Exhausted Parents Experience of Anger: The Relationship Between Anger and Burnout

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between anger and burnout among parents ( N =226). The results revealed burnout contrast and exhaustion predicted anger experience, and burnout contrast also predicted anger expression. The authors discuss the limitations of the study and implications for counseling research and practice.

Anger in action: Socio-pragmatic analysis of verbal exchanges in UK parliamentary debates

This article is an attempt to investigate theoretically and empirically how the emotion of anger is used in political discourse. The descriptive analysis is centred around the conversational analysis of anger, as present in the verbal exchanges in the UK parliamentary debates, correlated with the variables of power (P), social distance (D), and the concept of valence. The key idea underbracing this article is that affect permeates social communication. The central claims of this study focus on explaining how the socio-pragmatic variables of (P) and (D) weave the fabric of conflict talk and how they constitute the springboard for structuring the affective message in a tangible framework of social practice. The questions that inspire the current paper are the following: (1) How does anger determine the relationships of power and distance? (2) What is the reaction of the Offender and Defender in anger-driven interaction? (3) Are the roles of the ‘Emoter’ and ‘Receiver’ of anger evenly distributed in verbal communication? (4) Are valence and its strength indicators of anger experience? The paper concentrates on three theoretical problems including: (1) anger as an intrinsically threatening emotion, (2) anger as a constituent of context, and (3) anger as a gradable emotion. In addition, this study aims to explore how threats to positive face value in the form of unambiguous literal meaning that convey evaluative load (accusations, criticism, insult, irony, imposition etc.), explicitly provide information on P and D shifts in anger-driven discursive action.

Examining Parent Anger and Emotion Regulation in the Context of Intensive Parenting

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between intensive parenting attitudes (IPAs), emotion regulation (ER), and parent anger among mothers of young children ( N = 227). The researchers found that IPAs correlated with ER and parent anger. Moreover, essentialist and challenging parenting attitudes predicted anger experience, and cognitive reappraisal moderated the relationship between essentialism and anger experience. The authors discuss the limitations of the study and implications for research and practice.

“Anger Detracts From Beauty”: Gender Differences in Adolescents’ Narratives About Anger

In a mixed-design narrative study, we explore how adolescent boys and girls represent experiences of anger and how their narrations are linked to self-esteem and anxiety. Polish teens from three nonurban public schools ( N = 101, 55% female, Mage= 15.5) wrote narrative accounts of their typical anger experience. We use a thematic analysis framework to analyze the patterns in these narratives. Boys and girls told stories within school, family, and relationship contexts. However, boys provided more stories that focused on the theme of everyday incidental instances of anger, whereas girls provided more stories focused on the theme of negative inner experiences. In-depth analysis resulted in the emergence of two complex narrative patterns: Anger as Outburst and Anger as Burden. Anger as Outburst described heated anger related to difficulties in self-control and aggression and was more characteristic of boys. Anger as Burden contained stories of prolonged anger related to negative self-evaluation and was more characteristic of girls. Anger as Burden was also related to higher anxiety and lower self-esteem. We conclude that in the given cultural context, adolescents lack positive narratives to frame their anger adaptively.

Anger regulation in interpersonal contexts: Anger experience, aggressive behavior, and cardiovascular reactivity

The ability to regulate anger facilitates harmonious interactions with strangers, colleagues, friends, and romantic partners. We review the influence of four emotion regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal, suppression, angry rumination, and mindfulness) on subjective anger experience, cardiovascular reactivity, and aggressive behavior. All studies included a real or implied social interaction (e.g., with a fictitious participant). We included research on individual differences in emotion regulation as well as experiments that manipulated emotion regulation strategies. The evidence suggests that cognitive reappraisal and mindfulness can buffer anger-related responses in interpersonal contexts. Angry rumination perpetuates anger and aggression. The effects of suppression are mixed. Our review highlights the need for additional research into the extent to which emotion regulation strategies influence provoked anger and aggression in different interpersonal contexts.

Distress tolerance moderates the relationship between anger experience and elevated blood pressure

Previous studies have linked anger to elevated blood pressure. However, the nature of the association between anger and elevated blood pressure is unclear. This study is aimed at investigating the moderating effect of distress tolerance on the relationship between anger experience and elevated blood pressure. A total of 310 patients drawn from a university teaching hospital in southeast Nigeria participated in this study. They comprised 156 men and 154 women who were aged between 20 and 80 years (mean age = 50.45). Participants responded to the measures of distress tolerance and Novaco Anger Inventory—Short Form. The blood pressures of the participants were obtained with sphygmomanometer and stethoscope. The results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that anger experience significantly predicted both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The results also showed that distress tolerance was a significant predictor of systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Distress tolerance moderated the relationship between anger experience and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The relationships between anger and systolic and diastolic pressure were stronger for patients with low distress tolerance compared to patients with high distress tolerance. It is recommended that psychological interventions aimed at increasing people’s level of distress tolerance are emphasized in the management of elevated blood pressure.