besides, my head hurt all the time. And then Dr. Petterson came and told me what he had come to. He said that I needed an operation, but before the operation I needed to conduct an additional, rather dangerous study. The parents refused, saying that they would first like to hear the opinion of other doctors. Dr. Petterson insisted, he said that other doctors would say the same thing, but the parents did not agree with him. The next day I was discharged.
For two months we traveled with our parents to East coast from one specialist to another. All the doctors we visited noted the same symptoms in me, but could not make an accurate diagnosis. I had already begun to believe everything that each of them said, but very few expressed their opinion directly. So, for example, I heard that I do not have a physical illness, that the problem lies in myself, that I am destroying myself. I became afraid to be alone, I was afraid that I would do something terrible with myself, even worse than this notorious madness.
Some specialists said that I needed to see a psychiatrist. If my problem really was psychological and not somatic, then I really needed a psychiatrist, really needed. But be that as it may, I gradually began to understand that in order to defeat the disease, I need help. (Perhaps this was the most important conclusion I have ever come to in my life. And certainly the best, most correct conclusion. With the help of a psychiatrist, I was able to separate physical pain from emotional pain and as a result managed to solve those problems which she was able to solve herself.)
At the final stage of this ordeal, Jonel experienced a sense of guilt towards her family. Guilt probably softened the manifestation of her negative emotions within the family, but the girl did not feel any guilt towards the doctors and was still angry with them.
To my great chagrin, I soon discovered that my problems were reflected in all members of our family. The mother began to complain of stomach pains, we thought it was an ulcer. The father became irritable and broke down at the slightest provocation. My brother's performance in school has declined. We were all unhappy. I was tormented by a sense of guilt, I remembered that before this misfortune happened to me, everything was completely different. I was overcome by the thought that I was destroying not only myself, but also my family.
But it was then, two and a half years after the injury, when I almost lost hope of a cure, that my diagnosis suddenly became clearer, and, oddly enough, my brother David clarified it. An article in a sports magazine caught his attention. This article was about a young athlete who suffered what appeared to be a similar injury and was diagnosed with temporomandibular joint dysfunction syndrome. Some dentist diagnosed him, and he cured the guy. David burst into my room screaming at night to tell about his discovery. Together we wept for joy and even prayed, and then woke up our parents.
In the morning, Mom called our dentist to find out if any of the specialists he knew had experienced this little-known syndrome. He said that one of his colleagues, George Charles, once treated this disease. We eagerly awaited his call the next morning and nearly broke our hearts when we heard that the dentist had recently had a stroke and was no longer practicing.
Either God heard our prayers, or the doctor was touched by our grief, but a few days passed and I suddenly experienced such joy as I hardly ever experienced in my life. I got a call from George Charles himself. He said that colleagues had told him about my misfortune and he was ready to make an exception for me.
We agreed to meet. On my first visit, I had to go through many hours of agonizing suction testing. But at the end of the day, Dr. Charles identified my physical ailment as temporomandibular joint dysfunction syndrome and assured me that within six months I would no longer suffer from headaches. Tears welled up in my eyes, and they were tears of joy and relief.
Three months later, my vision was completely restored, and after another two months, the headaches with which I lived for three and a half years disappeared. Dr. Charles kept his word.
I remember very well that morning when, for the first time in three recent years I woke up feeling really well rested, and broke into a smile. I came back to life! It was as if a mountain had been lifted from my shoulders, and I felt a burning delight that I had thrown off this burden.
Now, seven years after my injury, and three and a half years after I finally received the correct diagnosis, I can state with certainty that I am still angry with those stupid, inept doctors who treated me incorrectly and thanks to which I became who I am.
We can say that Jonel got used to her anger. Perhaps it was anger that helped her to endure, to overcome the horror that she repeatedly experienced over the years of her illness. Since her anger was directed at other people, but never resulted in aggression, it predetermined the development of depression, which often accompanies incessant pain. Jonel is currently finishing her college education and is due to graduate in June.
A few years ago, I did a study on college students, wanting to find out what events and circumstances from their personal lives appear in the minds of people as the causes and consequences of the emotion of anger. The results of this study are presented in table. 11-1. Anger, like any other emotion, can be activated by 1) actions, 2) thoughts, and 3) feelings. People most often cite stupid, thoughtless actions, socially disapproved actions, actions that harm others, as well as actions committed under the influence of other people, as the prerequisites for anger. Note that some of these actions (for example, stupid actions) cause a person to feel anger towards himself, while others activate outward anger.
Table 11-1
Causes and effects of anger
Answers; Number of subjects who answered* (%).
Reasons for anger
Feelings:
1. The feeling that you were treated wrongly, unfairly, that you were 40.8 deceived, betrayed, offended, used; 40.8;
2. Feeling of anger-rage; 17.6;
3. Feeling of hatred, hostility, desire to harm others; 12.0;
4. Aggressive, vindictive feelings; 8.0;
5. Feeling of failure, self-disappointment, self-condemnation, feeling of own inadequacy; 5.6;
6. Feeling of the unfair arrangement of the world; 3.2;
7. Sadness; 0.8;
8. Other feelings; 12.0;
Thoughts:
1. Thoughts that others hate or judge you; 31.2;
2. Thoughts of deceit, betrayal, humiliation, resentment; 19.2;
3. Thoughts of failure, failure, of one's own inadequacy, self-condemnation; 10.4;
4. Thoughts about general injustice, about global problems; 10,4;
5. Thoughts of revenge; 14.4;
6. Annoying thoughts. thoughts that everything is bad; 8.0;
7. Other thoughts; 6.4;
Actions:
1. Perfect stupidity; 34.4;
2. Reckless, reckless, impulsive actions; 16.8;
3. Actions not approved by other people; 12.0;
4. Actions imposed by other people, committed against their own will; 8.8; 5. Aggressive, vindictive actions; 8.0;
6. Illegal or immoral activities; 7.2;
7. Other actions; 12.8;
Consequences of anger
Feelings:
1. Anger; 28.8;
2. Irritation, tension, etc.; 24.2;
3. Vengeful, destructive feelings; 24.2;
4. Feeling of hatred, hostility towards people, condemnation of them; 6.8;
5. Sadness; 2.3;
6. Feeling justified in anger; 1.5;
7. Other feelings; 10.6;
Thoughts:
1. Thoughts of revenge, destruction, attack on others; 43.9;
2. Thoughts about maintaining control over oneself, the situation, or about changing the situation; 13.6;
3. Hatred, hostility towards other people, condemnation of them; 12.1;
4. Finding ways to express anger, verbal or physical; 7.6;
5. Negative, hostile thoughts (in general); 7.6;
6. Thoughts about the event that caused the anger; 4.5;
7. Evil, destructive thoughts about yourself; 4.5;
8. Other thoughts; 6.1;
Actions:
1. Attempts to maintain or regain control over oneself or over the situation; 35.6;
2. Verbal attack or physical actions directed at the object of anger; 24.2;
3. Aggressive actions against an object or situation that causes anger; 18.9;
4. Impulsive, irrational actions; 11.4;
5. Other actions; 9.8;
*N - Approximately 130 college students.
