Social psychology concepts and applications

Anger and Frustration

Keeping a journal about my feelings of anger and frustration brought to my attention that I feel angry or frustrated much more frequently than I would have guessed prior to keeping this journal. Many times these feelings of anger or annoyance were fleeting and probably would have been gone almost instantly if I had not had to chronicle them in a journal. However, other times, even if I did not react to the anger or frustration, I found that the feelings colored my other behavior, so that a single incidence of anger or frustration could impact an entire day. I did not really believe that anger and frustration, emotions that I consider negative, impacted me so frequently throughout the day or that anger could have such a lasting impact on my day.

I noticed several patterns to my anger and frustration. First, I found myself much more short-tempered in the morning. I have never considered myself a morning person, but I did not realize how much shorter my fuse was in the morning until keeping this journal. I got angry at one of my pets for wanting to go out to go to the bathroom while it was still very early in the morning. I did not react in anger, but I found myself feeling annoyed and upset, with ugly thoughts about wanting to get rid of the pet, even though I would never actually consider doing that. I got angry because someone in my house had failed to throw out the milk, which had gone sour. Once again, I did not act on that anger, but I was very upset about it, and I cussed about it as I dumped out the sour milk and ate the dry cereal. I was angry at myself that I had failed to charge my cell phone. While none of these incidents was significant, I realize that I was getting upset about small things that would not bother me at other times of the day. This made me aware that time of day had a large impact on my attitude.

I also found that certain situations were likely to elicit aggressive behavior from me, even if I did not really feel any underlying anger or frustration. Driving was the best example of this phenomenon. While driving, I found myself engaging in aggressive behavior that was, quite frankly, jerky. I would speed up if someone used a turn signal to indicate that they were getting over, I would be competitive about parking spaces, and I drove in a very defensive manner. However, I did not engage in any behavior that would be characterized as road rage. Instead, I believe this driving-linked aggressive behavior would fall under the umbrella of instrumental aggression, as it was done in order to get something of value (Kassin et al., 2010). Moreover, I noticed that the feelings of aggression that I had in the car were fleeting, not permanent. Once I was out of the car, I did not carry those feelings of anger or aggression with me into the day. This made me think that instrumental aggression might have a different impact on overall personality than other types of aggression. Furthermore, I had to question the notion that all aggressive behavior is linked to frustration (Kassin et al., 2010). I did not feel particularly frustrated by the other drivers as I engage in my aggressive behavior, nor did I feel frustrated by the idea of driving. Instead, it is almost as if I have simply incorporated the idea of aggression into the driving experience.

However, I found that not all triggering experiences were as fleeting or benign. I kept his journal as the Steubenville rape verdict was being announced on the news. I found myself furious about how CNN handled its coverage of the trial. The CNN anchors and commentators at the time of the verdict seemed far more concerned about the impact of the sentences on the rapists than the impact of the rape on the survivor of their sexual assault. It made me angry, not only at them, but at society as a whole. It did not make me feel as if I were an active participant in the creation of a rape culture, but it certainly made me consider the idea of cultivation, since I felt as if the mass media was helping create a rape culture as they responded to this verdict (Kassin et al., 2010). Furthermore, I felt a feeling of helplessness, as if the fact that CNN was responding to the verdict with sympathy for two young men who not only raped a young girl, but filmed and publicized aspects of that assault, meant that society would never improve. I realized that my feelings of helplessness were directly related to the level of frustration I experienced, and the amount of anger I experienced. That helped me understand why I would feel such an extreme response to a verdict in a case in which I did not know the victim or the perpetrators.

I also found that I responded with anger to aggression that I could not understand. On Facebook this week, I read a story that I had not previously read about a dog name Buck, which was shot in the face, tied up in a trash bag, and left for dead. I have heard more horrific accounts of things happening to people. In fact, during that same time period, I read a story about a young pre-med student who gave his infant daughter a bleach solution to drink, because he had been told that the solution would help her chest congestion. Objectively, I value human beings more than I value animals, and I believe that a young infant suffering a tremendous harm is worse than an injured dog. However, the father's actions, while ignorant, were unintentional. I actually found myself empathizing with him. On the contrary, the person who shot the dog and tied him up in a garbage bag was not acting out of ignorance, but out of malice. I found myself very upset by the notion of this type of emotional aggression, which people commit simply for the sake of the harm (Kassin et al., 2010). Interestingly enough, I believe that my failure to understand is a form of helplessness. Because I could not understand why someone would do something so horrible to another living creature, I find myself unable to predict when people would do those things, which leaves me feeling helpless to stop that type of behavior.

It also made me contemplate the weapons effect. Reading about Buck's story, I discovered that it is not uncommon for people to use weapons against domesticated animals for nuisance behaviors, such as dogs defecating on someone's lawn. I do not believe that people would be so quick to inflict violence if they did not have such ready access to weapons. It made me realize that the concerns of gun control advocates, which I had previously dismissed, might have more merit than I had previously believed. What made this really occur to me is that I felt as if, had I witnessed Buck's abuser do that to him and had access to a weapon at that time, I feel that I would have used a weapon to inflict violence on him.