External manifestations of anger. Anger - psychology of emotions How to cope with anger and how to restrain anger

There are times when one sarcastic or offensive word, phrase, action or incident is enough for a person to burst into anger and say a lot of unnecessary things. Then he himself will be surprised at his temper and begin to ask for forgiveness for what he said, but it is often impossible to regain former trust.

Psychologists have long noticed that the subconscious causes of anger can be completely different, but in any case they do not bring anything good to the relationship, destroying what was achieved with great difficulty. So what are they and what exactly causes attacks of rage, anger and sudden anger. Here are some of the main subconscious causes of anger.

Background voltage

It is rarely noticed by the person himself, but at the same time it prevents him from rejoicing, feeling relaxed and free. It may be associated with anticipation, the uncertainty of the situation, which often does not have clear time boundaries or requires quickly mobilizing one’s strength to resolve a stressful situation.

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For example, a student subconsciously feels that he is “floating” in some issues. He cannot remember information on the eve of an exam and any call or assignment can make him furious and angry, although in another situation he is friendly and calm. Background voltage requires discharge. The more pronounced it is, the greater the likelihood of flaring up and getting angry. Therefore, if a person is expecting an unpleasant but necessary situation, he may burst into unjustified anger.

Law of Three Troubles

Psychologists have noticed that in order to flare up and get angry, only 3 troubles are enough, no matter how big or small. At the same time, they all must demand a quick solution. Anger arises in a person when he subconsciously feels that he can quickly resolve the situation, but does not know how best to do it. Otherwise, there is a feeling of pain and powerlessness.

For example, someone is waiting in line for an important question, a negative answer to which can lead to great difficulties (one possible problem). A person’s time is limited, the queue is long (the second possible nuisance) and then someone blatantly skips the queue and sits in the office for a long time (the third nuisance).

These reasons are enough to erupt in anger, which can be directed both at the one who prevented the issue from being quickly resolved, and at the authorities, the government, etc. Therefore, only 3 reasons are enough to cause an attack of unexpected anger and rage. It has also been noticed that the bosses lose their temper the third time they are faced with a failure to fulfill an order or the same mistake of their subordinates.

Disturbed balance between positive and negative emotions

For a normal mood, an emotional ratio of negative to positive emotions of 7:1 is sufficient. More often it happens the other way around, and a person who has not received anything positive for a long time begins to shout about little things in order to relieve tension.

Therefore, you need to dilute negative stimuli with positive ones in order to neutralize internal anger. With an inverse ratio of 1 positive emotion at 7 negative, a feeling of anger, malice and irritation arises.

Undischarged Anger

When something causes protest, but it cannot be expressed, there is a possibility of strong anger over trifles. At this time, he throws out everything that is in his soul on a child who spilled cherry juice on a white suit or on his wife, who, in his opinion, cooked scrambled eggs poorly.

Attempt No. 5

If a person is 5 times unlucky in resolving an important issue and again finds himself in a vicious circle of troubles, anger arises in response to any trifle. Especially if he himself cannot figure out how to cope with a trifling and annoying task.

Lack of attention

This reason may have deep roots from childhood, when they do not pay attention to a person and value only success in him and, not without reason, believe that their child is “the best and most correct, healthy and beautiful.” Then he begins to notice early the shortcomings of others and gets irritated when they do wrong, contrary to expectations. As a result, he begins to believe in his infallibility and gets angry every time someone turns out to be worse than him, as he thinks.

These are the main causes of subconscious anger and irritation that lead to quarrels over minor reasons. Very often there are several of them in each conflict, so it is worth paying attention to their source and trying to neutralize it.

Source -

Anger is an ambiguous feeling. It is generally accepted that showing anger is bad, because it leads to quarrels, resentments and fights. But we must not forget that there are such concepts as “righteous anger” or “sports anger.” Therefore, to understand this feeling, it is necessary to consider the causes of anger, manifestations and consequences.

Anger - definition

The dictionaries give different definitions this feeling, but the approximate meaning is the same. Anger is a reaction to dissatisfaction with some phenomenon or indignation that has arisen in a person as a result of the actions of the object of his anger, which clearly infringes on his rights. Another meaning of the word anger is a state of quickly arising and quickly passing affect. The dictionaries give the following chain of similar words: anger - disfavor - discontent - rage - malice - aggression.

Stages of Anger

Psychologists distinguish four stages of anger:

• internal dissatisfaction does not manifest itself externally;
• emotional arousal reflected only on the face;
• transition from angry excitement to active actions: screams of anger, angry gestures, insults, assault;
• extinction of anger.

First stage- hidden anger. This look is good for others, but bad for the angry person himself. If the stage stops at this point, without developing further, then the accumulated anger will one day break out with incredible force. Therefore, perhaps you shouldn’t think about how to contain your anger, but rather look for ways to express it constructively.

Second stage – best option. It is reflected in facial expressions, gestures, evidence of one’s rightness, but a person does not transgress the boundaries of what is permitted, expressing his dissatisfaction in civilized ways. At this stage, a person can because of some little things.

Third stage- an outburst of uncontrollable anger. A person at such a moment is capable of any madness.

At the last stage, the person calms down and often repents of his behavior.

Types of Anger

Anger in psychology is divided into three types:

• Righteous anger. This is a person's response to injustice.
• Provoked anger. This is a human emotion caused by the negative actions or verbal insults of the offender.
• Random anger. This form of anger can be caused by anything; a person flares up with or without cause. This type is characteristic of mentally unbalanced individuals and must be treated.

