Interesting Psychology Team
Anger is usually grouped into several types by experts, in this post we will be checking out 8 identified types of anger. Knowing the type or source of your anger makes it easier for this anger to be controlled or managed. All types of anger which we will be examining are psychologically based since anger is an emotion of the mind.
8 Types Of Anger
1- Righteous Anger:
Β This is a positive anger that we feel when an injustice has been committed or when we feel a rule has been broken. It may also be referred to as judgmental or moral anger because it is a morally indignant anger that may also arise due to our perceptionΒ of someoneΒ elseβs shortcoming.
This kind of anger usually stems from belief and rules. That anger you experience when you feel that someoneβs human right has been abused is a righteous anger.
However, this sort of anger may assume a morally superior stance which is that you think you are better than some people and that is why you get angry with them; it may also be because you think someone is better than something they have done.
Righteous anger may become excessive out of the need to manipulate and control others.Β
2- Assertive Anger:
Β Have you ever used your feelings of rage to initiate a social good or positive change? If yes, then this is what we refer to as assertive anger. It is a constructive kind of anger that serves as catalyst for initiating changes aimed at positively altering the state of something.
Rather than express anger in form of confrontations, arguments, outbursts, and verbal abuse, people who get assertively angry express their rage in ways that create a positive change around the situation that got them angry in the first place.
This is normally done without any form of destruction, distress, or anxiety. Assertive anger can be a really powerful motivator for you.
3- Aggressive Anger:
Β Also called behavioral anger, this type of anger is usually physically expressed. It is a highly volatile, unpredictable, and out-of-control that mayΒ push you to physically attack someone. But, this doesnβt mean that this anger always results in harm or injuries.
When this anger overwhelms you, it may push you to lash out at the object of your anger or something else nearby like the wall or a photo frame. Aggressive or behavioral anger may have huge legal and personal consequences. Trauma or neglect from childhood may be the root of this type of anger.
4- Habitual anger:
Β There are times when anger becomes a perpetual emotion due to the fact that you have spent so much time being angry. Habitual anger refers to when you are in a constant state of irritation, dissatisfaction, and unrest such that pretty much everything annoys you.
People who have this kind of habitual anger may even get angrier when confronted about their anger or certain situations. The underlying secret behind this kind of anger is that it is always rooted deep in the past and it accumulates over the years probably due to negative experiences. The older you get without managing this anger, the more you feed it.
5- Chronic Anger:
Β This is a general and dangerous form of anger. It is the absolute and continual resentment of your situation, certain circumstances, people around you and even yourself. It is a form of habitual anger because it is also in perpetuity.
Since it is a prolonged experience,Β chronic anger often have immensely adverse effects on an individualβs mental and physical wellbeing.
6- Passive-Aggressive Anger:
Β People who try to avoid confrontations and expression of feelings are the ones who usually experience the passive-aggressive type of anger. Passive-aggressive anger has to do with repressing your anger, rage, or fury in order to avoid getting into arguments and confrontations.
This kind of anger is often expressed subtly in the form of sarcasm, verbal abuse, mockery, veiled silence, and chronic procrastination.
Most people who express anger passively often donβt accept that they are aggressive but their actions may have damaging effects on their personal and professional relationship with others.
7- Verbal Anger:
Β Often, verbal anger is considered to be milder than aggressive or habitual anger but it is just as bad. This anger is a deeply emotional and psychological which has profound effects on the target of the abuse.
It comes in form of threats, mockery, sarcasm, yelling, screaming, furious shouting, blaming, and poor criticism. It is often experienced out of annoyance or irritation.
8- Self-harm:
Β This is a kind of anger directed by oneself at oneself. It goes way beyond depression. For instance, there are people who cut themselves up; this could be them expressing anger because they probably donβt like their looks.
Self-harm is quite complicated however youΒ should know that it is a very negative emotion which you canβt hold in. Self-harm can be a result of so many thing; physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and trauma. It may also be because of repeated disappointments.
Rather than expressing their anger towards the person who has wronged them, some people focus the anger on their inner self.
No matter the type of anger you experience, there are some factors which are the major causes of anger. For effective anger management to take place, you must know and address the cause of your anger. So, letβs check out some of the known causes of anger.
Factors that Contribute to Anger
There are many factors that contribute to why you get angry apart from the fact that anger is a natural emotion which you must experience. How you react to situations depend on certain factors in life and these factors are the ones that determine the degree of anger you experienced. The first known factor that contributes how you experience anger is your childhood and upbringing.
As children, many people have been taught certain beliefs about anger; they were taught that anger is destructive, bad, and very negative. Individuals who were taught that it is bad to express anger learn not to complain about injustice; they may have also been punished for expressing their anger as kids.
So, they learn to keep the anger in till it becomes a long-term habitual problem. Sometimes, they end up expressing their anger in veryΒ unhealthy ways due to years of bottling all that emotions in.
They may also turn the anger inwards if there are no other outlets. There are also people who have grown up thinking it is okay to be aggressive or violent so they tend to act out their anger aggressively. This may be because they werenβt taught how to properly express their emotions or manage them.
Another factor that contributes to anger and how you react to situations is the past experiences you have had. As a child, if you have experienced situations which made you feel angry and resentful in the past but you werenβt able to healthily express this anger at the time, you may still be nursing the anger till the present time.
For instance, if you have been abused or you have faced trauma in the past, the anger may still be there lurking somewhere in your heart especially if you werenβt able to do anything about it then.
Of course, this results in you finding some situations particularly difficult and easy to get you angry.Your anger problem may also be due to circumstances you are presently faced with and not just things you experienced in the past.
Current circumstances and challenges may leave you feeling angrier than normal or make you get angry at things and situations that arenβt even related. If there is a situation making you angry and you canβt do anything about it, you may express the anger at other times under a totally different condition.
As an example, if your boss at work makes you angry and stressed out every day but you canβt do anything about it since heβs your boss, you may express the anger at home rather than at work. For instance, you may get home and lash at the kids or your spouse grumpily or angrily and then blame it on a βlong day.β
