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The anger consciousness is one of variability and change. The emotion
may disappear rather suddenly with the appearance of a new emotion or it
may disappear gradually. There are usually fluctuating nodes of
increasing and diminishing intensity accompanying the changing direction
of attention, ideational behavior, and motor and mental activity in
general. Attention again to the situation exciting anger tends to
increase its intensity, if the situation from which it arises remains
unchanged.
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.
Anger disappears suddenly and pleasantly if the subject can gain the
subjective end of the emotion. Subject J. observes in the case of an
anger arising from a feeling of irritation, “At this moment (the moment
of successful expression) I felt pleased, my anger now disappeared
leaving a pleasant after-effect.” A case from A. will illustrate
further. A. got on the wrong street car. The conductor refused to allow
him to get off at his corner of the street. He observes he was angry,
not because he was hindered from getting off, but because of the
insulting attitude and remark of the conductor, who said in a hostile
manner, “Why did you not pay attention to what I said, this car does not
stop, you will have to go on.” A. then became angry and demanded in
rather severe language to have the car stopped. At this point the
conductor changed his attitude and stopped with no further words. A.
observes, “As I stepped off I had a distinct feeling of pleasantness. I
felt I had been victorious. I was no longer angry. Sensations were still
present in chest, arm and leg muscles but these were now pleasant. Upon
recalling the incident, I had not the least resentment against the
conductor. On the whole, I now felt glad the incident had occurred.”
Pleasantness may appear on the observation of the offender’s failure or
humiliation. C. becoming angry at X., who was manipulating some
laboratory apparatus, observes, “I let him proceed rather hoping he
would spoil his results. When I noted he was failing and observed his
discomposure, I felt pleased. That satisfied my anger against him at
once.”
The imaginal humiliation and trouble coming to the offender, also
increases the feeling of pleasantness and diminishes for the moment the
anger. The imaginative verbal or physical attacks usually allow a
subject to come out victor. What D. observes is typical. “I imagined he
was stunned by my attack, and the result pleased me; that satisfied my
anger.”
If the offender acts friendly and accommodating, that affords a relief
to the offended person and is a condition for the rapid disappearance of
anger. F. observes, “He behaved so friendly that I thanked him and felt
relieved. My anger was now almost gone.” C. became angry at X. for what
he had interpreted as a hostile attitude. Five minutes later X. sat down
by him. C. observes, “He acted sociable and I felt relieved, my anger
was entirely gone, in fact I now felt quite friendly toward him.” It is
also commonly reported that when the offender becomes submissive, it
affords a relief to the subject and usually kills the emotion. C.
observes, “After he had submitted, my anger had disappeared and I now
felt a little repentant at what I had done.” The same subject sometimes
observes that he imagines the absent offender at whom he is angry,
smiling and acting friendly in the usual way, and the imagined friendly
attitude is a relief to the emotion.
Anger which develops from a fore-period of negative self-feeling,
disappears when the subject is able to acquire a positive feeling
attitude toward the offender. It may be accomplished subjectively. The
subject tends to lower his opinion of his opponent, he enjoys an idle
gossip, it may be, at his expense, recalls ill reports he had previously
heard but ignored, and in fact may employ a number of devices of
imagination and make-believe. He at times tends to magnify the
offender’s unworthiness, and may come to the conclusion that he is
scarcely worth troubling about. Mental behavior of this sort is commonly
reported to enhance self-feeling. On the other hand the subject may
accomplish the same end by magnifying his own personal feelings directly
by dwelling on his own good qualities and worth in comparison with that
of the offender. Such comparisons are almost always to the disadvantage
of the opponent. Subject C., in a controversy with X., became angry and
walked away when the emotion was still intense. “I now began to recall
how insignificant he is and how important I am. He is narrow, pedantic
and incapable of seeing a large point of view. I am not so narrow. All
was slightly pleasant and was accompanied by a decreased intensity of my
emotion. I now met X. and joked with him; my anger was entirely gone.”
The feeling of superiority kills anger of the type which arises from a
fore-period of humiliation. It has already been indicated that when a
positive feeling is maintained in receiving an injury, anger does not
arise. The would-be offender if he is regarded as unworthy or
unaccountable for his act, does not usually excite anger. The same
person, however, may stimulate anger by a process of increased irritable
feelings. Subject A. beginning to get angry at X., (a person he holds in
low esteem) observes the following association. “Oh, it is just X., no
use in my getting angry at a fellow like that, he is not responsible
anyway, and I would be foolish to be bothered by him. I had started to
ridicule him but now my emotion was gone.”
A contemplated victory gives pleasure and diminishes anger even before
the victory is attained. The emotion disappears on assuming a positive
determined mental attitude, it may pass off in vehement resolution as to
further behavior. In fact, one may begin and finish his fight through
the medium of ideas and have no enthusiasm left for the actual
encounter.
With a third condition for the disappearance of anger, pleasantness is
present but usually in the form of mild relief. Positive self-feeling is
not so clearly marked in consciousness. The subject looks at the
offender’s point of view, finds excuses for his behavior, elevates his
opinion it may be of him. A new idea is added to the mental situation
exciting anger which entirely alters the feeling content, and
consequently anger disappears. Subject I. observes, “When I finally
concluded that X. meant well, my anger was almost gone.” G. resentful at
X. because he did not speak to him states, “I recalled suddenly that he
is cross-eyed and probably did not see me. I said to myself, ‘He is a
good fellow and is friendly toward me all right.’ My emotion was now
gone.” B. mildly angry at X. and Y. for intruding upon him, observes the
following soliloquy. “No, they have more right here than I have. This
room is for people to converse in rather than for one man to occupy
alone. My anger was now decreased but not entirely gone.” Even a
tentative excuse for the offender’s behavior allays anger temporarily.
The emotion may last for several days, appearing at intervals, and with
a sudden introduction of a new idea providing an adequate excuse for the
offence, the condition exciting the emotion will be completely changed.
Anger diminishes and disappears more frequently in the change of
attention than by any other one condition. A pause in the midst of anger
to attend to one’s mental behavior affords a diminution of the affective
process. It is often reported as amusing when a subject suddenly ceases
attending to the situation exciting the emotion and observes his mental
behavior; laughter at this point is often reported. Close attention to
the act of managing the irritating or humiliating incident, allows a
rather gradual diminution of anger. Anger does not arise when the
subject is rigidly attending to the damage done, but only when he begins
to feel the damage as humiliating, irritating or as contrary to justice.
One subject hums or sings when angry. A joke or witticism will break the
crust of conscious tension allowing the attention to be distracted
elsewhere.
The subject may suddenly assume an apathetic attitude toward the whole
incident and kill the emotion at least temporarily. The mental situation
from which anger arises, is one contrary to indifference, in fact, the
lack of indifference is one of the essential characteristics of the
fore-condition of anger, and consequently when this attitude is present,
anger is cut off.
A resolution or a settled judgment has a relieving effect. Whenever the
subject comes to a definite conclusion whether it refers to the
emotional situation or a contemplated mode of behavior toward the
offender, there is reported a sudden drop in the intensity of the
emotion, even though the attitude is but a tentative and temporary one.
The reason for this is evidently that such a mental attitude is contrary
to the immediate mental situation from which anger arises. Anger springs
from the fact that there is lacking a definite mental attitude as to
what should be done during the reactive stage of the emotion. One of the
most efficient controls is to have a well planned reaction to meet the
emotional crisis before it appears; when the injury occurs, if there is
a preparedness as to what should be done, even though the response is
but a subjective one purely attitudinal in its nature, anger fails to
develop to its intense stage.