Of the thoughts that can make a person angry, the students most often named thoughts about injustice, mistake, deceit. It was this kind of thought that became the main cause of anger in the case of Jonel.
Another very common cognitive trigger for anger is thinking that people don't like or judge you. Thoughts about their own failures and failures cause anger in only 10% of the people we interviewed, and about the same number of people name thoughts about general injustice and global problems as a prerequisite for anger.
Some students noted that certain emotional states can also serve as preconditions for anger. Among these states were sadness and shame, which students described in terms of failure and disappointment.
Insult
Berkowitz (1990) draws our attention to cases in which anger is triggered by an insult. Some call such anger, and appropriately this definition we are convinced by the following passage from the diary of seventeen-year-old Jackie.
April 1981 My Dear Diary!
It has been five years since I last time I saw Mr. K., and every time I thought of this man, I almost felt hatred for him. I will never forget the day he first came to our house. He was a parishioner of our church and gave the impression of a decent person. How wrong we were! After that vile proposal he made to me, I couldn't look at him for two whole years. I was 13 then, and he was 60. I thought that I managed to overcome my hatred for him, but he again took up his own! Recently, Mr. K. (now 65) made the same proposal to another thirteen-year-old girl, and this time he succeeded. He must be crazy. How else can you explain his behavior? I can't express. words, how angry I am with him. His place is in prison, or at least in a lunatic asylum. I thought I forgave him, but no! I understand that this is a sin, but I can’t help myself - I wish him death, I want him to disappear from the face of the Earth. Maybe then he would stop insulting innocent girls.
Preliminary summary
So, the first and immediate cause of anger is pain. Even 4-month-old babies, who do not yet have the ability to assess the situation, who do not know how to understand what is happening to them, react to the pain caused by the injection, the expression of anger. Thus, it can be argued that one sensation of pain is enough to activate the emotion of anger - the processes of thinking, memory, interpretation do not act as necessary prerequisites for anger. Of course, if you believe that certain people are the source of your pain, or think that they are unwilling or unable to alleviate your pain (which is exactly what Jonel believed), then your anger will be directed at these people. But even in such cases, it is important to remember that the pain itself, regardless of the source and origin, can cause the emotion of anger. You can verify this by remembering those times when you stumbled and felt a piercing pain in your thumb legs or knee. We must not forget that any feeling of discomfort - hunger, fatigue, stress - can cause us anger, the true causes of which we often do not even know. Even a moderate feeling of discomfort, if prolonged, can make a person irritable or, in the language of psychology, lower his threshold for anger.
The restriction of physical freedom also serves as an activator of anger, as it causes discomfort or pain. It appears to be one of those pain stimuli that necessitate cognitive evaluation or interpretation - studies have shown that 4-month-olds respond to limited hand movement with an expression of anger.
Psychological restriction as a source of anger is similar to physical one, since it restricts a person’s freedom of action, but unlike the latter, it involves the participation of cognitive processes - a person must understand the meaning of rules and prohibitions and be aware of the possible consequences of their violation. Probably the first psychological limitation in a person's life is the one that parents tell their child grown out of diapers when he starts throwing food on the floor, tries to climb on the table or put his finger in the socket. Then it sounds more and more often, for the child, having begun to walk, tries to master territories unfamiliar to him and, in his thirst for exploration, is able to turn the whole house upside down. This period in a child's life can be called a period.
In addition, anger can be caused by wrong or unfair actions and deeds of others. And here it is not so much the action in itself that is important, but its interpretation by a person. In this case, a person, before getting angry, puts the blame on someone. So, Jonel blamed those doctors who failed to correctly diagnose her disease for her misfortunes. In her opinion, they were obliged to cure her, or they should have referred her to other specialists. The source of her anger was the belief that doctors could alleviate her suffering, but for some reason did not. If she had admitted that they were really incapable of alleviating her pain and suffering, because they did not sufficiently understand her condition and were convinced of the correctness of their treatment, She might not have felt such anger. Certain emotional states, like feeling pain, can also activate anger without the involvement of cognitive processes. So, prolonged sadness can be an activator of anger. In depression, sadness often goes hand in hand with anger. The feeling of disgust experienced by a person in relation to himself (when a girl, for example, considers herself), or disgust for other people, can cause anger in a person.
MIMIC EXPRESSION OF ANGER
On fig. Figure 11-2 shows the expression of anger on the face of a small child and on the face of an adult. Note that in both cases, the same facial muscles are involved and we observe the same mimic configuration. All external differences are explained by the fact that the skin of an infant, compared to the skin of an adult, is more elastic and has more fat deposits under it. That is why, where the skin of a child only slightly protrudes, swells, furrows and wrinkles form in an adult. The facial expression of anger includes very characteristic contractions of the frontal muscles and movements of the eyebrows. The eyebrows are lowered and brought together, the skin of the forehead is tightened, forming a slight thickening on the bridge of the nose or directly above it. At the same time, in an adult, deep vertical wrinkles lie between the eyebrows.
In newborns, the brow-frontal component of angry facial expressions is activated automatically and is practically not controlled. In an adult, it manifests itself in full force quite rarely, only with spontaneous, intense outbursts of anger. Around the end of the first year of life, children begin to develop the ability to control expressive facial expressions. This ability is partly due to the development of the brain, especially those of its mechanisms that allow the child to suppress or restrain the activity of the facial muscles, and partly is the result of learning and socialization. Thus, in the process of growing up and socialization, a person learns to control the above-described component of angry facial expressions, as a result of which the innate manifestations of anger are significantly softened and do not look so threatening.
