Anger management

Social science and criminal justice researchers report that most of all non-war related violence stems from learned behavior. Because people learn aggressive behavior by observation, imitation, and reinforcement, it is theoretically possible to unlearn aggressive behaviors, and, thus, reduce or prevent them. Anger often follows a cascade of events, beginning with a perception that one has been unjustly wronged. Insolent language, offensive gestures, and posturing can lead to threats. Maltreatment then escalates and eventually individual or collective homicides are possible. Though a critically important emotion to experience, uncontrolled anger perpetuates a reciprocal cycle wherein violence is responded to with more violence. Uncontrolled anger is socially contagious and a contaminant of public welfare. Unmanaged anger respects no boundaries, borders, occupations, ages, cultures, religious beliefs, or socioeconomic levels. Controlled violence and managed anger can be marshaled for both individual and societal good.

TYPE OF PSYCHOLOGY: Clinical, Social

Introduction

Anger is a strong, negative psychobiological state that may result in aggression. Aggressive behavior is the application of anger for the purpose of harming others. When unchecked, it may result in failed relationships at home and at work, the creation of identifiable enemies, the possible instigation of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, maltreatment of children and older people, or homicide or suicide. The experience of uncontrolled anger promotes one's perception that their use of violence is legitimate and justified. It also promotes victimization and gives the individual a false sense of control when they are actually out of control.

Aggressive behaviors can be learned from a variety of sources: direct reinforcement, imitation of social or cultural models (antiheroes and antagonists as portrayed in movies and video games), and any variety of psychosocial factors such as low self-esteem, poor parental acceptance, inefficient and inadequate parental discipline, unmediated physical punishment, or academic failure.

Sequences of anger

Researchers have identified three anger sequences that have a taxonomy of triggers: 1) anger itself, experienced as an emotional state like annoyance, 2) hostility which can be expressed by attitudes and arguments, and 3) aggression which can be experienced as rage and behaviorally involve motoric behavior. Anger appears to arise from nowhere, though actually it is rarely random. Typically, anger requires one or more triggers. Examples include 1) frustration or disappointment stemming from unfulfilled expectations, 2) perceived injustice, and 3) experiences of verbal or physical harm. Even daily issues that commonly arise at home, school, or work can give rise to an unmanaged anger sequence. Furthermore, any of these triggers can be exacerbated by the presence of a wide range of situational factors like fatigue, the influence of substances, gang membership, or possession of or access to firearms and other weapons.

Assessment and diagnosis

The diagnosis of anger is unlike that of diagnosing any other related mood or anxiety disorder. Certain personality disorders (e.g., antisocial personality disorder) are prone to include episodes of uncontrolled anger and aggression. More than verbal reporting or psychometric tests, the occurrence of unchecked aggressive behaviors like pinching, shouting, verbal and physical threats, intimidation, repeated sarcasm, hostile humor, hitting, throwing objects, and overt physical assault provide the necessary evidence to diagnose and identify anger in need of management. Often, in addition to the history of observed hostility, psychologists and allied behavioral health specialists will use one of a range of available questionnaires to more specifically assess the risk of repeated future violence. The Novaco Anger Scale, for example, contains sixty items to complete within a fifteen-minute timeframe. Yet, it still yields scores on five measures: cognitive, arousal, behavioral, anger, and regulation. The Provocation Inventory contains twenty-five items to complete within a ten-minute timeframe and also yields information on five domains: disrespectful treatment, unfairness, frustration, annoying traits of others, and irritations. Samples of other tests used in evaluating anger control are the Rathus Assertiveness Scale, a thirty-item schedule that assesses assertive behavior and the widely used State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. The inventory contains fifty-seven items, takes about fifteen minutes to complete, and measures state anger, trait anger, anger expression-out, anger expression-in, anger control-out, and anger control-in.

