Experience of anger: Perceptions of anger in self and family members

Family emotion literature usually focuses on emotions generally, or specific emotions (sadness), often using questionnaires with parents and young children. There is little research on anger, specifically, in families and how it is experienced by family members. This research aimed to investigate individuals’ lived experience of anger, and their experience of family member anger expression while growing up. Meaning obtained from their experiences is examined, considering anger-related beliefs and messages. As literature often interchanges ‘anger’ with ‘aggression’, this study attempted to investigate anger as separate from aggression, while acknowledging that both constructs might co-occur. Six participants attended semi-structured interviews, and using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), multiple themes were developed from participant accounts. Main findings include the internal and external experience of anger, with perceived shifts in control, as well as physiological, cognitive, and behavioural components that support the proposed model. Individuals adopted a dynamic role in anger within the family, shaped by family messages. Additionally, anger was found to be confused with aggression, with aggression often viewed as acceptable when perceived as justified or as punishment. This study contributes to the anger literature by highlighting new phenomena experienced by participants, family anger dynamics, and the idea that individuals take on a dynamic role in family anger. Additionally, a model of anger – the Layers Model – is proposed, as a template for anger experience. This is the first known model of anger experience, which also attempts to differentiate anger from aggression, while acknowledging how these constructs fit amongst other possible ‘layers’ within the anger experience. This model offers a template for future anger research, but also has potential value in therapeutic settings with adults and children. Further suggestions on how this research and its findings are important to clinical practice and Counselling Psychology is addressed.

Citation

Markson, A. (2022) Experience of anger: Perceptions of anger in self and family members. University of Wolverhampton. http://hdl.handle.net/2436/624945

Publisher

University of Wolverhampton

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/2436/624945

Type

Thesis or dissertation

Language

en

Description

This thesis is submitted to The University of Wolverhampton in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Doctorate in Counselling Psychology.

Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

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Collections

Theses and Dissertations