Effects Of Anger Research Articles

Anger has benefits for attaining goals.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 126(4) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2024-93961-001). In the article (https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa 0000350), the first paragraph in the Method section of Study 4 has been revised. All paragraphs in the Results section of Study 4 have been revised. Table 1 and Figure 5 have been updated. All versions of this article have been corrected.] Functional accounts of emotion have guided research for decades, with the core assumption that emotions are functional-they improve outcomes for people. Based on functional accounts of emotion, we theorized that anger should improve goal attainment in the presence of challenges. In seven studies, goal attainment was assessed in situations that involved varying levels of challenges to goal attainment. Across studies, anger compared to a neutral condition resulted in behavior that facilitated greater goal attainment on tasks that involved challenges. With a goal to solve difficult puzzles, anger resulted in more puzzles correctly solved (Study 1). With a goal to attain prizes, anger increased cheating rates and numbers of unearned prizes (Study 2). With a goal to do well in a video game, anger increased scores on a game with challenges to be avoided, but not other scores (Study 3). In two studies, examining the consequences of anger in response to the challenging task that was the focus of that anger, anger decreased reaction time with goals to win trials (Study 4), and predicted making the effort to vote in two contentious elections (Study 5). With a goal to protect financial resources, anger increased action taken to prevent loss compared to a physiological arousal condition (Study 6). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Correction to "Anger has benefits for attaining goals" by Lench et al. (2023).

Reports an error in "Anger has benefits for attaining goals" by Heather C. Lench, Noah T. Reed, Tiffany George, Kaitlyn A. Kaiser and Sophia G. North (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Advanced Online Publication, Oct 30, 2023, np). In the article (https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa 0000350), the first paragraph in the Method section of Study 4 has been revised. All paragraphs in the Results section of Study 4 have been revised. Table 1 and Figure 5 have been updated. All versions of this article have been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2024-17814-001.) Functional accounts of emotion have guided research for decades, with the core assumption that emotions are functional-they improve outcomes for people. Based on functional accounts of emotion, we theorized that anger should improve goal attainment in the presence of challenges. In seven studies, goal attainment was assessed in situations that involved varying levels of challenges to goal attainment. Across studies, anger compared to a neutral condition resulted in behavior that facilitated greater goal attainment on tasks that involved challenges. With a goal to solve difficult puzzles, anger resulted in more puzzles correctly solved (Study 1). With a goal to attain prizes, anger increased cheating rates and numbers of unearned prizes (Study 2). With a goal to do well in a video game, anger increased scores on a game with challenges to be avoided, but not other scores (Study 3). In two studies, examining the consequences of anger in response to the challenging task that was the focus of that anger, anger decreased reaction time with goals to win trials (Study 4), and predicted making the effort to vote in two contentious elections (Study 5). With a goal to protect financial resources, anger increased action taken to prevent loss compared to a physiological arousal condition (Study 6). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Translating emotions

Abstract This paper is a corpus-based study of how translation affects the portrayal of emotion concepts. It aims to establish whether there are differences between translated texts and original texts in a given language as to how emotions are expressed and whether emotion conceptualization in the translated texts is closer to that of the source or the target language. To do so, the study focuses on one emotion in a specific language combination: the conceptual domain of anger in German and Spanish. In a first step, analysis of two large reference corpora provides a contrastive description of the concept anger as represented by prototypical emotion lexemes in both languages (Wut, Zorn and Ärger in German and ira, rabia, enojo in Spanish). Then, the parallel corpus COVALT is used to study three aspects of the expression of anger in Spanish translated texts: conceptual metaphor, physical effects and consequences of the emotion. Analysis of the use of conceptual metaphor shows that both source and target language preferences are present in the target texts. A more marked deviation from target language conventions can be observed in the translation of expressions referring to the physical effects or consequences of anger.

Aptness Isn’t Enough: Why We Ought to Abandon Anger

AbstractAccording to the Fittingness Defense, even if the consequences of anger are overall bad, it does not follow that we should aim to avoid it. This is because fitting anger involves an accurate appraisal of wrongdoing and is essential for appreciating injustice and signaling our disapproval (Srinivasan 2018; Shoemaker 2018). My aim in this paper is to show that the Fittingness Defense fails. While accurate appraisals are prima facie rational and justified on epistemic grounds, I argue that this type of fittingness does not vindicate anger because there are alternative modes of recognizing and appreciating wrongdoing that can generate the benefits of anger without the harmful effects. Moreover, anger involves more than its appraisal of wrongdoing—it also consists of attitudes and motivations that are arguably of intrinsic disvalue.

