Psychology and Pedagogy of AngerRichardson, Roy Franklin
Science
Psychology and Pedagogy of Anger
Richardson, Roy Franklin
Anger
Any behavior, whether mental or motor, which changes the total mental
situation from which anger originates, tends to modify the emotion
itself. This total mental situation cannot remain unchanged long. The
affective processes which have been aroused usually serve to redirect
attention again and again to the situation exciting anger. The aim of
angry behavior may be said to be three fold, referring to the total
mental situation from which the three main types of anger arise; (1) to
enhance self-feeling which has been lowered; (2) to get rid of the
opposing obstacle to the continuity of associative processes; (3) to
recover from one’s wounded sense of justice.
The total feeling situation becomes modified in the course of the
disappearance or diminution of the emotion. Anger which springs from a
fore-period of irritable feelings disappears by a different set of ideas
than from anger arising from a fore-period of negative self-feeling.
Pleasantness is an important condition in the diminution of anger.
There are but few instances that show no pleasantness in some degree
somewhere in the reactive stage of the emotion. The pleasantness ranges
from momentary mild relief to active delight. Periods of restraint
during anger are periods of unpleasantness. Periods of lessened
restraint are accompanied by relief or pleasantness. Two periods in
the development of anger are most unpleasant. (1) The entire cumulative
development of anger is unpleasant. It is a frequent observation in the
immediate fore-period, “I wanted to get angry at somebody or something,
I felt I would feel better if I did.” (2) Often during the active stage
of anger, there are found one or more periods of unpleasant inhibition
and restraint. This is often a stage of experiment in imagination,
foreseeing unpleasant results of too drastic behavior, inhibiting,
choosing and selecting in the effort to discover some reaction which
may successfully meet the emotional crisis of the moment. There
are cases of anger with all the persons studied, which do not get
beyond this inhibitive unpleasant stage. Anger may be almost entirely
unpleasant or mostly pleasant. Some persons have a greater mental
versatility than others in finding a successful expression to anger,
consequently they have relatively a greater proportion of pleasantness.
Under the influence of fatigue, the ability for successful expression
is lessened and there is a correspondingly increased tendency to
emotive excitation and decreased emotional control.
When a fully successful reaction is not found, anger dies hard. It may
become necessary to attend to something else voluntarily for self
protection. Anger disappearing unsuccessfully tends to recur again and
again, it may be. Its reappearance frequently allows the unpleasant
initial stage to be shortened or dropped entirely leaving a mildly
pleasant experience.
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