Displays of anger

The emotion of anger can manifest itself in different forms: separately or in combination with other feelings and behavioral traits. It is generally accepted that the concepts of aggression - rage - anger - anger are identical. Let's look at the similarities and differences between these emotions.

Anger and aggression can be expressed in different ways, or they can be expressed in the same way. As we have already said, anger has different stages, types and forms, some of them are acceptable and even desirable (righteous anger, emotional arousal, etc.), and aggression always has a negative connotation. She cannot be righteous or justified. Aggression is most often expressed in physical violence and is criminally punishable. Anger results in aggression only in a painful, uncontrollable stage. Anger and rage are similar to aggression, but differ in the time course. Anger can last for years, rage is a short-term manifestation of negative emotions.

Anger and fear can also manifest themselves separately, or they can accompany each other. Both of these emotions arise in emergency situations and activate energy for fight or flight. In case of fear, the human body prepares to retreat from danger, and anger mobilizes all forces to attack the source of anger. But these emotions can then be combined, the danger threatening a person causes fear, he is afraid, but is in no hurry to retreat, but strives to prove he is right by any means.

In addition, anger can be combined with love. In this pair of “love and anger,” love should prevail, and all negative emotions should be destroyed under its power. But, unfortunately, it often happens that a guy or girl breaks off all their relationships in anger and then suffers because of this all their lives.

Anger patterns

There are many models for expressing anger:

The energy of anger is like a black clot in our body, it is ready to break out at any moment and destroy any relationship. Control your anger, don’t be led by it, and it will soon leave you forever.

There is probably no person in the world who has never experienced anger. This feeling always has an extremely negative connotation, and by the strength of its manifestation we often judge people’s ability to control themselves. Of course, experiencing anger is bad, because it leads to anger and aggression. And in this combination, both emotions make a person completely uncontrollable.

But few people know that holding back anger is very dangerous; this action can be destructive to the psyche. Therefore, psychologists pay great importance manifestation of anger and its influence on personality development. This difficult topic is the subject of today’s article.

Definition of Anger

Human emotions have always been a special subject of study for psychologists and philosophers. It's amazing how differently people express their feelings and react to these bright emotional outbursts. Perhaps the most significant emotion that seriously affects relationships between people is anger. It is sometimes also called resentment, although many experts deny their identity.

Having collected information from various dictionaries, we can say with confidence that anger is a negatively colored emotion caused by the actions of an object or a situation that has arisen, accompanied by a feeling of ongoing injustice and an irresistible desire to eliminate it. Most often, anger is a flash, a short-term clouding of the mind that can cause a person to cause pain and create destruction.

Many psychologists characterize this range of emotions as negative affect. This is a very common term in psychology, meaning a special explosive process. It is quite short-term and intense, usually accompanied by an increase in blood pressure, changes in the functioning of all internal organs and erratic motor activity.

After these definitions, it becomes clear that anger is not a simple emotion. It can be destructive and creative. Sometimes anger helps to cope with a problem, but in other situations it only complicates everything that happens. Such ambiguity in the assessment of the same emotion has led to the emergence of a special direction in science - the psychology of anger. This not only helps to correctly assess the very nature of the emotion, but also to classify it.

Stages of Anger

Emotions in psychology play a key role when it comes to applying techniques for self-analysis and behavior correction. Usually at such moments, a specialist tries to find out the causes of the problem that is preventing the person who has turned to a psychologist from living normally. Most often, the root of the problem lies in holding back emotions, primarily anger. To understand what we are talking about, it is necessary to define the stages of anger.

Since we have clarified that anger can be understood as a negatively colored affect, this in psychology makes it possible to identify its four stages:

• hidden manifestation - an internal growing feeling that cannot be determined externally;
• excitement, noticeable by facial expressions;
• active actions are the peak stage;
• fading of emotion.

Each stage is worth considering and describing in detail.

Hidden Anger

Sometimes at this stage anger is characterized as a growing feeling of resentment. At this moment, a person hides his true emotions in every possible way and does not allow even a fleeting manifestation on his face. They say about such people that they control themselves well. But for the individual himself, such suppression of anger can be disastrous.

Emotions in psychology are represented as a substance that must be manifested. But the degree of personality development can be determined by how constructively a person shows his emotions. Those who successfully hide their anger run the risk of contracting a large number of diseases. In addition, one day all emotions will result in a flash of incredible power that can harm the person who is angry and all the people around him at that moment. Therefore, it is natural when hidden anger smoothly passes into the next stage.

Emotional excitement

At this stage, the feeling of anger gains strength and can already be seen in the facial expressions of the facial muscles. Usually it is at this stage that a person begins to defend his point of view and try to eliminate the obstacle that caused his anger. Psychologists believe that this stage is optimal for a person to express his emotions in a civilized manner and not cross any boundaries. At this stage, many problems are solved, and the splashed out anger has not yet been transformed into vivid affect. In psychology this is already referred to as the third stage.

Uncontrollable anger

At this stage, a person can commit absolutely any crazy act. He is capable of destroying everything, causing physical harm, screaming loudly and gesticulating. Such outbursts are typical for those who have hidden their emotions for a long time, or people with an unstable psyche. The latter need serious treatment, because if anger reaches this stage, then the personality has already undergone certain transformations that require urgent correction. Otherwise, a normal life becomes impossible for a person.

Fading Anger

At this stage, the flash goes out, and the person often repents of everything he has done. In some cases, it is no longer possible to correct the consequences of the previous stage. Psychologists often observe a pattern in which remorse and the lack of options for correcting mistakes already made causes a new attack of anger at the third stage.