Wrinkles on the bridge of the nose do not necessarily mean that the person is angry. Some people frown or move their eyebrows to the bridge of their noses in a state of focused attention. This is one of those facial movements that accompany the emotion of interest. A colleague of mine has a habit of raising her eyebrows when she is engaged in something, such as giving a lecture to students or listening carefully to an interlocutor. At the same time, she looks frowning and gloomy, as if she were angry. She told me that at such moments she is often asked if she is angry, when in fact she is just completely focused on what is happening. She admitted that she had to make an effort on herself to control the movements of her eyebrows. Fortunately, she knows how not only to frown, but quite often and willingly smiles.
If you notice the same habit in yourself, I advise you to spend a few extra minutes in front of the mirror and observe the expression on your face in order to see if it resembles an expression of anger. If so, then you should correct it. Whenever you notice that your eyebrows have knitted together, raise them slightly, but do not overdo it - otherwise your facial expression may be interpreted as sad. With the mimic expression of anger, changes in the area of ​​​​the eyes are noted. Due to the overhanging eyebrows, the eyes narrow and acquire an angular, pointed shape. They lose that softness that is usually associated with a rounded shape. In this case, the gaze is fixed on the source of irritation or anger, and this is an extremely important component of angry facial expressions, since it indicates where aggression will be directed.
With the innate expression of anger, which we can observe on the face of a newborn or small child, the mouth straightens, acquiring rectangular shape. The lips are compressed, turning into two thin parallel lines, while they may protrude slightly. The corners of the mouth lose their roundness and become sharply defined. Older children and adults often clench their teeth and tighten their lips when angry. Cross-cultural studies show that clenched teeth and tight lips are a universal way of expressing anger - similar facial expressions can be observed in representatives of both highly developed and preliterate cultures. Apparently, it arises in the process of socialization and is a modification of the innate mimic reaction of anger, suggesting the baring of teeth. Tightly compressed lips allow you to hide the evil grin, which probably leads to a decrease in the intensity of the emotional signal.
Thus, as a person develops and socializes, the innate mimic expression of anger undergoes a number of changes. A person learns to control the contraction of the frontal muscles; his gaze is not necessarily fixed on the source of irritation, he can look away to reduce the intensity of angry facial expressions. The congenital pattern of facial movements in the mouth area is also modified - bared teeth are hidden under tightly clenched lips (see Fig. 1 1-3) - or disappears altogether, and then the person only clenches his jaw and slightly grinds his teeth.
Rice. 11-3. A modified expression of anger that includes pursing the lips. (From Tomkins.)
It is necessary to carefully approach the interpretation of acquired mimic manifestations. People quite often frown, clench their teeth and look at the interlocutor point-blank, but these facial expressions do not always express anger. The more modified the innate expression of anger or any other emotion, the better you need to know the individual and the situation in order to understand what emotion he is experiencing.
SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE OF ANGER
In anger, a person feels that he has blood, his face is on fire, his muscles are tense. Feeling own strength prompts him to rush forward, attack the offender, and the stronger the anger, the greater the need for physical action, the more strong and energetic the person feels. In rage, the mobilization of energy is so great that it seems to a person that he will explode if he does not somehow give vent to his anger.
On fig. 11-4 shows the emotion profile for an imaginary situation of anger, revealed using. The diagram clearly shows that in the situation of anger, the pattern of emotions that we call the hostility triad, which includes the emotions of anger, disgust and contempt, dominates (lzard, 1972).
In a situation of anger average emotions of anger are higher than the averages of other major emotions in other emotionally negative situations. The mean values ​​of the emotions of disgust and contempt dynamically related to anger, which occupy the second and third places in the situation of anger, are also significantly increased.
The emotions that make up the phenomenological pattern of anger interact with each other, and this interaction provides a high level and clear direction of activity. In the situation of anger, there is also a moderate increase in the average measure of the emotion of sadness, which is not represented in the diagram and which is rather difficult to analyze as a component of the dynamic pattern of anger. As already noted, anger and sadness, according to Tomkins (Tornkins, 1963), are activated by similar shifts in neural activity, but this helps to explain only the presence of the emotion of sadness, not its role. We can only assume that the role of this emotion is to reduce the intensity of anger and the associated emotions of disgust and contempt. If anger breeds aggression, then sadness can become the basis of empathy - perhaps thanks to sadness, an angry person feels sympathy for the victim; thus, sadness can act as a kind of safety valve. It is also possible that as a result of the accumulation of social experience and training, a person in a situation of anger begins to experience sadness, since anger is not encouraged in our culture and because anger often arises from disappointment. It should be noted that in a situation of anger, in comparison with other emotionally negative situations, the emotion of fear is lower both in its absolute value and in rank, and this is explained by the fact that anger suppresses fear. The possible role of fear in a situation of anger, like the role of sadness, may be to weaken a potentially dangerous one.
The Bartlett-Izard study using PN (see Fig. 1 1-5) showed that in a situation of anger a person experiences great tension, which in its intensity is second only to tension in a situation of fear, as well as a significantly higher level of self-confidence than in any other emotionally negative situation. A sense of physical strength and a sense of self-confidence fill the individual with courage and courage. However, we do not always associate anger with courage, because in many cases anger is quickly replaced by fear or guilt in connection with possible consequences its manifestations.
This chart also shows that the experience of anger is accompanied by a strong sense of impulsivity. The quantitative value of the control parameter, not presented in the diagram, is lower in a situation of anger than in any other emotion. Although this difference is subtle, the combination of high impulsivity and low level control helps to understand why society sets limits and prohibitions on the manifestation of anger. A high level of muscle tension (strength), self-confidence and impulsivity give rise to an individual's readiness for an attack or other forms of physical activity. Anger is experienced by a person as a rather unpleasant feeling, this is evidenced by the fact that the indicator of the parameter of pleasure in a situation of anger is slightly lower than in situations of fear, sadness and guilt. The study also found that average extraversion scores were higher in anger situations than in situations of other negative emotions.