Dealing with anger

Programs such as the American Psychological Association's ACT Raising Safe Kids provide the general public, particularly parents, with guides for self-management of anger. Other organizational information geared toward a specific audience include the cognitive-behavioral therapy manual on anger management maintained by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Emotional anger control

The physiology of anger manifests itself in muscle tension, excessive breathing, and cognitive distortions. Inhibiting these unpleasant manifestations can be facilitated by diaphragmatic breathing rather than thoracic breathing, progressively relaxing muscles, praying, attaining a state of mindfulness, and listening to music.

Cognitive anger control

It is typical for anger to affect thinking, judgment, and rationality. Common cognitive distortions are overestimation, underestimation, misattributions, polarized thinking, overgeneralizations, inflammatory thinking, catastrophizing, and expressions of demanding and commanding.

Anger researcher Raymond Novaco developed a method for maintaining intellectual control over emotional anger. He suggested 1) preparing for the provocation with self-talk like “I can deal with this; I will not take it personally; 2) managing the impact during confrontation with phrasing like “I will not let this aggravate me; I don't have to prove anything to anyone, and I have total control of myself;” 3) monitoring feelings and thoughts throughout the confrontation, thinking ideas like “I feel tension in my muscles. Breathe deeply,” and “I am right to be upset, but I am going to control myself.” He additionally offers advice for both when the outcome of the confrontation is resolution (“Forget it. You tried your best so don't take it personally” and “Laugh, if possible.”) and when the confrontation is not resolved (“I managed myself well during this provocation, and I achieved my goal without getting annoyed.)

Role playing is also a useful treatment to teach anger control. Research has shown that adolescents who learned to self-assess and role play accurately have improved their ability to negotiate conflict constructively and apply it to other real life, non-school setting situations.

Behavioral analysis is another mechanism for tracking the ebbs and flows of an individual's anger episodes. The patient notes the immediate source of their disturbance, what might have preceded it, the day of the week, time of day, and location. In this way, clinicians hope to spot patterns that will contribute to better understanding of what causes the anger and methods of mitigation and eventual prevention.

Preventing uncontrolled anger

The two leading professional organizations of psychologists and pediatricians, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, published a series of commonsense but evidence-based recommendations to help parents manage their own uncontrolled anger in reaction to disciplining their children. These recommendations are summarized as follows:

• Avoid hitting your child. Model appropriate, safe, problem-solving responses that do not include hurting others. Hitting children communicates the idea that it is acceptable to hit others to solve disagreements or relieve one's anger.
• Non-physical methods (e.g., time outs, depriving privileges) are more effective in the long term in promoting positive behavioral changes.
• Verbally instruct children that violence is not a solution to problems and unchecked demonstrations of anger produce worsening effects.
• Be consistent, fair, and reasonable about establishing rules and consequences for not observing them.

Forgiveness interventions

Forgiveness interventions replace blame, bitterness, and harbored resentment by consciously attempting to forgive the offense, assuming that the others' intentions were good though the outcome may have been otherwise. When people genuinely forgive rather than simply say the words “I forgive you,” high emotional arousal states evolve into calmer, more serene states, and the individuals experience an integrated sense of wellness. From a sense of calmness, attitudes reorient toward solving conflicts and disputes in a fair manner. To forgive does not mean to accept or forget an unjust situation; it does mean that one adopts a focus that ultimately reduces the frequency, duration, and intensity of resentment and need for vengeance.

Conclusion

Every day, people encounter bizarre and extreme acts of serial killings, assassinations, and genocidal wars in what they read and watch. Excluding wars and natural disasters, more people are likely to be the targets of unmanaged anger than perpetrators of violence are. But, for the perpetrators, research shows that violence is not fortuitous, uncontrollable, or foreordained. In the same way that people face challenges like illness, addiction, and injustice, violence as the end product of unmanaged anger can be thwarted, mitigated, and, if not eliminated, better controlled. Most violence is a learned response and it can be unlearned in most cases. At times high-profile, nationwide events such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its related transmission-controlling lockdowns and restrictions are analyzed as further evidence of the importance of managing anger. Many experts noted that exacerbated tensions and frustration were more widespread as the pandemic continued, raising concerns about already prevalent issues such as domestic violence and anger-linked abuse worsening.

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