Types of Anger

Psychologists identify quite a few types of anger, but three are considered the main ones:

1. Righteous.

It is caused by outright injustice against the individual. The person understands that the situation needs to be corrected immediately and righteous anger begins to boil within him. Moreover, depending on the individual’s psychotype, anger can arise at any of the previously described stages.

2. Provoked.

Anger is directed toward a situation, a specific person, or a group of people. Usually this emotion is caused by some actions, most often insults or anger that has already been splashed out on the person. In the latter case, he is reciprocal and can transform into a righteous one.

3. Random.

It is caused by anything; a person can “flare up” with or without cause. Psychologists consider this anger a disease and declare the need for its treatment.

Psychologists pay great attention to the manifestation of anger in their work. They identified them into certain models that influence the personality or are used by it for some purpose.

Manifestations of anger: models

First of all, you need to understand that anger almost always manifests itself in a combination of other emotions. For example, the anger-aggression pair always carries an extremely negative message. Aggression always results in an uncontrollable form and is often accompanied by material or physical damage. In the case where anger manifests itself along with fear, these two emotions can feed each other and help mobilize the body's forces.

Psychology has six main models for the manifestation of anger:

1. Family anger.

This model always has a very bad effect on children, because from the very early childhood they find themselves in an atmosphere of quarrels and scandals. Usually these are dysfunctional families where parents drink alcohol and do not raise their children. Initially, the child is frightened by angry manifestations, and then adapts to them and adopts them as a model of behavior for himself. Subsequently, the personality acquires explosive traits and reacts to any irritants with outbursts of uncontrollable anger.

2. Achieving the goal.

In this model, anger is a tool that a person successfully uses to achieve what he wants. With the help of anger, a person achieves obedience and transfers the feeling of guilt for this outburst to the opponent. For a short period this model can be very effective, but over time people stop reacting to manifestations of anger and the effectiveness of this method decreases significantly.

3. Denial.

When a person acts according to this model, he replaces the fear of everything new and unknown with anger. Any innovative proposal causes a flash of anger in such a person.

4. Catalyst.

A person acting according to this scheme brings himself to an uncontrollable state with anger and only then can he express his opinion on the situation to people or feel capable of solving the problem. That is, the feeling of anger becomes a catalyst that gives vent to true emotions.

5. Suffered anger.

This model can be well illustrated using the example of nationality. Let's imagine that a person was once offended by a representative of a nation. In the future, everyone who belongs to this nationality becomes an object of anger. Such a manifestation of anger can cause serious ethnic conflicts. In any case, transference of anger is a very catastrophic pattern of manifestation.

6. Protection.

Many complex individuals often show anger as a shield from any influences environment. Typically, this model of expressing anger does not bring results, because it drives the person even deeper into the vicious circle of action-anger.

In addition to the described manifestations of anger, there are also physical ones that need to be described.

How does anger manifest itself on the physical level?

Physical manifestations of anger cannot be controlled by a person and are expressed in the following actions:

• flared nostrils;
• vertical folds on the bridge of the nose;
• bringing together eyebrows;
• rapid breathing;
• open mouth and clenched teeth;
• dilated pupils;
• focusing the gaze on the object of anger.

All this is accompanied by active gestures and often incoherent speech.

Anger is a fairly strong emotion and, according to psychologists, it can completely subjugate a person. Therefore, learn to control your anger, let its manifestations be a civilized response to an insult or provocation from the outside.

The topic of our article will be the emotion of anger. We will look at the stages of its manifestation, as well as methods of working with it in order to reduce its influence on your life. You yourself must become the master of your life and emotional reactions without letting your emotions control you.

How to deal with anger and how to control anger

Anger is a negative emotion that arises as a response to what a person considers unfair. According to Orthodox tradition, anger is not always condemned. Much depends on what the anger is directed against, while in Catholicism anger is clearly included in the list of mortal sins. In the Buddhist tradition, anger is understood as one of the five “poisons”, so there is no excuse for it, and only observing yourself will help you cope with it.

However, we will return to the modern tradition, not religious, and see what it tells us about anger psychological science. Some psychologists believe that this emotion needs to be fought, sometimes they even teach how to suppress it correctly, but this does not make the patient feel better. Suppressing any emotions does not lead to their final elimination - rather, to repression (and not necessarily into the subconscious), but only temporary. Then the condition only gets worse. An unprocessed and unreflected emotion, as well as what causes it, manifests itself again with the same force, which can lead to serious deviations in emotional sphere and, as a result, become a threat to the stability of a person’s mental state.

Therefore, in this article you will not find advice on how to control anger; We will look in more detail at the nature of emotions themselves, as well as how we perceive and experience them. A person is a subject experiencing an emotion, so it is very important for him to understand the mechanism of his reactions, to become aware of his emotion, then he will have a chance to notice it at the very moment of its inception and thereby stop its development at the very beginning.

This way of observing a feeling, and therefore oneself, is extremely useful, and it can be used by those people who are interested in the issue of mindfulness, since such observation also becomes an excellent mindfulness practice. You look at yourself from the outside - this is the key to everything. If we were asked to briefly outline the meaning of the method of working on the emotion of anger, as well as any other unwanted emotion, the above is the quintessence of this method.

There is a deep philosophical concept behind it about the observer and the observed, but we will focus more on the practical psychological aspect of the idea presented and will try to explain how this method works and how to apply it.

