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Psychology of Emotions

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The Psychology of Anger

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Abstract

In order to dive into and explain the anger and its sequelae, we need to take a step back and decipher the notion of emotion. This chapter emphasises a holistic and spherical view of emotions and with a logical inference leads to the precipitating factors of anger. Emotions are an integral part of human existence. However, there is no scientific consensus on a definition of emotion, theories, and hypotheses about emotions date back centuries. Emotion as a concept can be categorised into basic and complex; factorial analysis demonstrates that it has dimensions enabling its depiction and description from a structural perspective. Emotions are composed of three components (subjective, physiological, expressive) that influence the function and purpose of an emotional response. The major theories of emotion can be divided into three main clusters (somatic, cognitive, neurological). To trigger an emotion, it is important to trace the initiating factor. Anger can have a variety of causes, some of which are external to the individual. Anger potentially results in the perception of a negative trigger as unexpected, preventable, and purposeful.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. General Hospital of Thessaloniki “G. Papanikolaou”, Thessaloníki, Greece

    Nikolaos Statharakos & Elisavet Papadopoulou

  2. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Nikolaos Statharakos

  3. James Lind Institute-Switzerland, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Aaron John Alvares

  4. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

    Aaron John Alvares

  5. School of Medicine – University of Patras, Patras, Greece

    Anastasia Statharakou

Authors
  1. Nikolaos Statharakos
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  2. Aaron John Alvares
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  3. Elisavet Papadopoulou
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  4. Anastasia Statharakou
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq

    Hashim Talib Hashim

  2. Department of Science and Engineering, Novel Global Community Educational Foundation, Hebersham, NSW, Australia

    Athanasios Alexiou

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Statharakos, N., Alvares, A.J., Papadopoulou, E., Statharakou, A. (2022). Psychology of Emotions. In: Hashim, H.T., Alexiou, A. (eds) The Psychology of Anger. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16605-1_2

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