Trajectories and Correlates of Anger During the Perinatal Period

ObjectivesTo investigate trajectories of anger during pregnancy and the early postpartum period; to identify baseline psychosocial predictors of anger trajectory group membership; and to examine correlates of anger trajectory group membership, including symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and social support, in the postpartum period. DesignLongitudinal descriptive design. SettingWe recruited participants from a maternity clinic in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. ParticipantsThe sample included a convenience sample of 143 pregnant women who had basic fluency in English, were older than 17 years of age, and were less than 19 weeks gestation with a single fetus at the time of recruitment. MethodsParticipants completed online questionnaires at four time points: early, mid-, and late pregnancy and 2 months after birth. We used group-based semiparametric mixture modeling to estimate patterns of anger. We used multinomial logistic regression to explore associations between baseline predictors and trajectory membership. ResultsWe identified four distinct trajectories of anger during pregnancy through 2 months after birth: minimal-stable anger (55%), mild-stable anger (24%), moderate-stable anger (14%), and high-decreasing anger (7%). Membership in the moderate-stable group was associated with greater baseline symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia severity scores compared to the minimal-stable anger group. Moderate-stable trajectory group membership was also associated with greater symptoms of anxiety, depression, and insomnia at 2 months after birth. ConclusionHigher levels of anger were associated with worse mental health in pregnancy and after childbirth in our participants. Women should be made aware of anger as a possible mood disturbance by clinicians, and researchers should investigate the consequences of anger during the perinatal period.

Comparison of Non-suicidal Self-Injury and Suicide Attempts in Relation to Anger Rumination.

Angry rumination (AR) defined as thinking about the causes and consequences of anger by focusing on the feelings and experiences of anger can trigger suicide attempts and non-suicidal self-injury. The purpose of this study was to compare subjects with non-suicidal self-injury and subjects with suicide attempts in relation to anger rumination and also to determine if there is a relationship between anger rumination with non-suicidal self-injury and suicide attempts, and if so, to determine the direction of this relationship. In this study, 42 subjects with suicide attempts and 42 subjects with non-suicidal self-injury were included. Sociodemographic Data Form, Beck Depression Inventory, and Anger Rumination Scale were applied to all participants, Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire to those with suicide attempts, and Inventory of Statements About Self-Injury to those with non-suicidal self-injury. Those with non-suicidal self-injury group had significantly higher thoughts of revenge (P = .038), angry afterthoughts (P = .047), and a higher total score of Anger Rumination Scale (P = .025) than those with suicide attempts group. The Beck Depression Inventory scores of suicide attempts group were significantly higher than those of non-suicidal self-injury group (P = .001). A positive and significant correlation was found between Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire and Anger Rumination Scale-total score (r = 0.322, P = .037) and Beck Depression Inventory score (r = 0.440, P = .004). Individuals with non-suicidal self-injury have more anger rumination, angry afterthoughts, and revenge-related thoughts following anger experiences than individuals with suicide attempts. As the severity of suicidal behavior of individuals with suicide attempts increases, so does their anger rumination. Our study may shed light on a better understanding of non-suicidal self-injury and suicide attempts and even contribute to intervention programs for these behaviors.

Anger and Aggression: A New Beginning?

Within our civilian population, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has become a major health problem. Consequences of anger and aggression have resulted in incarceration rates which place the United States as the world's leader with 2.2 million people in prisons and jails. The current treatment of anger and aggression is based primarily on theories that were developed in the early 1980s. Advances in neuroscientific knowledge have exponentially added to our understanding of the underlying biological basis and neuroanatomy of violence and aggression. Through a binaural sound‐based non‐verbal intervention, we have found a key to unlock long‐term memory (Reconsolidation) that facilitates rapid remediation of anger and violence issues. Within our Pilot Study findings, a number of our combat‐veterans with Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) experienced a positive transformation in their capacity to evidence empathy, intimacy and social engagement as contrasted with their prior isolative tendencies. We extrapolate how this intervention might positively impact those engaged in Anger Management (AM) and IPV programs.

