4 shades of anger

Some years ago I was taught some ways of exploring the problem of anger.

These are based on the principles from Humberto Maturana who claimed that emotions are domains of action. In any emotion, we are predisposed to take certain clusters of actions.

Anger is a broad and somewhat unhelpful word since it reveals something but also conceals a lot.

For this newsletter, I want to outline 4 seperate kinds of anger, so we can find a more effective method of dealing with them.

These distinctions are not absolute, as with all human experiences, there is an overlap, not a series of watertight boundaries.

Frustration is an emotion we experience when we find ourselves thwarted from taking action, life a car at a red traffic light with one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake. This can be resolved by expressing something, doing something active like going for a run, chopping wood, etc. Expressing the frustration relieves it.

Resentement is an emotion where we are predisposed to take revenge. You damaged me in the past, and I want vengeance. It has been described as taking poison hoping to hurt another. The more it is expressed, the more there is to express. It is generated by resisting what has happened as a fact, and so the resolution coming with acceptance - what happened happened.

Indignation is an emotion where we are predisposed to restore and maintain our dignity. You damaged me in the past, and as long as you don't do that again, we can live together, but if you ever try that again ... watch out. Indignation is not a problem. It is a solution, and a wonderful solution.

Rage is an emotion where we are predisposed to cause damage to anything and anyone including ourselves. We speak about "blind rage". It often results from an explosive mix of resentment and resentment, and is best prevented by resolving these, while if rage is already present, we can only manage to create an opportunity to keep everyone safe until it passes.

I hope these principles are helpful in your work, and if you are interested to explore these and other emotions further, I've written about them in my second book "Doing Change" which can be purchased as a pdf here. 

Rob