Feeling of anger. Stages of Anger

The feeling of anger is very strong. However, in accordance with the map of consciousness compiled by David Hawkins, for which he chose human awareness as the basis, in terms of the power of awareness, anger is superior to desire (lust), but inferior to pride. According to this scale, where the highest level - enlightenment - is 700, anger scores 150, while pride scores 175 and desire scores 125.

Anger is born when a person feels capable of doing something. An apathetic person does not have enough energy even for such a feeling. Therefore, if you experience it periodically, then you should not get too upset about it, because it also means that your energy level is at a high enough level to achieve this feeling.

In order to leave the level of anger, move to a higher level - pride or even pride - and then to courage, which is the watershed between the cluster of negative emotions and positive ones, you need to fully understand your feelings, as well as what causes them.

Before talking about the causes of anger, we must analyze its stages - in this way we will understand how this affect manifests itself:

• discontent;
• feeling of injustice;
• anger;
• rage.

The extreme form of anger is rage. Anger, which develops into rage, is a destructive emotion that negatively affects others. Anger arises unnoticed. Often this is accumulated dissatisfaction that can no longer be contained, and it develops into anger, and then into anger. Dissatisfaction because something is not going the way you would like it to. In order for anger to take its classic form, a sense of injustice must also take part in this process. What causes dissatisfaction should also be regarded by the subject himself as some kind of injustice. Only then can anger be classified as a true emotion of anger. When he goes into his highest form, anger becomes rage.

Anger and aggression: causes of anger and methods of working with it

Concepts such as anger and aggression must be distinguished. Aggression is an action that is supported by emotions, including anger, and anger is a pure affect, i.e. a state, but not an action. Aggression has a goal, a person consciously achieves something, while anger can manifest itself almost uncontrollably: a person is not aware of it. This happens quite often.

Now that we know the difference between anger and aggression, we need to understand the causes of anger.

An angry reaction to a situation or a person’s behavior can be either instantaneous, unprepared (an explosion of anger), or an accumulated release of negative energy. If a person has endured for a long time, put up with something unpleasant, then someday the tension must find a way out, and often it is expressed in the form of the emotion of anger.

This type of anger is much easier to monitor and prevent than the kind that arises spontaneously. Spontaneous anger is difficult to control or prevent. In this case, the person is required to high degree internal awareness, when, under almost any circumstances, he is able to look at what is happening detachedly, that is, not react, but consciously observe both himself and the situation.

This is a very effective recommendation. The one who was able to achieve so much high level control over their emotions, they are unlikely to be interested in any other methods of working on their psychological state. The man really learned to control himself. For people who are still at the stage of learning to observe their emotions, we should advise them to do the following:

• Before a negative emotion arises, try to pay attention to your own thoughts and feelings as often as possible during the day, because this way you record them and become more aware.
• When you feel that you are accumulating rejection of something, then write down on paper everything that you feel - this again helps to look at emotions from the outside.
• If the moment of the origin of an emotion is missed, then you need to try to “catch” yourself already during its manifestation. Of course, this is much more difficult to do, but if one day you succeed, you can congratulate yourself, because you were able to become aware of your feelings directly at the time of their manifestation, and this is a big victory.

A few more words about anger: connection with the Muladhara chakra

If we discussed above psychological reasons appearance of the emotion of anger, then in this part of the article I would like to look at anger from the point of view of the yogic tradition, where one or another chakra corresponds to certain psychophysical states.

A chakra is an energy center through which energy is exchanged between a person and the outside world. Each chakra has its own spectrum of action. Muladhara chakra is the root energy center, so it is responsible for basic emotions, including negative ones - phobias, anxiety, sadness and depression and, of course, anger. Usually such emotions appear when the chakra is imbalanced. If Muladhara works harmoniously, then this is expressed in the person’s general calmness, a state of stability and concentration.

It turns out that instead of controlling anger by developing awareness, you can do something almost the opposite - pay attention to the harmonization of the chakras through ancient practices and special exercises. This will not be slow to manifest itself by increasing the level of self-awareness - then you will be able to control yourself at the mental level and prevent the very generation of negative emotions.

Also great support in terms of working on emotional state brings the practice of meditation and pranayama. Both practices go hand in hand, so you cannot do one and lose sight of the other. For those who have never meditated before, we can recommend taking a course in Vipasana, because usually moments of silence allow you to establish a connection with your inner Self and become the first step towards awareness.

You can also start doing Hatha Yoga. The yoga system is built in such a way that when performing this or that asana, you work not only with the physical body, but also engage in the same balancing of the chakra system, and this, in turn, means working to normalize the psychological state. Usually, yoga practitioners notice a surge of physical energy and at the same time a state of calm on an emotional level. This indicates not only that yoga is practiced in the right way, but also that its effects have an extremely beneficial effect on the state of the etheric (emotional) body.

Instead of a conclusion

“Conquer yourself - and you will not need to defeat others.” This Chinese proverb could be paraphrased and said: “Become aware of yourself and you will have no reason to defeat others.” A person who has overcome anger and many other negative emotions becomes much more spiritually advanced and much stronger psychologically. Therefore, he will not even want to defeat others, because knowing himself will bring with him the realization that essentially there is no one to fight with, and therefore, there is no one to defeat, because the greatest opponent you have is you myself.

