I think it would be helpful for me to define what I mean when I say Anger.

I looked in the dictionary on our bookshelf (The Random House College Dictionary) and saw these two definitions for Anger:

A strong feeling of belligerence or displeasure aroused by a real or supposed wrong

Sudden violent displeasure accompanied by an impulse to retaliate

I like parts (but not all) of both of these definitions.  This is how I would combine them:

Jamison Definition of Anger:

A feeling of belligerence or displeasure, accompanied by an impulse to retaliate, aroused by a real or supposed wrong.

Comments:

  • I don’t think all anger is “Sudden”,”Violent” or “Strong” so I took those words out.
  • I agree that the feeling is aroused by a wrong, and I like that it’s pointed out that the wrong might be supposed.
  • I think an important idea that a key aspect of anger is “an impulse to retaliate”.

In any event, going forward with these posts, the keys aspects in what I mean when I say “Anger” are that an angry person experiences these two feelings: “I’ve been wronged” and “Someone should pay”.

What do you think? Is there anything missing from this definition?  Does it include too much?

Next: My Main Statement About Dads And Anger

Click here to see the list of posts in this series.

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