Anger Traits Term paper

While the free essays can give you inspiration for writing, they cannot be used 'as is' because they will not meet your assignment's requirements. If you are in a time crunch, then you need a custom written term paper on your subject (anger traits)
Here you can hire an independent writer/researcher to custom write you an authentic essay to your specifications that will pass any plagiarism test (e.g. Turnitin). Waste no more time!

INTRODUCTION

One of the most important ways we communicate emotions is through our facial

expressions. Understanding these nonverbal cues is essential for both interacting and surviving

any social encounter. Have you ever discussed an issue with someone whose nonverbal

expression betrayed their verbal communication? For example a wife who says she loves her

husband, while shaking her head side to side and frowning. In Mark Knapp and Judith Hall's

book Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction, the authors describe six universal

emotional states(Knapp Hall 1997). These six states are surprise, fear, disgust, anger,

happiness, and sadness. Of the six, my observation will focus on anger. Why is anger

important? A poor understanding of anger can result in pain, loss, destruction, or even death to

an unaware observer. Predicting facial anger is possible through recognizing its nonverbal

characteristics. Don't most people tell you when their mad? "No always" says author Bernice

Kanner in her article Turning the other cheek. Kanner claims, "only twenty-three percent of

people say they openly express their anger" and that "twenty-three percent of adults have hit

someone in a angry rage"(Kanner 1998). Besides recognizing the warnings of others, it is

equally important to control your own nonverbal expressions. In today's society, people are

quick to anger. Have you ever been assaulted for accidently giving someone the "wrong look"?

Whether based on hormones or culture, men and women tend to express their emotions

differently. "A wide range of gender differences exists in nonverbal communication" states

author Judi Brownell in her article, The gender gap(Brownell 1993). The purpose of my

observation is to uncover these differences, if any, between men and women's facial display of

anger. I will begin my analysis with a discussion of anger's facial traits and a review of two

anger related articles.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Anger can be recognized by six commonly observed facial expressions. What should we

look for in an angry person? Nonverbal communication authorities Knapp and Hall describe six

anger variables. The subject's eyebrows giveaway of his or her emotional state. A angry person

will have his or her eyebrows pulled lower or drawn together. The space between the eyebrows

is another indicator of anger. Creased lines between the eyebrows or a "hard stare" of the eyes

may express anger(Knapp Hall 1997). Moving further down the face, observe the subject's nose

and lips. Tightly pressed lips or flared nostrils may indicate an "angry" individual. These six

facial expressions will be used as my criteria for evaluating angry males and females. People's

faces are like a map, by reading them correctly we can expect a safer and smoother journey

throughout our social interactions.

"Americans seem eager to lose their temper" says author Bernice Kanner(Kanner 1998).

Her article, Turning the other cheek, focuses on the rise of angry workers in cooperate America.

The article supports my observation by emphasizing the importance of recognizing nonverbal

anger. Anger can determine our verbal and nonverbal communication. For instance, Kanner

states, "an angry confrontation can sever communication or result in long-term alienation"

(Kanner 1998). Kanner claims that before a physical confrontation results, the angry individual

will warn the victim with facial expressions. Her descriptions of facial anger correlate with

authors Knapp and Hall's own illustrations. For example, she claims an angry employee may

"glare" at another worker or "lower their eyebrows" before a confrontation results. She believes

it is the responsibility of supervisors to both recognize and react to these nonverbal cues.

Kanner suggests several solutions to damper anger. These include observing the employee

interactions with co-workers, routinely interviewing employees, discussing the problem with

both angry parties, and providing opportunity to release stress. She offers the solution of

encouraging angry employees to file complains, and stresses the importance of reacting to these

complains in a fair and timely manner.

Author Judi Brownell's article The gender gap, focuses on the differences between men

and women's nonverbal communication. "Individuals send messages through their use of facial

expressions" says Brownell(Brownell 1993). The notion "you cannot not communicate" is

supported by the fact that our facial expressions convey nonverbal messages. For example when

a difficult assignment is given, overwhelmed students may be verbally silent but still convey

angry messages with lowered eyebrows or gruesome frowns. "The difference between men and

women's nonverbal communication is striking" claims Brownell. For instance, women use

much more eye contact than men when communicating. Besides eye contact, Brownell point

out, "women use more facial expression and are better at conveying and interpreting

emotions(Brownell 1993)." She goes on to describe how women tend to smile more frequently

and are more attracted to others who smile. But will the female subjects in my own anger

observation adhere to Brownell's conclusion of emotionally expressive women? I should point

out that men are quicker to react with anger than women. Men are also involved in more anger

related situations. For example author Bernice Kanner's says, "statistically males engage in

more fights, murders, and suicides than females"(Kanner 1998). Will this seemingly

"aggressive" nature of males, as posed by Kanner, result in more observable examples facial of

anger? Or will Brownell's statement that, "women are better at conveying emotion" determine

the results?

HYPOTHESIS

I believe that females are emotionally more expressive than males. To nullify my

hypothesis, I do not expect men to show abundant examples of observable facial anger. As a

result, female should display more observable traits of facial anger. My hypothesis is supported

by Judi Brownell's statement, "women use more facial expressions than men"(Brownell 1993).

My own experiences strengthen my hypothesis. For example, when my girlfriend is sad she will

exaggerate this emotions by crying, frowning, hiding her face, or a combination of all three. On

the other hand, a sad male will typically hide his emotions or display them in private. In

American culture, displaying emotions is commonly recognized as a sign of weakness. This

norm focuses on a male's...

You should cite this paper as follows:

MLA Style
. EssayMania.com. Retrieved on 21 May, 2012 from
    <http://essaymania.com/115413/anger-traits>

More College Papers

The U.S. Constitution- essay
The U.S. Constitution- Article Five, clause two of the United States Constitution states, "under the Authority of the United States, [the Constitution] shall be the supreme law of the land." As a result of the fact that the current activist government is pursuing inconsistent policies, man

The U.S. - A Legitimate Democracy?- essay
The U.S. - a Legitimate Democracy?- In any system which claims to be democratic, a question of its legitimacy remains. A truly democratic political system has certain characteristics which prove its legitimacy with their existence. One essential characteristic of a legitimate democracy is that i

The Truth Is Out There essay
The Truth is Out There The X-Files gives us tons of paranormal thrills anc chills. But where is this roller-coaster ride taking us? A ghostly figure of a young woman appears before FBI agent Dana Scully. A look of terror crosses the agent's face as she stares at the creepy image. Suddenly the fi