Antecedents and consequences of anger among restaurant employees

This study sought to identify pertinent antecedents and consequences of anger in the foodservice industry. Further, this study investigated differences in the way that anger affected part-time and full-time employees across individual and organizational factors. Online survey questionnaires were distributed to panel participants who worked part- or full-time in the foodservice industry. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to test the proposed research model. Multi-group analysis was applied to detect the potential differences between part- and full-time employees. The results of this study revealed that emotional stability and distributive justice negatively influenced anger and that anger then negatively influenced work-life balance. Across groups, it was found that distributive justice reduced part-time employee anger more effectively than it did the full-time employees and work-life balance positively increased career satisfaction more strongly for part-time than full-time employees. Results suggest that it is important for part-time employees to perceive distributive justice and work-life balance in order to mitigate anger and increase career satisfaction, more so than full-time employees. This study provides evidence for how anger, an inescapable, negative emotion, is influenced by individual and environmental factors, and how it influences employee behavior for part- and full-time employees. The study also builds on extant understanding of work-related stress by extending its application to the foodservice context.

Angry Men: On Emotions and Masculinities in Samarqandī's <em>Sindbād-nāmeh</em>

Ẓahīrī Samarqandī's Sindbād-nāmeh, written ca. 1160-1164 CE, is the oldest extant Persian version of the frame tale known as "The Seven Sages." Through a comparison with near-contemporary ethics, this article argues that the Sindbād-nāmeh provided "working through emotion" tales for its male readership. Some of the tales in the Sindbād-nāmeh typically presented as warning against the dangers of haste are, on a deeper level, narrating the consequences of anger, or in some cases, fear. Furthermore, stories framed as 'wiles of women tales' also warn against other 'vices of the soul' such as excessive appetite or desire, while other tales address male sexual anxieties.

Effects of Anger Rumination on Different Scenarios of Anger: An Experimental Investigation.

Anger rumination has been defined as a repetitive thinking style focused on causes and consequences of anger. Different studies have shown the role of anger rumination as a maintaining factor for emotional arousal and stress that can lead to behavioral dysregulation. The present study aims at investigating whether the role of anger rumination in increasing anger is different with respect to different anger scenarios. Moreover, effects of anger rumination on anger will be compared with the effects of 2 different thinking styles (cognitive reappraisal and distraction). Participants were asked to complete a batch of questionnaires assessing trait and state anger and anger rumination; after that, they were asked to identify themselves in different scenarios aimed at eliciting anger for different reasons. Finally, a specific thinking style was induced by reading some suggestions to each participant. Levels of anger were recorded before and after each induction. The type of scenario did not show any influence on levels of anger. All the thinking styles reduced levels of anger, and anger rumination had the smallest impact on anger measurements with respect to reappraisal and distraction. Scenarios did not show any meditational effect on the predicting power of the thinking styles on levels of arousal. Among induced thinking styles, anger rumination led to higher levels of anger, whereas cognitive reappraisal and distraction led to a greater reduction in levels of anger.

Resolving Spiritual Struggle of Anger Toward God: Christian Counseling Approaches

Anger toward God is the one of common spiritual struggles among Christian clients. Specifically, clients who experience traumatic events such as car accidents, sudden death of loved ones, or natural disasters of natures may feel anger at God. At that time, an existential question such as “Why me?” will be occurred with anger, confusion, or feeling of abandonment. However, clients may deny or repress it because they fear God’s punishment, feel guilty about their lack of faith. Denying or repressing it will leave them with unresolved anger at God. Unresolved anger toward God is the most harmful factor of destructing one’s relationship with God that can lead to ‘emotional atheism.’ Therefore, dealing with unresolved anger toward God is an important matter for recovery of their relationship with God. To provide effective interventions for resolving anger toward God, biblical understanding of anger, causes and consequences of anger at God are explained frist. Examples of biblical characters who honestly expressed feeling of abandonment or anger to God provide good insights to encouraging clients to openly process and cry out to God. Counseling techniques of exploring the anger, and rebuilding trust in and intimacy with God can help clients to experience spiritual growth like Job (Job 42:5).