After experiencing anger, a person can be proud of what anger pushed him to, or regret the stupidity he committed - it depends on how justified, how fair his anger was.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EMOTION OF ANGER
Man, as he evolves and moves towards higher forms civilized life faced a wide variety of obstacles and dangers. The emotion of anger played unconditionally important role in overcoming some of these obstacles, she had importance for the survival of man as a species. Anger mobilizes a person's energy, instills in him a sense of confidence and strength, and therefore increases his ability to defend himself. As civilization developed, man felt less and less need for physical self-defense, and this function of anger was gradually reduced. Now many people, including behavioral scientists, tend to view the emotion of anger more as an annoying hindrance to behavior than to recognize its positive significance.
Modern man is still subject to anger and even rage, and this fact is considered by many ethologists as an example of a lag. biological evolution humanity from its cultural evolution. This approach implies the need to completely eliminate the emotion of anger from the repertoire of human manifestations. Except in rare cases of self-defense or the protection of loved ones, an angry attack by one person against another is almost always treated as a violation of legal and ethical codes. Direct manifestations of aggression not only cause damage to the victim, but also create serious trouble for the aggressor.
Complete exclusion, suppression of the emotion of anger seems to me unjustified and unreasonable. Anger is part of human nature. Of course, a person must be able to control his anger, but at the same time, he must be able to use it for his own benefit and the benefit of those close to him. A modern person rarely finds himself in a situation of physical threat, but quite often he has to defend himself psychologically, and in these cases, moderate, regulated anger, mobilizing a person’s energy, helps him defend his rights. If someone threatens your psychological integrity, they should be dealt with firmly and decisively, and a moderate feeling of anger can be the basis of this decisiveness. Your resentment will benefit not only you, but also the person who, by violating the law or the rules of conduct established by society, endangers your life and the lives of other people.
This does not mean that we can afford to show hostility towards another person whenever we feel angry. Hostility and aggression entail suffering not only for the victim, but also for the aggressor. But you will also suffer if you constantly leave unpunished the hostile manifestations of other people. Of course, there is no need to boil with anger every time you encounter a manifestation of aggression, but your image and your personal integrity will be at risk if you dutifully endure those insults, insults, bullying and displays of tactlessness that some aggressive or simply indifferent people allow themselves, insensitive people.
There are situations when a person feels that he can do nothing but swallow the resentment, although he later regrets that he did not protect himself. Remember Leslie, who struggled with her scoliosis? She experienced quite a few unpleasant, frustrating situations, when those around her laughed at her and insulted her, and she was angry and did not dare to speak in her defense. Below is her account of one such situation.
One day, on my way home on the school bus, I heard two high school girls whispering and laughing behind my back. I felt myself blushing and immersed myself in the book, trying to ignore them. But they began to make jokes about me, and now everyone around was laughing at me. Never in my life - neither before nor after this incident - have I experienced greater humiliation. The feelings that I experienced at that moment were so contradictory that I did not know what to do. I was angry at these girls and at all the other guys, I was very offended, because I knew that I did not deserve their contemptuous, arrogant attitude towards me. I was probably angry at myself too, because I didn't have the courage to answer them, to stop their bullying. I was afraid of them - they were larger and older than me and did not differ in exemplary behavior at all. I was ashamed of myself, for the fact that I dutifully endure these ridicule. And I was also surprised by their cruelty. I sat motionless, as if frozen. I must have been disconnected from what was happening, because I don’t remember how I got off the bus and got to the house. Because of my shame and embarrassment, I couldn't tell my parents what had happened, and from that day on I stopped riding the school bus. I was really afraid of these girls, I was afraid that everything would happen again, and therefore I tried to avoid meeting them. This was my usual reaction. I have always avoided confrontation with people who offended or upset me, rarely when I felt hostility towards people. But that incident never left my mind. Because of these girls, I began to feel ugly, they greatly shook my self-confidence. I felt disgusting - not only did I look terrible, I also turned out to be a terrible coward. I hated these girls and myself. I felt like I had been completely defeated.
A few years later Leslie would write: . Perhaps she did the right thing, because she was alone against two who were older and stronger than her, and she managed to avoid further confrontation with them. However, a person should be able to speak in his defense whenever possible; often the very attempt to defend yourself can turn in your favor those circumstances that were against you.
Of course, you should not pay attention to the insults and insults that a person accidentally inflicted on you due to his tactlessness or insensitivity, but on the other hand, if you are forced to live, work or communicate regularly with such a person and constantly suffer from his antics, a small proportion anger will only help you. Moderate anger will give you strength, courage and self-confidence, and will allow you to speak in your defense. If you often encounter such situations, you should develop the ability to protect yourself and even practice it in order to be able to control your anger and develop appropriate social skills.
DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIALIZATION OF ANGER
A longitudinal study by Izard and colleagues (lzard et al., 1987) examined children's emotional responses to the pain of diphtheria vaccination. By own experience and from the stories of those children who can already tell about their feelings, we know that these injections are extremely painful. Immunization against diphtheria involves a series of injections - at the age of two, four, six and eighteen months. The experimenters, studying the reactions of 25 children to a series of these injections, recorded on videotape their mimic manifestations, starting from the moment of injection and ending with the moment of extinction of the reaction (when the child stopped crying and began to demonstrate some kind of positive emotion).
This study provided a lot of valuable information about the development of emotions. We have found that starting at two months and continuing throughout early infancy (two to seven months), infants respond to this painful procedure with an automatic, instinctive response of physical distress, expressed by loud crying. At the moment of experiencing pain, the following mimic reaction is noted on the baby's face: his eyebrows are lowered and reduced to the bridge of the nose, his eyes are tightly closed. This contraction of the brow and eye muscles causes the skin to gather in one place and protrude at the base of the nose. The baby's mouth takes on a rectangular or angular shape, the cheeks rise and thickening also forms around the bridge of the nose.
An expression of horror, accompanied by piercing crying, is observed on the face of the infant for several seconds after the moment of injection, and can be regarded as an emergency reaction, like a cry for help. This extreme expressive behavior seems to devour all the energy of the baby, completely devastates the system of physiological and behavioral reactions. However, most of the children we observed, following this reaction, showed another: in 90% of cases, the mimic expression of physical suffering was replaced by a completely obvious, expanded expression of anger. During early infancy, this expression of anger did not appear on the face of the child until some time after the expression of suffering.