Experience of anger

Anger, or malice, is perhaps the most dangerous emotion. When you feel angry, you are more likely to intentionally harm other people. If someone is angry in front of you and you know the reasons for it, then this person’s aggressive behavior will become understandable to you, even if you condemn him for his inability to control his emotions. On the contrary, a person who attacks other people unprovoked and does not feel anger will seem strange or even abnormal to you. Part of the experience of anger is the risk of losing control. When a person says that he felt angry, this may seem to explain his regret for what he had done: “I know I shouldn’t have said that to him (hurt him), but I was beside myself - I just lost my head!” Children are specifically taught that when they feel angry, they should not physically harm anyone. Children may also be taught to control any visible expressions of anger. Boys and girls are usually taught different things about anger: girls are taught to control their anger, while boys are encouraged to express it towards peers who provoke them. Adults are often characterized by how they deal with their anger: “restrained,” “hot,” “explosive,” “hot-tempered,” “cold-blooded,” etc.
Anger can arise for various reasons. The first reason is frustration (nervous exhaustion), caused by numerous obstacles and hindrances and preventing progress towards the goal. Frustration may be specific to the problem you are solving, or it may be more general character, determined by your lifestyle. Your anger is more likely and more intense if you believe that the person who interfered with you was acting oppressively, unfairly, or simply to spite you. If a person deliberately wants to frustrate you or drives you to the point of complete nervousness simply because he cannot understand how his actions can affect your activities, then you are more likely to experience anger than if you believe that he simply has no other choice. But the obstacle that causes frustration is not necessarily a person. You may become angry at the object or natural phenomenon that caused your frustration, although this may make you feel less justified in your anger.
Most likely, your actions in a state of anger caused by frustration will be aimed at removing the obstacle through a physical or verbal attack. Of course, frustration may be stronger than you, and then your protest efforts will be meaningless. However, anger can still persist, and at the same time you will direct it at the person - you can curse him, hit him, etc. Or you can show your anger by cursing and scolding him when he is too far from you to punish you for such behavior. You can express your anger symbolically, by attacking something you associate with the person, or by directing your anger at a safer or more convenient target - the so-called scapegoat.
The second cause of anger is physical threat. If the person threatening you physically is weak and unable to harm you, then you are more likely to feel contempt than anger. If the person threatening you physically is clearly stronger than you, then you are likely to experience fear rather than anger. Even if your strengths are approximately equal, you may experience both anger and fear. Your actions when your anger is caused by the threat of physical harm may include attacking your opponent, verbal warning or intimidation, or simply running away. Even when you run away, when you seem to be afraid, you may still feel angry.
A third reason for anger may be someone's actions or statements that make you feel like you are being harmed mentally rather than physically. Insults, rejection, or any action that shows disrespect for your feelings can make you angry. Moreover, the more emotionally attached you are to a person who causes you moral harm, the more you experience pain and anger from his actions. Being insulted by someone you have little respect for, or being rejected by someone you never considered a friend or lover, can, in extreme cases, cause contempt or surprise. On the contrary, if you are hurt by someone you cared about a lot, you may feel sadness or sadness at the same time as anger. In some situations, you may love the person causing you suffering so much, or be unable to be angry at him (or at any person, for that matter) that you begin to look for rational reasons for his painful actions for you in your own actions, and then, instead of anger, feel the feeling guilt. In other words, you feel angry towards yourself, not towards the person who wronged you. heartache. Again, as with frustration, if the person making you suffer does so intentionally, you are more likely to experience anger than if they acted unintentionally or out of control.
A fourth reason for anger may be observing a person doing something that goes against your core moral values. If you consider one person's treatment of another to be immoral, you may experience anger even if you are not directly involved in the situation. A clear example is the anger that you may feel when you see an adult punishing a child with severity that is unacceptable from your point of view. If you adhere to other moral values, then the attitude of an adult towards the actions of a child, which seems too lenient to you, may also make you angry. The victim does not need to be as helpless as a child for you to become angry. A husband leaving his wife or a wife leaving her husband may make you angry if you believe that spouses should stay together "till death do them part." Even if you are a wealthy person, you may angrily condemn the economic exploitation of certain groups of the population that exists in your society or the system of providing numerous benefits to government officials. Moral anger is often based on the belief that we are right, although we tend to use this term only if we disagree with the moral values ​​of the person who caused our anger. Anger at the suffering of others, provoked by the violation of our moral values, is a very important motive for social or political action. Such anger, in combination with other factors, can give rise to attempts to rebuild society through social reforms, political assassinations or terrorism.
The next two anger-producing events are related, but probably less important than those discussed above. A person's failure to live up to your expectations can make you angry. It doesn't harm you directly; in fact, this inability may not have anything to do with you. A clear illustration of this situation is the reaction of parents to the child’s success. The impatience and irritation associated with a person's failure to follow instructions from you or otherwise meet your expectations are not necessarily related to the pain caused by this failure - it is the person's failure to meet expectations that causes anger.
Another reason for your anger may be another person's anger directed at you. Some people tend to respond to anger with anger. Such reciprocity may occur especially in cases where there is no obvious reason for the other person to be angry with you or if his anger, in your assessment, turns out to be unjustified. Anger directed at you that, from your point of view, is not as fair as it is from the other person's point of view, can cause strong retaliatory anger in you.
We have listed only a few of the causes of anger. Depending on a person's life experiences, anger can have many different origins.
The experience of anger very often involves certain sensations. In his work on the physiology of anger, Darwin quoted Shakespeare: Blood pressure rises, the face may become flushed, and the veins in the forehead and neck become more visible. The breathing rate changes, the body straightens, the muscles tense, and there may be a slight forward movement in the direction of the offender.
In the event of a strong attack of anger or rage, it is difficult for a person to remain still - the urge to strike can be very strong. Although assault or fighting may be typical elements of anger reactions, they are not necessary. An angry person can only use words; he can shout loudly or behave more restrained and only say some nasty things, or even demonstrate even greater self-control and not show his anger in words or voice. Some people habitually direct anger inward and limit themselves to making jokes at the person who provoked the anger, or at their own. Theories about the causes of such psychosomatic disorders state that some diseases of the body arise from people who cannot express their anger, who make themselves the victims of anger instead of directing anger at the one who provoked it. Psychologists are now paying a lot of attention to people who are supposed to be unable to express anger, and various therapeutic and quasi-therapeutic medical firms are specifically dedicated to teaching people how to express their anger and how to respond to the anger of others.
Anger varies in strength - from mild irritation or annoyance to rage or rage. Anger can build up gradually, starting with irritation and then slowly intensifying, or it can arise suddenly and manifest itself with maximum force. People differ not only in what makes them angry or what they do when angry, but also in how quickly they become angry. Some people have “short fuses” and instantly burst into fits of anger, often bypassing the stage of irritation, regardless of what the provoking event was. Others may feel only irritation: whatever the provocation, they never become truly angry, at least in their own estimation. People also differ in how long they remain angry after the inciting stimulus has passed. Some people stop feeling angry quickly, while others, due to their nature, retain the feeling of anger for quite a long time. It may take several hours for these people to reach a calm state, especially if the thing that caused their anger disappeared before they had the opportunity to demonstrate their full force of anger.
Anger can occur in combination with other emotions. We have already discussed situations in which a person may experience anger and fear, anger and sadness, or anger and disgust.
Some people take great pleasure in moments when they feel angry. They enjoy the atmosphere of conflict. Exchanging unfriendly gestures and words not only excites them, but is also a source of satisfaction. People may even enjoy trading blows in the resulting fight. Intimate relationships can be established or restored between two people through intense exchanges of angry attacks against each other. Some married couples, after heated quarrels or even fights, immediately enter into intimate relationships. Some forms of sexual arousal can occur simultaneously with anger; however, it is unknown whether this is normal or characteristic only of people with sadistic tendencies. Undoubtedly, many people experience a positive feeling of relief after anger, as long as the anger stops after the obstacle or threat is removed. But this is not at all the same as receiving pleasure from the experienced feeling of anger as such.
Enjoyment of anger is far from the only affective model for this emotion. Many people feel dissatisfied with themselves when they become angry. Never get angry - that's how it can be important rule their life philosophy or work style. People may be afraid to experience anger, but if they do experience or express it, they become sad, ashamed, or dissatisfied with themselves. Such people are usually concerned about the possibility of losing control over impulses that cause them to attack other people. Their concerns may be valid, or they may be exaggerating the harm they can or could cause.

