Psychology and Pedagogy of Anger - Roy Franklin Richardson (ebook audio reader .txt) 📗

fight and dig into it like everything. These emotions are the greatest stimuli I have. I get angry, then I want to get down to work for all I am worth.” On the other hand, anger which has been successfully expressed may be followed by a feeling of satisfaction in the result and an attitude of success, which gives momentum for increased volitional action in the future.

There is usually a residuum from intense anger which may appear long after the anger has consciously disappeared. The recall of the situation which had previously excited anger may have little or no feeling; merely indifference is present. Sometimes feelings of resentment and dislike are observed, while at other times, there is amusement. It frequently happens that while the situation which has previously excited the emotion may be accompanied by indifference upon its being recalled either voluntarily or involuntarily, there follows an emotion of dislike and hate. The incident itself may be almost forgotten, or not recalled at all, but the result of anger is to be observed in tendencies and emotional dispositions left in the wake of the emotion. An over-critical attitude, with something of a gossipy tendency and hostile suspicion in which the bounds of justice are partly ignored, may long continue to reappear after the emotion itself has passed away and the situation has been forgotten. It is rather probable that a single strong outburst of anger does not leave the hostile emotional disposition in its wake. It is usually the mild anger, preceded by much feeling of humiliation and anger which tends to recur again and again till it has settled to a hostile disposition toward the offender. It is reported in some instances to refer to the offender’s way of talking, laughing, manner of walking, his mode of dressing; in fact any chance idea of the offender’s behavior may be sufficient to allow a feeling of dislike and disgust to appear.

It may be said that anger which disappears in an unsatisfactory manner leaves an emotional disposition which possesses potentialities of both pleasant and unpleasant feelings. Some persons seem to derive much satisfaction in picking the sores of their unhealed resentments; little acts of revenge and retaliation are suddenly hit upon; even hate may have its pleasures. Small acts of revenge and retaliation are observed with an affective state which cannot be called anger, but the subject is aware that it refers to the anger which is passed. One subject became severely angry at his grocer and went to trade with another merchant near by. He states that on several occasions just after the anger, when buying at another place he felt pleased at the other man’s having lost his trade. Once he observes, “I believe I bought several things I did not need, I felt I was retaliating and enjoyed it.” The emotional disposition following anger may be a source of rather intense enjoyment. Laughter and mirth are observed with the appearance of an idea that has humiliated the offender. In such cases the laughter is purely spontaneous with no recall of anger. Subject J. broke out laughing when told that X. was on unfavorable terms with Y. His laughter, he observes, referred to a resentment a few days before against X. In fact laughter frequently springs rather suddenly from the mental disposition which has followed from anger. Such cases afford another instance of the close intimacy of our emotions with each other. The residuum of potential feelings from an emotion of anger appears in the form of less active pleasantness.

There is a relation between the immediate after-period of anger and the more remote one that is important. If anger is immediately followed by such emotions as pity, shame, regret or fear, any positive tendency left over in the remote after-period from the emotion itself is apparently lacking. There is, however, a negative effect. The subject is immune to re-experience the same emotion from the same emotional situation again, but anger which has disappeared with unpleasant feelings may tend to recur in a rather prolonged after-period and may finally settle into an emotional disposition and mental attitude which play an important role in behavior and later feelings. It seems to be true, that when anger disappears consciously in such a manner that the subject is aware that his wishes have not been satisfied and the disappearance is followed by unpleasant feelings, the immediate after-period is rather barren as compared with the out-cropping which appears in a more remote period after the emotion. In anger, when sudden control is required, the subject is forced to attend to something else or react contrary to the emotional tendency to save himself a later humiliation. The immediate after-period is usually one of unpleasantness and tension. Under such circumstances, the tendency to recur again and again is characteristic and if, in some later recurrence or expression through the imaginative process, it does not end satisfactorily, it may settle down to an emotional disposition and mental attitude.

Anger that arises from a fore-period of irritation in which the subject suddenly bursts out with emotion may have an immediate after-period of irritation, but it leaves little in the remote after-period; the subject is aware that the emotion is finished. Anger which ends with active pleasantness of victory leaves an attitude of confidence and success toward the situation which has excited the emotion. There is little tendency for the emotion, disappearing in this fashion, to reappear except in its pleasant stage. With a consciousness of complete victory in the immediate after-period, there is established an attitude of positive self-feeling and confidence toward the situation exciting the emotion so that a practical immunity against the reappearance of anger in its unpleasant stage is reached as a negative result of the emotion. There are wide individual differences in the ability of the subjects studied to allow anger to disappear, leaving a pleasant after-period. C. reports but few instances in which his anger disappeared with a fully satisfactory result. He consequently has a wealth of emotional dispositions and mental attitudes following anger. On the other hand F. and E., whose anger emotions are less intense, are early able either to attain an inner victory or to react contrary to the emotion and leave an after-period of immunity against its reappearance from the same mental situation. Hence the tendencies and dispositions left over in the after-period of their anger are less. E.’s dislikes are short lived. It is probable that some subjects have acquired the habit of shortening their emotions of anger, short-cutting the unpleasant period of restraint and early acquiring the after-period of relief, humor or it may be indifference, before the emotion has developed far.

