Anger, Frustration, and Aggression: A Personal Journal Analysis

Introduction: Discovering the Scope of Daily Anger

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 before keeping this journal. Many times these feelings of anger or annoyance were fleeting and probably would have disappeared almost instantly had I not been required to chronicle them. However, other times — even when I did not react to the anger or frustration — I found that the feelings colored my other behavior, so that a single incident of anger or frustration could impact an entire day. I did not really believe that anger and frustration, emotions I consider negative, affected me so frequently throughout the day, or that anger could have such a lasting impact on how my day unfolded.

Morning Irritability and Time-of-Day Effects

I noticed several patterns in 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 during those early hours until I began keeping this journal. I got angry at one of my pets for wanting to go outside while it was still very early. 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 also got angry because someone in my household 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 as I dumped out the sour milk and ate dry cereal. I was angry at myself for failing to charge my cell phone overnight.

While none of these incidents was significant on its own, I realized I was getting upset about small things that would not bother me at other times of day. This made me aware that time of day has a large impact on my attitude and overall emotional baseline.

Instrumental Aggression and Driving Behavior

I also found that certain situations were likely to elicit aggressive behavior from me, even when I did not feel any underlying anger or frustration. Driving was the best example of this phenomenon. While behind the wheel, I found myself engaging in aggressive behavior that was, quite frankly, inconsiderate. I would speed up if someone used a turn signal to indicate they were merging, I would be competitive about parking spaces, and I drove in a very defensive manner. I did not engage in any behavior that would be characterized as road rage, however. Instead, I believe this driving-linked aggressive behavior falls under the umbrella of instrumental aggression, as it was performed in order to gain something of value (Kassin et al., 2010).

Moreover, I noticed that the feelings of aggression I experienced in the car were fleeting rather than lasting. Once I was out of the car, I did not carry those feelings of anger or aggression into the rest of my day. This made me think that instrumental aggression might have a different impact on overall personality than other types of aggression. I also had to question the notion that all aggressive behavior is linked to frustration (Kassin et al., 2010). I did not feel particularly frustrated by other drivers as I engaged in aggressive behavior, nor did I feel frustrated by the act of driving itself. It is almost as if I have simply incorporated the idea of aggression into the driving experience as a routine strategy.