Although characteristic changes occur in each of the three areas of the face when anger is expressed, if these changes do not occur in all three areas at once, then it remains unclear whether the person is actually experiencing anger. The eyebrows are lowered and drawn together, the eyelids are tense, the eyes are staring intently. The lips either tightly compress or unclench, giving the mouth opening a rectangular shape.

Brows

Picture 1


The eyebrows are lowered and drawn together. In Fig. Figure 1 shows angry eyebrows on the left and fearful eyebrows on the right. Both angry and frightened eyebrows have their inner corners shifted towards each other. But when a person feels anger, his eyebrows go down, and when he feels fear, his eyebrows go up. In case of anger, the eyebrow line may become angled upward or simply fall down without any kinks. The drawing of the inner corners of the eyebrows usually results in vertical wrinkles between the eyebrows (1). With anger, no horizontal wrinkles appear on the forehead, and if some grooves do become noticeable there, then they are formed by permanent wrinkles (2).
In a person experiencing anger, lowered and furrowed eyebrows are usually accompanied by angry eyes and an angry mouth, but sometimes angry eyebrows can appear on a neutral face. When this happens, the face may or may not express anger. In Fig. 2, both John and Patricia have angry eyebrows on a neutral face (left), a neutral face (center), and, for comparison, fearful eyebrows on a neutral face (right). While the face on the right is expressing concern or apprehension (as discussed on the surprise page), the face on the left - with eyebrows drawn together and lowered - may have any of the following expressions:

• The person is angry, but tries to control or eliminate any manifestations of anger.
• The person is slightly irritated or his anger is in the early stages.
• The man is in a serious mood.
• A person concentrates intently on something.
• If it's a momentary change in which the angry brow appears for just a moment and then returns to a neutral position, then it could be another conversational "punctuation mark" to emphasize a word or phrase.

Eyes - eyelids

Figure 3


In anger, the eyelids are tense, and the eyes look intently and harshly. In Fig. 3 Patricia and John show two types of angry eyes: less wide open in the left photos and more wide open in the right. In all four photographs the lower eyelids are tense, but they are raised higher in one of the angry eyes (A) than in the other (B). In another photo of angry eyes, the upper eyelids appear to be drooping. Angry eyes are the eyelids shown in Fig. 3, cannot appear without the help of eyebrows, because drooping eyebrows reduce the degree of opening of the upper part of the eyes, causing the upper eyelids to droop. The lower eyelids may be tense and raised, and a hard, staring gaze may occur on its own, but its meaning will be unclear. Maybe the person is feeling slightly angry? Or does he control the expression of anger? Does he have a concerned look in his eyes? Is he focused, purposeful, serious? Even when the eyebrows-forehead and eyes-eyelids (two areas of the face, as shown in Figure 3) are involved, there is still uncertainty about the meaning of facial expressions. They can be any of the ones we listed above.

