LLast week, a video of Peter Abbott, 60, lashing out at TV producer Samantha Isaacs attracted viewers online. After Abbott was found guilty at Poole Magistrates Court of “using threatening words or behavior to cause fear, distress or fear of violence”.
Cellphone video shows Abbott groaning and screaming as his face is pressed against the window of Isaacs' car. He looks as if he's channeling Harry Enfield's Angry Frank character, and his contorted facial expressions and confrontational behavior are cartoonishly aggressive. Not only did he hit Isaacs' car, he called her a “slag” and a “whore.”
When another male driver pointed out the terrible behavior of bullying the woman, he replied, “She's a real nuisance.”
Is the image of Abbott's dyspeptic face just a freeze-frame of an unusual incident, or does it reflect an unpleasant and growing aspect of modern life? Aaron Barrick is a psychotherapist and author of books such as: Psychodynamics of social networkingbelieves that new technology has ushered in an era in which there are “more ways to express anger” and less shame in expressing it. He also blames this cultural shift on politicians like Donald Trump who have “normalized” anger.
According to Gallup's Global Emotions Report, anger has been on the rise around the world since 2016, with 23% of respondents now feeling angry all the time. Naturally, this number is even higher in combat zones.
There have been reports of a sharp increase in customer abuse by store and service staff in the UK in recent years, with one study showing that criminal violence in GP surgeries has doubled in five years ( This was around the time I was able to get an appointment with a general doctor (surgery). Reported incidents of street violence also increased by 40% from 2021 to 2022 (although lockdowns may have had a role too).
Of course, anger, aggression, abuse, and criminal violence are all different things. There is also a psychiatric classification called “intermittent explosive disorder.'' Mr Abbott, who is currently serving a prison sentence, does not claim to be the victim, but in his defense argued that being angry is not a crime. Psychologists distinguish between anger (an emotion) and aggression (a behavior). Clearly, the judge found that Abbott fell within the category of conduct.
“Anger is a natural emotion that arises unconsciously,” says Barrick. In basic psychological terms, anger is a way to warn others that boundaries have been crossed. “Obviously, you can get angry because of the wrong premise,” Barrick added.
“Speaking how you feel is anger,” says Michael Fisher, founding director of the British Anger Management Association. “If they start yelling or using profanity, they become aggressive.”
There's no better place to witness the transformation of anger into aggression than on British roads. Some studies show that as many as 6 out of 10 drivers report being the victim of road rage.
Increases the risk of aggression.the
And just like in the online world, on the road “there are no interpersonal complexities,” Barrick said. “That makes it easier to get angry at someone because you actually see them as an object or an enemy rather than as a person.”
“The car is a safe space, a place where you can do things without getting hurt until someone cuts you,” Fisher says.
In fact, it's rare to find a driver who doesn't maintain some sort of comment, internally or externally, about the incompetence or arrogance of other drivers. Being in control of a vehicle means being in a position to make decisions not only about route and gear changes, but also often about the moral character of everyone else on the road.
Therefore, their judgment is enhanced even before a conflict occurs. Furthermore, we tend to be very territorial and possessive of our cars, as if they are an extension of ourselves. A 2008 study from Colorado State University found that drivers who customize their cars with bumper stickers and other signs of territoriality are more likely to get angry behind the wheel.
That doesn't mean Dr. Jekyll turns into Mr. Hyde just by driving. Research shows that people who are most likely to rage on the road are those who are aggressive and impulsive in other areas of their lives. It may not be surprising that men in their 20s and 30s are at the top of this list. “But road rage doesn't start when someone cuts you up,” Fisher says. It has deep roots, he argues, and is a manifestation of unresolved historical trauma that “can lead to aggression, depression, and fight-or-flight.”
Many psychologists say that the cycle of anger and aggression has distinct stages: trigger, escalation, crisis, recovery, and depression.It's hard to see it as Abbott did
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But Barrick says what's often ignored is that “expressing the energy that comes from anger feels good in the moment.”
The thrill of getting your heart rate up and your senses alert is addictive.
“People react to this hot emotion so energetically that they don't anticipate the outcome,” he says.
Angry car drivers and social media warriors also find themselves empowered by increased anonymity. In 1969, Stanford University psychologist Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment in which students who were given electric shocks became more sadistic when their true identity was hidden behind a hood. In Zimbardo's words, he wanted to show that “by putting ordinary people in situations where they feel anonymous, they can easily be induced to engage in antisocial behavior.”
The same process occurs in crowds, where aggression can also be contagious. It is almost impossible to establish how much these zones of bad behavior affect behavior in daily life. But it's a reasonable assumption that trolls with names like Ratface6788891 might carry some of their online hostility into the real world. First, the proliferation of smartphones has infiltrated the virtual world into every aspect of the real world. Barrick has no doubt that the internet age has also lowered social barriers to anger.
As he says, “The ability of anger to be emotionally contagious is increasing, and we certainly see anger getting to people more easily.”
But smartphones can also put people at risk. As Abbott discovered, all you need to destroy anonymity is a camera phone and a vehicle registration number.
He argued in court, as if it were a matter of principle, that he would have behaved exactly the same way “toward anyone, regardless of gender, size or age.” As with online anger, there is often an element of benevolent resentment at work in an angry person's self-perception. Because if the driver he was confronting was half his age and twice his size, would he really have looked that menacing?
Whatever the truth, anger management seems like an option that Abbott and others like him should consider. Mr. Fisher claims that his 88% of course participants report positive effects after his 18 months. At the core of his teachings he has two fundamentals. The first is to look at the big picture and the second is to not take anything personally.
For example, in the big picture of driving a car, there is always the possibility of some unexpected failure occurring. And if people honk at you, it could be because you did something wrong, or it could be because they're honking overactively, but either way. , “Don't ever take it personally,” Fisher says.
Threatening anger is always focused on others, but in reality, it is almost always directed at the aggressor. Maybe Abbott will think about that once he calms down.
Source: www.theguardian.com