When these same children were vaccinated for the fourth time, they were about 19 months old and already able to walk. They clearly did not remember the nurse who gave them the injection the last time, and the sight of the syringe did not cause them horror or alarm. All their behavior prior to the injection indicated that the pain was a complete surprise to them, and they reacted to this unexpected sensation of pain with anger. Each of them showed a clear, extended expression of anger, and this facial expression dominated for quite a long time. In 72% of the children, an expression of physical suffering was also noted, but this extreme reaction, which in infancy was of a total character and absorbed all the energy of the child, was now rather short-lived. The remaining 28% of children showed no signs of physical suffering at all - most of the time when they were unbalanced, they expressed only anger and rage at the physical insult inflicted on them, which they were unable to prevent.
So, what patterns of emotional development can the discovered age-related changes in children's reactions to unexpected pain tell us about? First, they show that in early infancy the child is able to respond to unpleasant stimuli, in this case the sensation of pain, automatically and with instinctive precision. Unable to protect himself from the impact of an unpleasant stimulus, the infant directs all his energy to the expression of physical suffering, to a cry for help. For a helpless, defenseless infant, this is the most natural and most adaptive reaction. However, as the child gains the ability to avoid unpleasant stimulation or take certain actions in self-defense, this reaction gradually loses its adaptive value, and the all-consuming expression of physical suffering gives way to the expression of anger. In the event of unexpected painful stimulation, the emotion of anger is the most adaptive response, as it mobilizes the energy needed for self-defense. With the help of parents and caregivers, the child learns those forms of behavior that help him reduce the intensity of exposure to an unpleasant stimulus or avoid it. The most important thing in this aspect of socialization is to teach the child to distinguish situations in which action against the source of pain is necessary, from those situations in which such action would be inadequate. Thus, the child must be able not only to restrain and suppress his anger, but also to protect himself if necessary, directing the energy mobilized by anger into specific actions.
One study (Cummings, Zahn-Waxler, Radke-Yairow, 1981) found that young children can learn aggressive behaviors from watching their parents. Researchers studied the response of children aged between one and two and a half years to natural or simulated displays of anger from their parents. In 24% of the children they observed, the demonstration of the parents' anger caused an angry reaction. More than 30% of children showed physical aggression towards one or both parents, the rest of the children reacted with verbal aggression.
The fact that anger and aggression produce anger and aggression was demonstrated in a study by Main and George (Main and George, 1985). The study included two groups of children, average age which was two years. The experimental group included ten children who were regularly subjected to physical punishment by their parents, and the control group included ten children from families experiencing stress. Researchers studied children's reactions to suffering (crying, fear or panic) of their peers. For children in the control group, peer suffering elicited concern, compassion, or sadness, while children who experienced parental abuse often responded to peer suffering with anger and physical aggression. These data are consistent with data from researchers who have worked with parents who abuse their children. Obviously, the anger and aggression shown by the parents cause anger and aggression in the child. For example, Eron (1987) reports that eight-year-old boys he studied often identify with their aggressive fathers. In addition, Aaron found a positive correlation between the amount of time spent watching violent TV shows at age eight and the severity of offenses and crimes committed at age thirty.
ANGER AND AGGRESSION
I have already talked about the benefits of the emotion of anger, that it mobilizes a person's energy and allows him to take certain actions in order to protect himself. In this regard, it seems to me important to investigate the relationship between anger and aggression. To begin with, I will allow myself to state that science does not have data on a direct relationship (as in nervous system, and at the behavioral level) between the emotion of anger and aggressive behavior. I have said that anger mobilizes energy and that special training and anger management skills can be helpful in situations where a person needs to protect himself, but this does not mean that the emotion of anger necessarily leads to aggression.
Pain, anger and aggression
If a caged animal is subjected to irritating stimulation (heat, noise, electrical discharge), it can often be observed that it rushes at any target available to it. If there are two individuals in a cage, then painful stimulation can force them to fight with each other (Azrin, Hutchinson, McLaughlin, 1965). In some cases, however, animals do not show aggression towards each other, but try to avoid the impact of an unpleasant stimulus (Potegal, 1979): The reaction of the animal depends on intraspecific relationships, on physical condition animal, on a number of situational variables, such as the presence or absence of the ability to escape, as well as on the status of another animal (its sex, size and position).
Infants often respond to acute pain (eg, pain from a diphtheria injection) with facial expressions of anger (lzard et al., 1987), suggesting a genetic relationship between pain and anger. These data, coupled with data from animal responses to irritating stimulation (Berkowitz, 1983), support our hypothesis that pain is an innate activator of anger and aggressive tendencies. Whether or not urges to act become aggressive, however, depends on a number of intra-individual and situational variables.
ANGER AND PHYSICAL AGGRESSION
The relationship between anger and aggression is misinterpreted by many people. Anger is often viewed only as a harmful, pernicious emotion, even when the anger is well-founded and does not lead to any negative consequences. The emotion of anger does not necessarily generate aggressive behavior.
We can only argue that, under certain circumstances, anger can increase the likelihood of aggression. It is also true that the emotion of anger creates the impulse to action. However, many emotions give rise to a tendency to action. It is important to note that this is only a tendency to act, and not a direct command or order. The manifestations of anger that we observed in infants were not accompanied by a direct expression of aggression, which, however, was noted in older children (one and a half to two years old): those, experiencing anger, threw toys on the floor and kicked them. These behaviors appear to be the result of social learning. It can be assumed that such behavior is a joint function of the tendency to action generated by the emotion of anger, on the one hand, and social learning, on the other. But be that as it may, we know that most people, when experiencing anger, most often suppress or significantly reduce the tendency to act, both verbal and physical.
To put it more succinctly, anger creates a readiness for action. It mobilizes the strength and courage of a person. Perhaps in no other state does a person feel as strong and brave as in a state of anger. Anger, like any other emotion, involves neural activation, expressive behavior, and experience. Thought and action are not components of emotion. Thus, anger prepares us for action, but does not force us to act.
The action performed in anger is a joint function of emotional experience and cognitive assessment of the situation. For most people, cognitive appraisal of a situation tends to suppress or moderate the tendency to act, and this principle is confirmed by the results of the study conducted by Avril (Averill, 1983). Pursuing the task of identifying the causes and consequences of the emotion of anger, Avril collected descriptions of angry experiences compiled by 80 college students and 80 randomly selected people. Another 80 subjects described the feelings they experienced when they experienced someone else's anger.