Mouth

Figure 4


There are two main types of angry mouth. In Fig. 4 Patricia shows a closed mouth with closed lips (above) and an open rectangular mouth (below). A mouth with lips tightly closed together appears in two completely different types of anger. Firstly, when a person in one form or another carries out physical violence by attacking another person. Secondly, when a person tries to control the verbal and auditory manifestations of his anger and purses his lips, trying to restrain himself from shouting or uttering words offensive to the offender. An angry person's mouth remains open when he tries to express his anger with words or shouting.
Usually these angry mouths appear on the face along with angry eyes and eyebrows, but they can also appear on a neutral face. However, the meaning of such a message will be ambiguous, as in the case when anger is expressed only by the eyebrows or only by the eyelids. If anger is expressed only through the mouth, pursed lips may indicate mild anger, controlled anger, physical exertion (as when lifting a heavy object), or concentration. An open rectangular mouth also has an ambiguous meaning if the rest of the face remains neutral, since it can appear with non-anger exclamations (for example, cheers during a football match) or some speech sounds.

Two areas of the face

Figure 5


In Fig. 3 we showed that if anger is manifested in only two areas of the face, eyebrows and eyelids, then the meaning of the message is ambiguous. The same is true when anger is expressed only through the mouth and eyelids. In Fig. Figure 5 shows composite photographs of Patricia, in which anger is expressed only by the lower part of the face and lower eyelids, and the eyebrows and forehead are taken from a neutral face. The meaning of these facial expressions can be any of those discussed above. Anger facial cues remain ambiguous unless anger is expressed in all three areas of the face. The expression of anger on the face differs in this sense from the expressions of emotion with which we have already become familiar. Surprise or fear can be clearly expressed by eyebrows - eyes or eyes - mouth. Disgust can be clearly expressed through the mouth and eyes. In the pages devoted to sadness and joy, you will see that these emotions can also be clearly expressed using just two areas of the face. And only in the case of anger, if signals are given by only two areas of the face, ambiguity of expression arises. Ambiguity in expressing anger across two facial areas can be reduced through tone of voice, body posture, hand movements or spoken words, and by understanding the context in which a particular expression occurs. If you saw a facial expression like in Fig. 5 or fig. 3 and Patricia would deny that she was annoyed by clenching her fists, or if you were shown this expression immediately after you told her news that you assumed she might not like, then you are probably correct would appreciate her anger. Some people may have a tendency to show anger predominantly in one part of the face or another when they are able to control the emotion. When this is the case, people who know the person well - family members or close friends - can correctly recognize facial expressions like those shown in Fig. 3 or fig. 5. And although this expression will remain ambiguous for most people, it will be understandable to those close to him. Figure 6


The ambiguity of anger appearing in only two areas of the face can be illustrated by another set of photographs where slightly different expressions of anger are shown in the eyelids. In Fig. 6A the eyes seem to be bulging outward, and the lower eyelids of the eyes are tense, but not as much as in Fig. 3. If this occurs with lowered eyebrows and a neutral mouth, as shown in Fig. 6A, then the message will be ambiguous. Patricia can express controlled anger, weak anger, strong intention or determination. If a slight tension is added to the lower part of the face, the expression loses its ambiguity. In Fig. 6B shows the same eyebrows and eyes as in Fig. 6A, but the upper lip and corners of the mouth are slightly tensed, the lower lip is slightly protruded forward, and the nostrils are slightly flared. Figure 6B illustrates well that there may not be clear anger symptoms in all three facial regions. Eyebrows - forehead in Fig. 6B show only a particular symptom of anger. The eyebrows are lowered, but not drawn together, and we have just described how weakly the elements of the lower region of the face are tense. All these particular symptoms, manifested on the eyebrows - forehead and lower part of the face, complemented by tense lower eyelids and protruding eyes, are enough to identify anger.

Expressions of anger all over the face

Figure 7


In Fig. 7 Patricia demonstrates two types of angry eyes - eyelids with two types of angry mouth. Comparing the top pictures with the bottom ones, we see identical eyes - eyelids and different mouths. Comparing the left and right photos, we see the same mouth, but different eyes.
As we have already explained, one or another type of angry mouth is observed in a person depending on what he is doing. Expressing anger with a closed mouth, as shown in the top pictures, can occur when a person is physically violent or if he is trying to suppress the urge to scream. The lower pictures show anger, accompanied by shouting and a stream of words. The wider, angry eyes in the right-hand shots make the messages they convey a little more expressive.

Anger Intensity

The intensity of anger can be reflected in the degree of tension in the eyelids or how much a person's eyes bulge. It can also be reflected in how tightly your lips are closed. In Fig. 7 The lips are compressed quite tightly, we see a swelling under the lower lip and wrinkles on the chin. With milder anger, the lips purse less tightly, and the bulge under the lower lip and wrinkles on the chin become less noticeable or not visible at all. This expression of anger is shown in Fig. 6B. An open mouth is also an indicator of the intensity of anger. Less severe anger may also be reflected in only one part of the face or only in two parts, as shown in Fig. 3 or fig. 5. But, as we said, it will still be unclear whether easy person anger, whether he is angry enough, but controls the expression of anger on his face, or not angry at all, but simply focused, determined, or confused.