Classifications. Anger might be classified according to a number of schemes that would serve the purpose of emphasizing its characteristics. From the standpoint of feeling, anger might be classed as pleasant or unpleasant. Some emotions of anger are observed to be almost entirely pleasant from their early beginning including their final ending. Other cases have fluctuating pleasant and unpleasant stages. There are few instances of anger that have no flash of pleasantness anywhere, in some degree before the emotion is finally completed. The unsatisfactorily expressed emotion is almost entirely unpleasant. Even anger of this kind usually shows some flash of pleasantness or relief at the moment of the angry outburst.

Secondly, anger might be classified as exciting or calm. The exciting anger has greater tension during the period of the emotion proper. There is usually less co-ordination and greater intensity of feeling which may be either pleasant or unpleasant. The motor reactions are more prominent than the mental reactions. On the other hand, calm anger usually has a longer observable fore and after-period of the emotion. Mental processes are intensified, the motor expression is correspondingly less.

Anger may be classified according to its function. The emotion may be merely an end in itself. It relieves the tension of unpleasant feelings. It is purgative in its effect in removing an unpleasant mental situation. The underlying purpose of such anger is not to increase volitional action, in fact, it may disturb co-ordination to any purposive end. This type serves primarily to remove the tension of unpleasant accumulations of feelings in some act of expression. If successful in its purpose, it may have an indirect hygienic effect on mental action. Further, anger may be of a kind which intensifies volitional action, accomplishes work, and serves the end of survival. A residuum in mental attitude and emotional disposition follows, which has possibilities either of morbidity or a source of energy which is sublimated into work.

Anger may be classified genetically on the basis of sentiments which are violated in its origin. Anger which springs from a thwarting of desires is primary in its origin. This is the usual type of anger of young children and animals. Anger which has its source in the self-feelings, such as the sentiments of honor and self respect and in social feelings, of injustice, of fairness, are genetically later in their development.

Types. Three rather definite types appear. First is anger which rises from a fore-period of irritable feelings. It develops by a cumulative process of irascible feelings, through a series of stimuli till the point of anger is suddenly reached. An idea is present at the point of anger which serves as a vehicle of expression. It may be an idea not directly associated with the situation exciting the emotion. In fact an apparently irrelevant idea may break the crust of unpleasant feeling tension and serve as an objective reference for the emotion. Anger of this type is scattered. It is not necessary that the emotion be referred to the actual thwarting idea, it frequently refers to inanimate objects and often arises from the irritation accompanying pain. The active period of this type of emotion is mostly voco-motor tension and reaction of larger muscles. The immediate after-period may be a feeling of relief, irascible irritation, or other emotions such as pity, shame, regret and fear. Its increased volitional action may establish a mental attitude of caution and determination against a future thwarting when it is finished. A new emotion may arise however from the same background of irritation. The after effects of an emotion of this type are shallow and easily forgotten. It does not leave hate or dislike in its wake, there is nothing left over for revengeful behavior.

A second type of anger is predetermined by another sort of mental disposition. Self-feelings are its source. An idea excites negative self-feeling and anger follows as a reaction with the purpose of restoring positive feelings of self. It usually has a greater proportion of pleasantness than the type described above. Its end is to attain pleasantness in some form of positive self-feeling, and when that is successfully reached the emotion disappears. Any idea from a subjective or objective source which intensifies positive feelings of self, tends to diminish emotion of this type. The thwarting of a desire, due to the damage and inconvenience done, is insignificant as compared with the thrust that one’s pride and self-respect have received. In the type above, there is thwarting of desire; while in this type, there is humiliation. In fact in the latter type, serious inconvenience may be suffered in the effort to heal a wounded self respect. Anger of this type is not so indefinite in its objective reference. It has direct reference to an offender before the point of anger has been reached, and another person or object cannot be substituted with any degree of satisfaction. Anger of this type leaves an important residuum after the emotion has disappeared in the form of other affective processes, in tendencies, mental attitudes and dispositions, some of which have possibilities of morbidity, others mere pleasantness or sublimation into work.

A third type of anger