Anger: The unrecognized emotion in emotional disorders.

Anger plays a prominent definitional role in some psychological disorders currently widely scattered across DSM-5 categories (e.g., intermittent explosive disorder, borderline personality disorder). But the presence and consequences of anger in the emotional disorders (e.g., anxiety disorders, depressive disorders) remain sparsely examined. In this review, we examine the presence of anger in the emotional disorders and find that anger is elevated across these disorders and, when it is present, is associated with negative consequences, including greater symptom severity and worse treatment response. Based on this evidence, anger appears to be an important and understudied emotion in the development, maintenance, and treatment of emotional disorders.

Feeling Without Thinking? Anger Provocation Task Predicts Impaired Cognitive Performance in Bipolar Disorder but not Major Depression or Healthy Adults

Elevated anger and impairments in executive functioning are prominent features of bipolar disorder (BD). Given that anger has been found to interfere with some aspects of cognition in healthy individuals, it is possible that heightened anger could compromise cognitive processing even more substantially among individuals with BD. Despite the important clinical and psychosocial implications of such an effect, the precise consequences of anger for cognition in BD are not well understood. To address this, the present study employed a validated anger provocation task and examined its impact on performance of an arithmetic task, assessing both accuracy (number of correct responses) and task engagement (number of responses made) among adults with remitted bipolar I disorder (BD; n = 27), healthy non-psychiatric controls (CTL; n = 29), and a clinical control group of adults with remitted depression (MDD; n = 29). Results revealed that individuals with BD uniquely declined in the number of responses made across the task. In addition, self-reported anger was predictive of reduced task performance among individuals with BD. These results suggest that elevated anger may add to existing executive impairments in BD, compromising these individuals’ ability to remain engaged in cognitively demanding tasks in the context of anger.

The Emotional Experience and Expression of Anger: Children’s Perspectives

The purpose of this study was to explore and identify key themes related to a child’s experience of anger. The existing literature on children’s emotional experiences stems from adult perceptions and interpretations; this study was envisioned to investigate the experience of anger among children using their own words. Furthermore, this study was designed to illustrate a contextual perspective of children’s emotional knowledge, so that teachers, social workers, counsellors and other child mental health professionals may be able to relate and interpret children’s emotional experiences. Participants were male and female students, aged 8–9 years and in a regular grade three classroom within a community school. Through the use of semi-structured interview focus groups conducted over a span of 10 weeks, participants were invited to disclose their understandings of anger and how they experienced it. Results were analyzed via a content analysis that resulted in five themes. These themes consisted of understanding anger, origins of anger, consequences of anger, regulation and resolution of anger, and finally relations with others. Results and implications of the findings were discussed.

What Triggers Anger in Everyday Life? Links to the Intensity, Control, and Regulation of These Emotions, and Personality Traits.

Why do people experience anger? Most of our knowledge on anger-triggering events is based on the study of reactions at a single time point in a person's life. Little research has examined how people experience anger in their daily life over time. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive examination of the situational determinants of anger over the course of 3 weeks. Using daily diary methodology, people (N = 173; 2,342 anger episodes) reported their most intense daily anger and, with an open-ended format, described the trigger. Participants also answered questions on anger intensity, control, and regulatory strategies, along with baseline personality trait measures. Using an iterative coding system, five anger trigger categories emerged: other people, psychological and physical distress, intrapersonal demands, environment, and diffuse/undifferentiated/unknown. Compared with other triggers, when anger was provoked by other people or when the source was unknown, there was a stronger positive association with anger intensity and lack of control. Personality traits (i.e., anger, mindfulness, psychological need satisfaction, the Big Five) showed few links to the experience and regulation of daily anger. Although aversive events often spur anger, the correlates and consequences of anger differ depending on the source of aversion; personality traits offer minimal value in predicting anger in daily life.