Expressing anger with other emotions

The mixed expressions shown in previous chapters were created by the fusion of two emotions reflected in different areas of the face. Even limited in its manifestation to only one part of the face, each such emotion was conveyed in a complex message sent to the observer. But if it is about anger and the expression of anger is not expressed in all three areas of the face, then the message being conveyed becomes ambiguous. As a consequence, with mixed forms of expression of anger, when one or two areas of the face reflect another emotion, the dominance of the other emotion is usually observed in the message about anger (another consequence of this is that anger is easily masked: in order to reduce the unambiguity of the expression, it is enough to control or hide only one area of ​​the face) - We will give several examples of mixed emotions in which the message about the anger experienced is practically invisible. But there are two exceptions where messages of anger remain highly visible. First, in the case of a combination of disgust and anger, the part of the message that conveys anger is preserved. This may occur because the combination of disgust and anger occurs quite frequently, or because there are similarities in facial expressions and similarity in the situational contexts of the two emotions. Secondly, a mixture of anger and disgust can be created in another way. Creating such a combination does not necessarily require different areas of the face to display different emotions. This can occur when the expressions of two emotions are mixed in each area of ​​the face. Since this combination creates the message of anger in all three areas of the face, it is in no way obscured or suppressed by another emotion. This combination of emotions is shown in Fig. 8. Figure 8


Most often, anger is accompanied by disgust. In Fig. 8C Patricia demonstrates anger and disgust, with both emotions mixed in each area of ​​the face. She seems to want to exclaim: “How dare you show me such a disgusting thing!” This figure also shows expressions of anger (8A) and disgust (8B) for comparison. Take a close look at the mouth in Fig. 8C. We see closed lips - as in the manifestation of anger, and a raised upper lip - as in the manifestation of disgust. Patricia's nose is wrinkled, indicating disgust. The lower eyelids are slightly tensed, as in the expression of anger, but the bags and folds under the eyelids, characteristic of the expression of disgust, are created by wrinkling the nose and raising the cheeks. The upper eyelids are drooping and tense - this change occurs either with anger or with disgust. But lowered eyebrows occupy an intermediate position between the expression of anger and the expression of fear - they are only partially closed. Figure 9


In Fig. 9 John shows two other mixed expressions of anger and disgust. They appear in their pure form in different areas of the face, and not due to manifestation in each of the areas. In Fig. 9And anger is expressed by the eyebrows and eyes, and the mouth shows disgust. In Fig. 9B John shows a combination of contempt and disgust: disgust is expressed by the mouth, and anger is expressed by the eyes and eyebrows.
Figure 10
You can be both surprised and angry at the same moment. Suppose that John was already surprised by something, and then some other unexpected event occurred that provoked anger. In Fig. 10 John demonstrates anger and surprise, with surprise expressed through the mouth and anger through the eyebrows and eyes. Note, however, that the element of surprise dominates the message. We are not sure that John is angry. This facial expression could also arise in the case of bewildered surprise (remember that lowered and knitted eyebrows can also express bewilderment). Figure 11


Fear and anger can be caused by a variety of triggers and threats, and these emotions are sometimes mixed for a while while the person tries to cope with the situation. In Fig. 11 we see two such expressions of anger and fear. In Fig. 11B and fig. 11C fear is expressed by the mouth, and anger is expressed by the eyebrows and eyes. Again, note that in the overall facial expression, anger does not play a dominant role and is much weaker than fear. In fact, these two facial expressions (11B and 11C) could occur in the complete absence of anger and be caused by fear and bewilderment, or just fear, on which the person concentrates all his attention. Patricia's face in Fig. 11A is shown because it shows a combination of elements of fear and anger (fearful eyebrows and eyes, angry mouth), but it is one of those faces that makes us doubt whether they are truly expressing a mixture of these two emotions. It is more likely that such a combination would occur if Patricia was afraid and tried to hold back a scream by pressing her lips tightly together to try to control her fear.
Anger can also be mixed with joy and sadness.

Summary

Anger manifests itself in each of the three areas of the face (Figure 12).

Figure 12

• The eyebrows are lowered and drawn together.
• Vertical wrinkles appear between the eyebrows.
• The lower eyelids are tense and may or may not be raised.
• The upper eyelids are tense and may or may not be drooping as a result of the lowering of the eyebrows.
• The eyes look intently and may be slightly bulging outward.
• Lips can be in two main states: tightly compressed, the corners of the lips are straight or down; or the lips may be parted (forming a rectangular mouth) and tense - as if screaming.
• The nostrils may flare, but this sign is not characteristic only of anger and can appear when expressing sadness.
• Ambiguity of expression is observed if anger is not expressed in all three areas of the face.

"Constructing" facial expressions

With these exercises, you'll learn how to make angry faces look ambiguous.

1. Place part A on each of the faces of the figure. 12. You will get the same face as in fig. 5, which can express anger or have any of the other meanings we have discussed.
2. Place part B on each of the faces of the figure. 12. You will get an expression that you have not seen before - only the mouth expresses anger on such a face. It may be mild or controlled anger; This is how the face can look when tensing muscles, concentrating, screaming or uttering some words.
3. Place part C on the faces of the pic. 12. You will get the same face as in fig. 2. Once again, the message sent to him will be ambiguous: controlled or mild anger, concentration, determination, etc.
4. Place part D on the faces of the pic. 12. You will get the same face as in fig. 3; it will also be ambiguous with the same choices listed in the previous paragraph.

Showing photos

Read the instructions for completing a similar task on the fear page again. Now you can add faces expressing disgust and anger and combinations of anger, disgust, fear and surprise. First, practice the following expressions of anger, disgust, and combinations of the two. When you can distinguish them without error, add expressions of fear and surprise to them. Practice until you can give 100% correct answers.