The vast majority of subjects named as the cause of anger: 1) a deliberate unjustified act committed by someone (59%), or 2) an unpleasant event that could have been prevented (28%). Most of the subjects described angry feelings experienced by them in relation to a loved one or close person.
The descriptions of the subjects revealed a very wide range of angry reactions. Only 10% of 160 cases said that anger pushed a person to physical aggression, 49% of the subjects showed verbal aggression in anger. Non-aggressive reactions (for example, discussing the event that caused the anger) appeared in 60% of the descriptions. (The total rate is over 100% because some self-reports described several types of reactions.) Curiously, the ratio of beneficial to detrimental effects of anger cited in self-reported subjects was three to one. As favorable consequences of anger were named (76%), (50%) and (48%). The latter advantage has long been noted by psychotherapists who advise angry interlocutors (lzard, 1965). If a person freely expresses his anger, talks about the reasons that caused it, and allows the interlocutor to respond in kind, then he gains the opportunity to get to know his partner better and thereby only strengthens relations with him.
Experiencing anger, expressing anger and aggression
From a large number we will consider only a few works devoted to the problem of aggression, namely those in which the role of anger, expressive behavior and emotional communication was studied. Zimbardo's (1969) study showed that even the physical presence or absence of the victim influences aggressor behavior, suggesting that direct emotional communication may play an important role in regulating aggressive behavior. Unfortunately, few researchers are working in this direction, studying the impact of the behavior of the victim on the aggressor. A number of studies have shown that visual contact between the victim and the aggressor significantly affects the behavior of both parties; the results of these studies are summarized in the work of Ellsworth (1975) and in the work of Ex-line, Ellison and Long (Ex-line, Ellyson, Long, 1975).
In addition to studies of the role of visual contact, the bulk of the data on the influence of the behavior of the victim on the behavior of a potential aggressor was obtained by ethologists. Ethological studies have shown that expressive behavior often prevents or reduces overt manifestations of aggression in coral fish(Rasa, 1969), walruses (Le Boeuf and Peterson, 1969) and baboons (Kurnmer, 1968).
In monkeys, expressive behavior also serves as a factor in mitigating hostility, and hostility can be mitigated by both an expression of threat and an expression of submissiveness. In rhesus monkeys, displays of submissiveness range from a grimace of fear to assuming a posture of sexual submission, when one individual exposes his butt to another individual, as if inviting her to have sexual intercourse. Such expressive forms of communication usually reduce the likelihood of aggression (Hinde and Rowell, 1962). The expression of a threat can lead to different consequences, it depends on the status of the individual demonstrating the threat and the specific situation. So, for example, individuals with a high status, being on their own territory, successfully avoid collisions, demonstrating a threat. But an individual with a low status or an individual that is in someone else's territory, the expression of a threat can provoke an attack. Morris (1968) believes that people can prevent a potential aggressor from attacking by showing fear and submissiveness and avoiding threatening actions. However, this conclusion of Morris is based mainly on observations of animals.
It is impossible to unambiguously predict how expressive communication will affect the behavior of a potential aggressor - this process is influenced by various intra-individual and environmental factors. The complexity of the forecasting problem can be demonstrated by the following examples. In cases where the potential aggressor is not too angry or is well in control of his behavior, the expression of anger on the part of the potential victim can signal a counterattack that is undesirable for him and which he would prefer to avoid. Thus, the expression of a threat can prevent the further development of aggression. On the other hand, if the potential aggressor perceives himself as a winner, the manifestation of anger on the part of the potential victim can provoke even more aggression on his part. In short, hostile communication (carried out through the expression of affect) changes the threshold of aggression, but the direction of this change depends on social status communication participants, their territorial rights and a number of other factors.
The studies of Milgram (M11gat, 1963, 1964, 1964), although they are quite controversial from an ethical point of view, convincingly showed that the aggression shown by a person in relation to another person in response to demands, largely depends on the presence and proximity of the victim, that is from factors facilitating emotional communication". The degree of closeness varied from when there was no visual or vocal contact between the aggressor and the victim, to direct contact, when the subject himself placed the palm of the dummy subject on the panel, through which electrical discharge. The physical presence of the victim, which undoubtedly influenced the affective-cognitive state of the subject, acted as a powerful deterrent to aggression. The number of subjects who obeyed the experimenter and subjected their victim, despite her protests and cries, to an electric shock of maximum force (indicated by words) varied from 66% under conditions to 30% under conditions of direct contact. Thus, despite the deterrent role of direct contact, a significant part of the subjects (30%) from a random sample were ready to risk the life of another person under the influence (of the experimenter). The fact that aggression is reduced due to direct contact with the victim is consistent with the concept of individualization as a deterrent to aggression (Zirnbardo, 1969) and with the arguments of ethologists (Ardrey, 1966; Lorenz, 1966) that the development of new types of weapons mass destruction, capable of killing people over long distances, increases the likelihood of wars. In future wars, the victim will no longer be able to prevent the attack or influence the behavior of the aggressor through emotional expression.
A number of studies have attempted to study the effects of non-verbal communication, but the results of these studies are rather contradictory. Thus, some researchers (Wheeler, Caggiula, 1966; Feshbach, Stiles, Bitner, 1967; Hartman, 1969) found that manifestations of pain on the part of the victim caused an increase in aggression, and in the last two of the listed studies detailed description S. Milgram's experiment can be found in the book. D. Myers. Social Psychology. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 1997.
Go, who was supposed to act as an aggressor, was previously insulted. However, other researchers (Buss, 1966; Baron, 1971 a, b) report that the manifestation of pain on the part of the victim is a deterrent to aggression. Perhaps one of the reasons for this discrepancy between the results in these studies is the lack of a clear definition of emotional state the subject, his position in relation to the dummy subject who played the role of the victim, as well as the nature of the non-verbal signals given by the victim. Often, these non-verbal cues are described simply as without specifying their specifics; the exception is Baron's study (Baron, 1971a, b), which found a significant reduction in aggression as a result of pain signals. In this study, to assess the degree of pain of the current shocks, the subjects used a special device called by the experimenters. However, despite the specifics of such feedback, its drawback is that it excludes the possibility of direct contact between the victim and the aggressor.
In the experiments of Savitsky and Izard (Savitsky, lzard, 1974), a dummy subject, who played the role of a victim, demonstrated quite definite mimic reactions to a potential aggressor. Half of the subjects (aggressors) were insulted by the victim, and the other half met with a completely neutral attitude of the victim. The task of the subjects was to force them to memorize a series of words, applying an electric shock in case of incorrect answers. Some subjects, following the application of an electric shock, observed fear on the face of the victim, others - anger, still others - joy, and fourth - a neutral reaction.
The experiment found that only two types of emotional expression of the victim can significantly affect the aggression of the subject. The subjects, who observed a smile on their face, increased the strength of the current - it seemed to them that they did not cause any harm to a person, that he enjoyed the task. expressed pleasure in receiving punishment, and the subject, apparently, took pleasure in punishing. It is possible that some subjects increased the current strength in order to make them take the task more seriously.
Subjects who observed the expression of anger on their faces weakened the force of the blow. The motive for such a reduction of aggression could be thoughts about the subsequent retribution or about an unpleasant collision with. It is possible that the expression of anger on the face was perceived by the subjects as an expression of threat and thus served as a direct brake on aggression.
Stability of aggressive behavior
Despite the fact that the relationship between anger and aggression has not yet been thoroughly investigated, there are two points that are not in doubt. For most people, the emotion of anger does not lead to aggressive behavior. However, in certain cases - and these cases, perhaps, with a certain degree of regularity are repeated in the lives of some people - anger leads to physical or verbal aggression.
Neither manifestations of anger nor manifestations of aggression show a tendency to age-related changes, which allows us to consider them as a personality trait. Infants who, at two to seven months of age, exhibited violent angry reactions to the pain of an anti-diphtheritic injection also reacted angrily to the procedure at 19 months (lzard et al., 1987). Similarly, infants who reacted with anger to a short-term separation from their mother at 13 months showed the same reaction at 18 months of age (Hyson and lzard, 1985).
Extensive longitudinal studies on the problem of aggression revealed a high level of correlation of aggressive behavior at all stages: with a time interval of up to three years, it is 0.70-0.90, and with an interval of 21 years - 0.40-0.50 (Olweus , 1980, 1982; Parke and Slaby, 1983). Thus, it can be predicted with reasonable certainty that an aggressive infant will become an equally aggressive child, and an aggressive child is likely to grow into an aggressive adult. One of the factors responsible for this persistence of aggressive behavior seems to be the threshold for the emotion of anger. People with a low threshold for anger (aggressive motivation) are more likely to experience this emotion. Although anger does not necessarily lead to aggression, experiencing anger frequently increases the likelihood of some forms of aggressive behavior.
Consequences of suppressing anger expression
Holt (Holt, 1970) argues that the suppression of angry expression or the prohibition of it can disrupt the adaptation of the individual. The concept of Holt includes both actual expressive manifestations (mimic, vocal), and aggressive actions, and above all verbal aggression. The expression of anger and related behavior can be constructive when the angered individual wants to
...to establish, restore or maintain positive relationships with others. He acts and speaks in such a way as to express his feelings sincerely and unequivocally, while maintaining sufficient control over them so that their intensity does not exceed the level that convinces them of their truth (Holt, 1970, pp. 8-9).
In order for John to benefit from his anger, he must fully and clearly show others how he perceives the situation and how it makes him feel, as well as explain why the situation affects him in this way. Holt believes that it is this form of behavior that creates the possibility of open two-way communication, which cannot be. In turn, a destructive expression of anger and verbal aggression occurs when a person seeks a communication partner at any cost.
Holt cites clinical data supporting the assumption that a person who constantly suppresses his anger, does not have the opportunity to adequately express it in behavior, is more at risk of psychosomatic disorders. Unexpressed anger, although not the only reason psychosomatic symptoms, (Holt, 1970, p. 9). Data from recent clinical studies also show that people who are used to suppressing all negative emotions are more likely to suffer from psychological and physical illness(Wopappo and Singer, 1990; Schwartz, 1990; Weinberger, 1990).
Considering the problem of expressing anger and aggressive tendencies, it is impossible not to touch upon the problem of sexual dimorphism. Numerous animal experiments have shown that the male hormone testosterone has something to do with aggressive behavior: when young female rats and monkeys were injected with testosterone, they became more aggressive. Aggression is often associated with sexual potency, but this relationship is apparently due not only to biological, but also to cultural factors. Too many people see aggressiveness as a sign of masculinity. Often a man, fearing that his son will grow up to be a coward or become a homosexual, consciously or unconsciously encourages manifestations of aggression in him.
Aggression and the need for self-knowledge
In his book, Richardson (1960) indicates that in the 126 years between 1820 and 1945, during various skirmishes, quarrels and conflicts, a person killed one of his fellow men every 68 seconds. The number of people killed during this time amounted to 59,000,000 people.
Tinbergen came to the conclusion that, judging by the desire of a person to exterminate his own kind, he can be characterized as a hardened killer. He's writing:
There is a frightening and ironic paradox in the fact that the human brain, the most perfect creation of evolution, which ensured the survival of man as a species, has made us so powerful in controlling the outside world that we can no longer control ourselves. The cortex and stem of the human brain (ours and ours) are in a very bad relationship with each other. Together they created a new social environment, but instead of ensuring our survival in it, they act in the opposite direction. Our brain constantly feels a threat, and this threat is generated by itself. He made his own enemy. And now we have to realize what kind of enemy it is (Tinbergen, 1968, p. 1416).
Some writers and scientists believe that a person develops due to conflicts and crises. The brilliant American playwright Thornton Wilder in his drama paints a picture of the development of mankind from prehistoric times to the modern era, leading a person through a series of crises and upheavals - from the onset of glaciers during ice age before atomic bomb and destroyed most of humanity. The great historian Toynbee argued that humanity rises to new levels of development, accepting the challenges that circumstances throw at it. Gardner Murphy puts it this way:
Man, if he wants to be a man, must be able to create instruments of destruction and must be able not to use them. Man is a special animal, he lives from crisis to crisis, and his nature is manifested in overcoming these crises. He will also overcome the crises of the present age, for he continues to be human (Murphy, 1958, p. 3).
Of course, crises and their overcoming allow a person to understand himself deeper. However, in modern era the danger of insurmountable crises is too great, such as, for example, total nuclear war. Thus, humanity is again experiencing a crisis, it is forced to realize the need to overcome its dependence on crises. We must accept as a crisis of our time the need for a deeper understanding of human nature, awareness of its animal nature, which manifests itself in a person's practically unlimited ability to act aggressively, including the destruction of his own kind.
A person is capable not only of manifestations of hostility and aggression, which are various offenses, murders, global conflicts and crises - he knows how to hide committed crimes, knows how to avoid punishment. Recall the tragedy that unfolded on May 14, 1970, on a black college campus, when a highway patrol, supported by city police and hundreds of guardsmen, opened fire on a crowd of black students, killing two people and injuring dozens. A psychologist, a group of lawyers and a presidential commission independently investigating the case came to the conclusion that the police used their weapons unjustifiably. However, the jury, which decided the issue of bringing charges, dismissed all the arguments of the lawyers, and the perpetrators of the tragedy were not brought to trial. The Presidential Commission said that the police not only shot people unnecessarily, but also lied to their superiors and FBI investigators in order to avoid punishment. Based on the statistics of such incidents, even then it was possible to assume with a sufficient degree of certainty that the perpetrators of the tragedy would go unpunished. And subsequent years confirmed the validity of this assumption.
TRIAD OF HOSTILITY
The results of many studies on the emotion of anger suggest that anger is often activated simultaneously with the emotions of disgust and contempt. If you ask a person to imagine some situation that could make him angry, and then ask him to describe his feelings, then he will most likely name such feelings as anger, contempt and disgust. We have already mentioned that hostility experienced by a person in relation to himself is an essential aspect of depressive symptoms. This triad of hostility seems to figure in some types of aggression as well.
I want to reiterate that situations often perceived by people as situations that provoke "anger" can in fact also provoke emotions of disgust and contempt. A person can experience these hostile feelings both towards himself and towards other people. Although these emotions are often activated at the same time, each of them has its own distinctive features and contributes something different to the thinking and behavior of a person, so in the next chapter we will look at the distinctive characteristics of the emotions of disgust and contempt.
SUMMARY
Anger, disgust, and contempt are discrete emotions in their own right, but they often interact with each other. Situations that activate anger often activate the emotions of disgust and contempt to some extent. In any combination, these three emotions can become the main affective component of hostility.
Most of the causes that cause the emotion of anger fall under the definition of frustration. Pain and prolonged sadness can act as natural (innate) activators of anger.
The mimic reaction of anger involves furrowing the eyebrows and baring the teeth or pursing the lips. The experience of anger is characterized by high levels of tension and impulsivity. In anger, a person feels much more confident than with any other negative emotion.
The adaptive functions of anger are more evident from an evolutionary perspective than from Everyday life. Anger mobilizes the energy necessary for self-defence, gives the individual a sense of strength and courage. Self-confidence and a sense of one's own strength stimulate the individual to defend his rights, that is, to defend himself as a person. Thus, the emotion of anger performs a useful function in life as well. modern man. In addition, moderate, controlled anger can be used therapeutically to suppress fear.
For heuristic purposes, differential emotion theory distinguishes between hostility (affective-cognitive processes), affective expression (including angry and hostile expression), and aggressive acts. We deliberately narrowed the concept of aggression. By aggression we mean verbal and physical actions of an offensive or harmful nature.
The emotional profile of an imaginary situation of anger resembles the emotional profile of a situation of hostility. The pattern of emotions observed during the experience of anger is similar to the pattern of emotions in situations of hostility, disgust and contempt, although in the last two emotionally significant situations there are potentially important differences in the severity and in the ordinal ranks of indicators of individual emotions.
Anger, disgust and contempt interact with other affects as well as with cognitive structures. Stable interactions between any of these emotions and cognitive structures can be seen as a personality indicator of hostility. Managing the emotions of anger, disgust and contempt presents a certain problem for a person. The unregulated influence of these emotions on thinking and behavior can lead to serious adaptation disorders and the development of psychosomatic symptoms.
Some research suggests that emotional communication plays an important role in interpersonal aggression. As other factors of aggression, researchers name the degree of physical proximity and the presence of visual contact between the participants in communication, however, these data are clearly not enough to fully understand destructive aggression and learn how to regulate it.
The emotion of anger does not necessarily lead to aggression, although it is one of the components of aggressive motivation. Aggressive behavior is usually due to a number of factors - cultural, family, individual. Displays of aggression can be observed even in young children. Research shows that aggressive children (that is, children who do not have social behavior skills) tend to exhibit aggressive or criminal behavior as adults. These data suggest that the level of aggressiveness is an innate characteristic of the individual and, as he grows up, acquires the character of a stable personality trait.
Unlike manifestations of aggression, the experience and expression of anger can have positive consequences, especially in cases where a person retains sufficient control over himself. For the most part, adequate expression of anger not only does not lead to a breakdown in relationships, but sometimes even strengthens them. However, it must be remembered that any manifestation of anger is associated with some degree of risk, since it can potentially lead to negative consequences. But the habit of constantly suppressing your anger can cause even more serious consequences.
FOR FURTHER READING
Averill J. R. Studies on anger and aggression: Implications for the theory of emotions. - American Psychologist, 1983,38,1145-1162.
The signs of the causes and consequences of anger are brought together. The results are interpreted in the spirit of the socio-cognitive (constructivist) theory of emotions.
Berkowitz L. On the formation and regulation of anger and aggression: A cognitive-neoasso-ciationistic analysis. - American Psychologist, 1990, 45(4), 494-503.
A summary article that discusses the relationship between negative affect. negative thoughts, anger and aggression. A cognitive-associative model of emotions is presented.
Cummings E. M., Zahn-Waxler C., Radke-Yarrov) M. Young children "s responses to expressions of anger and affection by others in the family. - Child Development, 1981, 52, 1274-1282.
Examples are presented of the fact that children at the age of one and a half perceive manifestations of anger and affection from other people and this affects them.
Lewis M., Alessandri S. M., Sullivan M. W. Violation of expectancy, loss of control and anger expression in young infants. - Developmental Psychology, 1990, 26(5), 745-751.
Violation of expectations that occurs with object-based learning, or frustration that develops with the extinction of play behavior, apparently leads to the manifestation of anger in 2-8-month-old infants.
Weiner B., Graham S., Chandler C. Pity, anger and guilt: An attributional analysis.-Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1982, 8(2), 226-232.
Anger and other emotions are considered as derivatives of the perception of provocation. This analysis is based on the attributive theory.