Definition
The recalibrational theory of anger explains how natural selection designed anger to bargain for better treatment and how this can explain the major features of anger.
Introduction
The claim that anger has evolved via natural selection is not hotly contested. After all, anger bares many of the hallmark features of an evolved adaptation: it is a complex system instantiated in localized neural tissue (Potegal and Spielberger 2010), it shows early ontogenetic development (components of the adaptation are visible at 7 months, Stenberg et al. 1983), and it demonstrates many cross-cultural universals in basic design (Alonso-Arbiol et al. 2011; Ekman 1973; Wallbot and Scherer 1986). Furthermore, some features of anger are known to develop without exposure to the information that would be required to learn them through more general purpose systems, e.g., congenitally blind children produce normal anger facial expressions (Galati et al. 2003). And so modern researchers generally...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Alonso-Arbiol, I., van de Vijver, F. J., Fernandez, I., Paez, D., Campos, M., & Carrera, P. (2011). Implicit theories about interrelations of anger components in 25 countries. Emotion, 11(1), 1.
Averill, J. (1982). Anger and aggression: An essay on emotion. New York: Springer.
Bushman, B. J., Baumeister, R. F., Thomaes, S., Ryu, E., Begeer, S., & West, S. G. (2009). Looking again, and harder, for a link between low self-esteem and aggression. Journal of Personality, 77(2), 427–446.
Dawkins, R. (1979). Twelve misunderstandings of kin selection. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 51(2), 184–200.
Ekman, P. (1973). Cross-cultural studies of facial expression. In P. Ekman (Ed.), Darwin and facial expression: A century of research in review (pp. 169–222). New York: Academic Press.
Enquist, M., Leimar, O., Ljungberg, T., Mallner, Y., & Segerdahl, N. (1990). A test of the sequential assessment game: Fighting in the cichlid fish Nannacara anomala. Animal Behaviour, 40, 1–14.
Galati, D., Sini, B., Schmidt, S., & Tinti, C. (2003). Spontaneous facial expressions in congenitally blind and sighted children aged 8-11. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 97(7), 418–428.
Hammerstein, P., & Parker, G. A. (1982). The asymmetric war of attrition. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 96, 647–682.
Hansen, A. J. (1986). Fighting behavior in bald eagles: A test of game theory. Ecology, 67, 787.
Huntingford, F. A., & Turner, A. K. (1987). Animal conflict. New York: Chapman & Hall.
Luckenbill, D. F. (1977). Criminal homicide as a situated transaction. Social Problems, 25(2), 176–186.
Lukaszewski, A. W. (2013). Testing an adaptationist theory of trait covariation: Relative bargaining power as a common calibrator of an interpersonal syndrome. European Journal of Personality, 27, 319–410.
Maynard Smith, J., & Price, G. R. (1973). The logic of animal conflict. Nature, 246, 15.
Nowak, M. A. (2006). Five rules for the evolution of cooperation. Science, 314(5805), 1560–1563.
Potegal, G. S. M., & Spielberger, C. (Eds.). (2010). International handbook of anger. New York: Springer.
Romero, G. A., Pham, M. N., & Goetz, A. T. (2014). The implicit rules of combat. Human Nature, 25(4), 496–516.
Salas-Wright, C. P., & Vaughn, M. G. (2016). Size matters are physically large people more likely to be violent? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 31(7), 1274–1292.
Sell, A. (2011). The recalibrational theory and violent anger. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 16, 381–389.
Sell, A. (2014). Twelve triggers of anger and how they invalidate all major theories of anger and aggression. Presentation at the International Society for Research on Aggression, Georgia State University, 19 July.
Sell, A., Cosmides, L., Tooby, J., Sznycer, D., von Rueden, C., & Gurven, M. (2009a). Human adaptations for the visual assessment of strength and fighting ability from the body and face. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 276(1656), 575–584.
Sell, A., Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (2009b). Formidability and the logic of human anger. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 106(35), 15073–15078.
Sell, A., Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (2014). The human anger face evolved to enhance cues of strength. Evolution and Human Behavior, 35(5), 425–429.
Sell, A., Eisner, M., & Ribeaud, D. (2016). Bargaining power and adolescent aggression: The role of fighting ability, coalitional strength, and mate value. Evolution and Human Behavior, 37(2), 105–116.
Sell, A., Cosmides, L., Tooby, J., Lim, J., Krauss, A., Feldman, A., Rascanu, R., Al-Shawaf, L., Sznycer, D., & Sugiyama L. (in press). The grammar of anger: Mapping the computational architecture of a recalibrational emotion.
Stenberg, C. R., Campos, J. J., & Emde, R. N. (1983). The facial expression of anger in seven-month-old infants. Child Development, 54(1), 178–184.
Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (1990). The past explains the present: Emotional adaptations and the structure of ancestral environments. Ethology and Sociobiology, 11(4), 375–424.
Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (1996). Friendship and the banker’s paradox: Other pathways to the evolution of adaptations for altruism. Proceedings of the British Academy, 88, 119–144.
Tooby, J., Cosmides, L., Sell, A., Lieberman, D., & Sznycer, D. (2008). Internal regulatory variables and the design of human motivation: A computational and evolutionary approach. In A. J. Elliot (Ed.), Handbook of approach and avoidance motivation (pp. 251–271). New York: Psychology Press.
Wallbot, H., & Scherer, K. (1986). The antecedents of emotional experiences. In K. Scherer, H. Wallbott, & A. Summerfield (Eds.), Experiencing emotion: A cross-cultural study (pp. 69–83). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Williams, K. D., Shore, W. J., & Grahe, J. E. (1998). The silent treatment: Perceptions of its behaviors and associated feelings. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 1(2), 117–141.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Sell, A. (2017). Recalibration Theory of Anger. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1687-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1687-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences