Ageless Nature of Anger Expression in Tamil Culture

Abstract

Anger is the most common emotion that differs from person to person in its expression. Traditional Tamil culture gives pride over anger expression in terms of its manifestation, suppression and management. This research study was designed to compare youth (Age 15-24) and middle-adults (Age 35-60) in anger expression. A sample of 175 participants from two age groups from Tamil Nadu were selected through snowball sampling technique. Anger expression was assessed using Cayubit’s Anger Expression Type Indicator Test (AETIT). The chi-square test for independence was used to analyse the data. The results of the study show that significant differences were not found between the two age groups in anger expression. Further implications of this study can be to investigate the ethnic differences and its influence on anger expression as a trait and behaviour. In this context, anger expression could also be theorized as one of the causes and attributes of community violence. In addition to this, future research could also examine the absence of validation of other emotions in Tamil society.