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Anger

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Synonyms

Aggression; Annoyance; Antagonism; Fury; Hatred; Hostility; Irritability; Mad; Rage; Temper

Definition

Anger is a negatively toned emotion, subjectively experienced as an aroused state of antagonism toward someone or something perceived to be the source of an aversive event.

Introduction

Anger is a primary emotion having adaptive functions linked to survival mechanisms that are biological, psychological, and social in nature. Threat perception is intrinsic to its activation, and cognitive representational structures govern such perception. Anger activation is marked by physiological arousal in cardiovascular, skeletal, endocrine, and neurological systems associated with approach motivation, as anger serves to energize responses to threat and to sustain effort. Although it is neither necessary nor sufficient for aggression or violence, anger impels aggressive behavior, particularly when its intensity overrides regulatory control mechanisms. Dysregulated anger can impair social...

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References

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Correspondence to Raymond W. Novaco .

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Novaco, R.W. (2017). Anger. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_490-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_490-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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