What Anger Actually Is
What Anger Actually Is
Defining Anger
Anger is one of the basic human emotions — as elemental as happiness, sadness, anxiety, or disgust. These emotions are tied to basic survival and were honed over the course of human history. More precisely, anger is characterized by tension and hostility arising from frustration, real or imagined injury by another, or perceived injustice.
A critical distinction to understand right away: anger represents the emotion, while aggression is the term used to describe the behavior change that occurs from anger. Anger is distinct from, but a significant activator of, aggression, which is behavior intended to harm someone or something. Feeling angry is not the same as acting aggressively — and that gap is exactly where emotional control lives.
What Happens in Your Brain and Body
When you get angry, your body launches a rapid biological response. Emotions begin inside the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure considered part of the "old brain." The amygdala is the part of the brain responsible for identifying threats to our well-being and sending out an alarm when threats are identified. It is so efficient at warning us about threats that it gets us reacting before the prefrontal cortex — the newer, more evolved part of the brain responsible for thought and judgment — can check the reasonableness of our reaction.
Once triggered, the effects cascade throughout your body:
- Your muscles tense up. Inside your brain, neurotransmitters known as catecholamines — such as adrenaline and noradrenaline — are released, causing a burst of energy lasting up to several minutes. This is what causes the fight-or-flight response.
- A person experiencing anger will often experience physical effects, such as increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, and increased levels of the stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline.
- Typical sensations include feeling hot (hence the term "seeing red"), sweating, muscle tension, and clenching one's jaw and/or fists.
Importantly, during the slow cool-down period after anger, we are more likely to get very angry in response to minor irritations that normally would not bother us. This explains why anger can spiral if left unchecked.
Why Anger Exists: The Evolutionary Purpose
Modern psychologists view anger as a normal and natural emotion experienced by virtually all humans at times, and as an emotion that has functional value for individual survival and mutual cooperation.
From an evolutionary standpoint, throughout evolution, anger has had an adaptive role in survival with its fundamental involvement in the fight-or-flight reaction to threat detection. Anger is seen as an adaptive response that has evolved to promote survival and reproductive success. By mobilizing physiological and psychological resources, anger enables individuals to confront challenges and overcome obstacles in their environment.
Beyond physical survival, anger can serve as a powerful social signal, communicating to others that a boundary has been crossed or a norm has been violated. In this way, anger can facilitate social cooperation and coordination by promoting fairness and discouraging exploitation or injustice.
Anger as a "Secondary" Emotion
One of the most important things to understand about anger is that it often masks deeper feelings. Many people resort to anger to conceal emotions which may make them feel more vulnerable, such as sadness, jealousy, or disappointment. Anger is a protective emotion. But it often functions to protect a fragile ego, which may involve guilt, shame, and anxiety.
Recognizing what lies beneath your anger is a foundational skill for managing it.
Anger Is Not the Enemy
It's important to understand that anger isn't an emotion to be eliminated, but rather one to be channeled in constructive ways. Happiness and contentment aren't enough to tackle all of life's challenges. We need the full complement of emotions to succeed in jobs, relationships, and the day-to-day matters that affect us.
However, uncontrolled anger can negatively affect personal or social well-being and may produce deleterious health effects and negatively impact those around you. The goal of this course is not to silence your anger — it's to help you understand and direct it wisely.