Impact of anger on the health-related quality of life of multiple sclerosis patients

Background: There is evidence of the presence of a disturbed pattern of anger in multiple sclerosis (MS). Emotion changes, including anger, are thought to influence health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, although deleterious consequences of anger on physical health have been well reported, there are no studies that have analysed the effects of anger on the HRQoL in patients with MS. Our purpose was to assess the extent to which anger impacts on the HRQoL of a cohort of MS patients. Methods: One hundred and fifty-seven consecutive MS patients were enrolled in the study. Participants were administered affective trait measures (Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory) and anger measures (the Spanish adapted version of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2). HRQoL was quantified using the Functional Assessment of MS. Results: Linear regression analyses revealed that even after controlling for socio-demographic and clinical variables, higher levels of anger expression-in (tendency to handle anger by keeping it inside) independently predicted worse overall HRQoL of MS patients (β = −0.15, p = 0.04). We further found that this relationship was moderated by gender, showing that anger expression-in is a more influential predictor of the HRQoL in women with MS. Conclusion: The present study provides evidence that anger negatively affects the HRQoL of MS patients. Our results may have implications for those involved in treating emotional complications of MS and especially regarding psychotherapeutic interventions to improve HRQoL of MS patients.

The Causes, Course, and Consequences of Anger Problems in Veterans Returning to Civilian Life

While anger is a common problem for veterans returning from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, veterans' understanding of the causes, course, and consequences of anger has not been explored. We conducted this qualitative study to learn veterans' perspectives about their anger problems. We identify and describe three distinct patterns of anger problems that emerged as a consequence of (a) loss of structure during reintegration to civilian life, (b) moral injury sustained through a wartime experience, and (c) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While anger problems tended to be short lived for those experiencing loss of structure, problems persisted for years for those with moral injury or PTSD. Anger following all three patterns negatively impacted veterans' experiences with reintegration. We discuss the implications of these findings.

Anger and Prosocial Behavior

Anger is often primarily portrayed as a negative emotion that motivates antagonistic, aggressive, punitive, or hostile behavior. We propose that this portrayal is too one-sided. A review of the literature on behavioral consequences of anger reveals evidence for the positive and even prosocial behavioral consequences of this emotion. We outline a more inclusive view of anger and its role in upholding cooperative and moral behavior, and suggest a possible role of equity concerns. We also suggest new predictions and lines of research derived from our perspective.

Emotional Expressions in Antismoking Television Advertisements: Consequences of Anger and Sadness Framing on Pathways to Persuasion

The authors conducted an experiment among U.S. college students (N = 115) to assess the effects of anger- and sadness-framed television antismoking advertisements on viewers' emotional response, impressions of the speaker, source likability, and empathy toward the speaker. The study was based on the fundamental assumptions of discrete emotions and was operationalized using the principles of universal facial expressions. The authors also constructed a path model to investigate how these variables predicted one's attitude toward smoking, attitude toward the tobacco industry, and intentions to smoke. Supporting study hypotheses, the anger-framed message increased the perceived dominance of the speaker relative to the other conditions. Perceived dominance, in turn, was negatively associated with smoking attitudes and, indirectly, smoking intentions. Contrary to study hypotheses, the sadness-framed message did not increase sad emotional responses, source likability, or empathy relative to the no emotion-framed message. The anger-framed message unexpectedly appeared to decrease these outcomes. Empathy and source likability were associated with positive attitudes toward the tobacco industry, but these attitudes did not predict intentions to smoke. The authors discuss the implications of these findings.

Angry Thoughts and Daily Emotion Logs: Validity of the Angry Cognitions Scale

The Angry Cognitions Scale (ACS; Martin and Dahlen in J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Therapy 25:155–173, 2007) was designed to measure six cognitive processes related to anger: misattributing causation, overgeneralizing, catastrophizing, demandingness, inflammatory labeling, and adaptive processes. Preliminary evidence on the reliability of the ACS has been positive, demonstrating that the ACS is correlated with the experience and expression of anger, anger consequences, hostile thoughts, and responses to provocation (Martin and Dahlen in J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Therapy 25:155–173, 2007; J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Therapy, 29:65–76, 2011). This previous research, however, has suffered from limitations associated with demand characteristics and the reliance on retrospective data. The current study sought to address these limitations by using daily emotion logs. Results showed that the ACS predicted the daily experience of anger and anger related consequences, contributing to the literature on the ACS as a valuable measure of anger-related cognitions.