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The nature and expression of anger and guilt in sons and daughters of Holocaust survivors were studied by a quantitative and qualitative analysis of relationship narratives. Findings are discussed in relation to the reciprocal overprotectiveness between the surviving parents and their children in the context of intergenerational communication of trauma.
This study investigated self-reported anger, hostility, interpersonal aggressiveness, and self-confidence in 19 Type A and 11 Type B adolescent boys ages 15 and 16. It was hypothesized that Type As would report greater trait anger and aggressiveness, less confidence in interpersonal relating, and would endorse a pattern of expression of anger and aggressiveness that would differ from Type Bs. No significant differences were found between Type As and Type Bs on measures of global anger and aggressiveness, and no significant relationship between interpersonal hostility and self-confidence was demonstrated. Type As, however, were found to be more likely than Type Bs to report that they lose their temper and that they act in physically aggressive, verbally aggressive, and passive aggressive ways. Results were discussed in terms of the similarity of this pattern in Type A adolescent boys to that described for adult Type A men.
This case-control study examines the relationship between anger and impatience/irritability and acute coronary heart disease (CHD) in middle-aged men of low socioeconomic status (SES). Subjects included patients with myocardial infarction (MI) (N = 31) or unstable angina (AP) (N = 26), who were compared with hospital controls (N = 26). In separate multivariate analyses for each anger scale, MI was associated with Anger-Out and Impatience/Irritability, particularly in the subgroup of patients who did not have a previous MI. The same factors were associated with AP, but only when this acute ischemic event was not preceded by a MI. No relationship was found between Trait-Anger and Anger-In and either acute ischemic outcome. The results indicate that particularly overt behavioral expression of anger is related to CHD in lower SES patients and that there is similarity in the behavioral factors associated with acute CHD between low- and high-SES men.
The study was designed to assess the frequency and intensity of patients' anger directed toward various potential targets and how intensity of anger toward different targets was related to the chronic pain experience. Ninety-six chronic pain patients who were referred for a comprehensive evaluation completed questionnaires to assess their levels of anger, pain, distress, and disability. Approximately 70% of the participants reported to have angry feelings. Most commonly, patients reported to be angry with themselves (74%) and health care professionals (62%). The relevance of anger to chronic pain experience seemed to vary across targets. Anger toward oneself was significantly associated with pain and depression, whereas only overall anger was significantly related to perceived disability. The results suggest that anger should be conceptualized as a multifactorial construct. In addition to presence, intensity, and expression of anger, targets of anger may be important to better understand psychological adaptation to chronic pain.
Examined potential differences between individuals with high and low Cook and Medley (1954) Hostility (Ho) scale scores in regard to (a) self-esteem and particular developmental experiences; (b) utilization of social support, experience of anger, and the manner in which anger is managed; and (c) potentially health-damaging behaviors. Individuals with high Ho scale scores were found to be low in covert self-esteem and reported behavior on the part of their parents that reflected (a) less genuine acceptance, (b) more interference in the person's desires as a child, and (c) more punitiveness. In addition, the results indicated that high Ho score individuals avoid seeking or accepting social support, experience anger that is excessive and that occurs in a wide variety of situations, and suppress expression of anger. Finally, it was found that hostile individuals tended to drink more alcohol and drive a car more frequently after drinking and to have greater relative weight.
Anger about frustration or damage was assumed to depend on how much responsibility can be attributed to the perpetrator. This hypothesis was tested experimentally (N = 120). Drawing upon constituents of the action concept (e.g. free will), three everyday situations (e.g. being obstructed while driving) were varied with regard to responsibility. Twenty subjects each were asked to imagine the three situations from one of the six levels of responsibility and to indicate how angry they would feel. In addition to state anger, anger in, anger out, and anger control were assessed. When trait anger was controlled for, state anger as well as anger out increased as a function of the perpetrator's responsibility, whereas anger control decreased. These results were in line with theoretical expectations. They demonstrate that the expression of anger is subject to social norms and depends largely on the situation. This finding complements original assumptions on the trait-like nature of anger in, anger out, and anger control.
The expression of emotion and the sharing of information are determined by cultural factors, consultation time, and the structure of the health care system. Two emblematic situations in Spain - the expression of aggression in the patient-physician encounter, and the withholding of diagnostic information from the patient - have not been well-described in their sociocultural context. To explore these, the authors observed and participated in clinical practice and teaching in several settings throughout Spain and analyzed field notes using qualitative methods. In this paper, we explore three central constructs - modesty (pudor), dignity (honor), and authority (autoridad) - and their expressions in patient-physician encounters. We define two types of emotions in clinical settings - public, extroverted expressions of anger and exuberance; and private, deeply held feelings of fear and grief that tend to be expressed through the arts and religion. Premature reassurance and withholding of information are interpreted as attempts to reconstruct the honor and pudor of the patient. Physician authority and perceived loyalty to the government-run health care system generate conflict and aggression in the patient-physician relationship. These clinical behaviors are contextualized within cultural definitions of effective communication, an ideal patient-physician relationship, the role of the family, and ethical behavior. Despite agreement on the goals of medicine, the behavioral manifestations of empathy and caring in Spain contrast substantially with northern European and North American cultures.
This study examined the effect of the changes in facial expressions in different parts of the face on emotion recognition. Fifty-two university students participated in the study. Seven emotions were selected as being the most suitable for categorization and expression: namely, anger, fear, surprise, disgust, sadness, happiness, and neutrality. Picture of these emotions were used to create stimulus materials, composed facial expressions were created by combining the upper and the lower parts of the pictures expressing different emotions. The participants were asked to categorize the type of emotion represented by each picture. The results showed that the upper area of the face was more often associated with anger, fear, surprise, and sadness. On the contrary, the lower area was more often associated with disgust and happiness. There were no significant differences between parts of the face associated with neutral emotions. Based on these results, we conclude that affected areas of the face differed as a function of emotion being experienced. Finally, the relationship of our results with Yamada's model (1993) was discussed.
There has been an increase in research on anger in girls and women. However, few researchers have examined anger across different groups of females. The goal of this study was to examine the experience and expression of anger in individuals who differ by age and employee/student status. Two female populations, university students and employees, described their reactions to a hypothetical work/school-related situation. Similar factors elicited an angry emotion, but there were group differences in the responses to the anger experience. The results are interpreted from a gender schema perspective, taking the contextual influence of developmental period and employee/student role into account.
Most research on the perception of emotional expressions is conducted using static faces as stimuli. However, facial displays of emotion are a highly dynamic phenomenon and a static photograph is its very unnatural representation. The goal of the present research was to assess the role of stimuli dynamics as well as subjects' sex in the perception of emotional expressions. In the experiment, subjects rated the intensity of expressions of anger and happiness presented as photographs (static stimuli) and animations (dynamic stimuli). The impact of both stimulus dynamics and emotion type on the perceived intensity was observed. The emotions on 'angry faces' were judged as more intense than on 'happy faces' and the intensity ratings were higher in the case of animation rather than photography. Moreover, gender differences in the rated intensity were found. For male subjects higher intensity ratings for dynamic than for static expressions were noted in the case of anger, whereas in the case of happiness, no differences were observed. For female subjects, however, differences for both anger and happiness were significant. The results suggest that the dynamic characteristic of facial display is an important factor in the perception of the intensity of emotional expressions. Its effect, however, depends on the subjects' sex and emotional valence.
PURPOSE: The right (nondominant) amygdala is crucial for processing facial emotion recognition (FER). Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) associated with mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) often incur right amygdalar damage, resulting in impaired FER if TLE onset occurred before age 6 years. Consequently, early right mesiotemporal insult has been hypothesized to impair plasticity, resulting in FER deficits, whereas damage after age 5 years results in no deficit. The authors performed this study to test this hypothesis in a uniformly seizure-free postsurgical population. METHODS: Controls (n=10), early-onset patients (n=7), and late-onset patients (n=5) were recruited. All patients had nondominant anteromedial temporal lobectomy (AMTL), Wada-confirmed left-hemisphere language dominance and memory support, MTS on both preoperative MRI and biopsy, and were Engel class I 5 years postoperatively. By using a standardized (Ekman and Friesen) human face series, subjects were asked to match the affect of one of two faces to that of a simultaneously presented target face. Target faces expressed fear, anger, or happiness. RESULTS: Statistical analysis revealed that the early-onset group had significantly impaired FER (measured by percentage of faces correct) for fear (p=0.036), whereas the FER of the late-onset group for fear was comparable to that of controls. FER for anger and happiness was comparable across all three groups. CONCLUSIONS: Despite seizure control/freedom after AMTL, early TLE onset continues to impair FER for frightened expressions (but not for angry or happy expression), whereas late TLE onset does not impair FER, with no indication that AMTL resulted in FER impairment. These results indicate that proper development of the right amygdala is necessary for optimal fear recognition, with other neural processes unable to compensate for early amygdalar damage.
We address how adults perceive facial and vocal signs of emotions in infants with and without Down syndrome. A set of naturalistic data from infants with trisomy 21 and typically developing infants (joy expression of young infants, 3.8-4.4 months, and anger and neutral expressions of older infants, 6.8-12.8 months) was rated by adult judges categorically or dimensionally. Facial signs alone, vocal signs alone, and both facial and vocal signs were presented for each expression. Raters were university students who did not have regular contact with infants, nor with people with mental retardation. Young infants' joy expressions were correctly recognized more frequently for typically developing infants than for infants with Down syndrome and, specifically, joy vocalizations in infants with Down syndrome were not identified. Facial signs were also more communicative than vocal signs in the case of older infants' anger and neutral expressions. These results are relevant to the way infant emotion is perceived by others, and may be particularly useful in facilitating interaction between adults and infants with Down syndrome.
Composite facial expressions were prepared by aligning the top half of one expression (e.g., anger) with the bottom half of another (e.g., happiness). Experiment 1 shows that participants are slower to identify the expression in either half of these composite images relative to a "noncomposite" control condition in which the 2 halves are misaligned. This parallels the composite effect for facial identity (A. W. Young, D. Hellawell, & D. C. Hay, 1987), and like its identity counterpart, the effect is disrupted by inverting the stimuli (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 shows that no composite effect is found when the top and bottom sections contain different models' faces posing the same expression; this serves to exclude many nonconfigural interpretations of the composite effect (e.g., that composites are more "attention-grabbing" than noncomposites). Finally, Experiment 4 demonstrates that the composite effects for identity and expression operate independently of one another.
This article describes certain aspects of the cultural dynamics of lower socioeconomic Hispanic populations. Specifically, there is discussion of a particular view of the world among Hispanics that emphasizes a concrete orientation and discourages the outward expression of anger or aggression. The Cognitive Behavior model, which is structured and goal-oriented, and which addresses attitudes surrounding the expression of anger/aggression, is briefly described, and recommended as a particularly effective approach with Hispanic clients in individual and group therapy and in outpatient and partial hospitalization settings.
Prior research [van Honk J, Tuiten A, Verbaten R, van den Hout M, Koppeschaar H, Thijssen J, de Haan E. Correlations among salivary testosterone, mood, and selective attention to threat in humans. Horm Behav 1999;36(1):17-24; van Honk J, Tuiten A, Hermans E, Putman P, Koppeschaar H, Thijssen J, Verbaten R, van Doornen L. A single administration of testosterone induces cardiac accelerative responses to angry faces in healthy young women. Behav Neurosci 2001;115(1):238-42.] showed relationships in humans between testosterone (T) and vigilance to facial expressions of anger, which are considered signals of an impending dominance challenge. In Study 1, we used a differential implicit learning task (DILT) (see [Schultheiss OC, Pang JS, Torges CM, Wirth MM, Treynor W. Perceived facial expressions of emotion as motivational incentives: evidence from a differential implicit learning paradigm. Emotion 2005;5(1):41-54.]) to investigate the degree to which subjects find anger faces reinforcing. In the DILT, separate sequences of actions were paired with presentations of anger faces, neutral faces or a blank screen. After training, performance on the three sequences was measured in the absence of face stimuli. Saliva was collected for T measurement. Higher T predicted better learning on sequences paired with sub-threshold (i.e., presented too fast for conscious awareness) anger faces, suggesting that T is related to reinforcing qualities of these faces. In Study 2, we examined whether morning or afternoon T better predicted attention and vigilance to anger faces. Participants were tested at 9:00 and 15:00. At each session, saliva was collected for T measurement, and participants completed a Stroop task and a dot-probe task [Mogg K, Bradley BP, Hallowell N. Attentional bias to threat: roles of trait anxiety, stressful events, and awareness. Q J Exp Psychol A 1994;47(4):841-64.] with facial expression stimuli. Morning (peak) T was a better predictor of responses to anger faces than afternoon T. Morning T predicted greater Stroop-like interference to sub-threshold anger faces, as well as attentional orienting away from sub-threshold anger faces. These effects were not present for joy faces or for supraliminal anger faces. T may generally decrease aversion to threatening stimuli, and/or may specifically facilitate approach towards signals of dominance challenge.
Konrad Lorenz first suggested in 1943 that certain physical and behavioral characteristics common to infants (babyishness) serve as cues to attract adult attention and care as well as to decrease the likelihood of aggression. The present study was designed to determine whether the visual stimuli of a baby's face alone are sufficient to reduce anger. The subjects were 60 female students between 18 and 30 years of age. Anger was evoked by setting unsolvable tasks and by noise and maintained by adequate instructions and by continuing noise. Three procedures of measurement (heart rate, retrospective self-report, and interpretation of facial affect by two observers) were designed to show the reactions of the subjects viewing photos of babies and adults. We found a slight increase in heart rate to be an expression of happiness and a massive acceleration to be an expression of anger. The self-report measures and interpretation of facial affect supported the hypothesis that there is a more positive response to infants than to adults, and to cute babies also a more positive one than to less attractive infants. We found weak evidence that babyishness reduces anger. As a consequence of the length of the experiment, subjects who should not be aroused became angry. Thus, it was possible to register a reduction of anger as reaction to cute infants.
BACKGROUND: Conflicting findings in the literature with regard to the ability of type A behavior, expressions of anger, or hostility to predict incident coronary heart disease (CHD) have created controversy. In addition, there are no prospective studies relating these characteristics to the development of atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS AND RESULTS: From 1984 to 1987, 3873 men and women, 18 to 77 years of age, participating in the Framingham Offspring Study, were examined and monitored for 10 years for the incidence of CHD, AF, and total mortality. Measures of type A behavior, anger, hostility, and risk factors for CHD and AF were collected at the baseline examination. After controlling for age, diabetes, hypertension, history of myocardial infarction, history of congestive heart failure, and valvular heart disease in Cox proportional hazards models, trait-anger (RR=1.1; 95% CI, 1.0 to 1.4; P=0.04), symptoms of anger (RR=1.2; 95% CI, 1.0 to 1.4; P=0.008), and hostility (RR=1.3; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.5; P=0.003) were predictive of 10-year incidence of AF in men. After controlling for risk factors for CHD, none of the measures of anger, type A behavior, or hostility were related to incident CHD; however, trait-anger (RR=1.2; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.4; P<0.01) was related to total mortality in men. None of the psychosocial variables were related to the 3 outcomes in women. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to examine and demonstrate a predictive relation between measures of anger and hostility to the development of AF in men. As opposed to type A behavior, measures of anger and hostility may be more productive avenues for research in studying the risk of arrhythmias and total mortality in men.
This study focuses on testing the interactional approach underlying the anger models of Novaco (1978) and Spielberger (1988). An additional goal was to demonstrate different types of situations that give rise to anger and different dimensions of anger response in two samples of 97 managers and 74 athletes. Results showed that an anger response could be differentiated into a physiological, a cognitive, and two behavioral components. For the latter, it was confirmed that the expression of anger could be categorized into two independent components, anger in and anger out. Classifying anger situations revealed only a limited situation specificity of the tendency toward anger. The results on the validity of the interactional approach depended on the methods of analysis chosen. If the percentage of variance components were interpreted in the direction of an interactional approach, the external validity coefficients in at least one sample could not be interpreted unequivocally in this direction.