Anger
- Anger is generally an emotion that is not welcomed due to your own discomfort of the emotion.
- “We all have the right and need to feel and own our anger.” However, anger often masks emotions that are more difficult to name and even more difficult to own.
- Anger is a catalyst that can be used to transform into something life-giving. Maintaining any level of rage, anger, or contempt over a long period of time is not sustainable.
- Thus, it is imperative you determine what’s behind your anger.
- Download the free “What’s Behind Anger” poster.
Contempt
- Attacking a person’s sense of self (contrast to criticism which is associated with attacking someone’s character)
When someone is angry at you, you’ve still got traction with them, but when they display contempt, you’ve been dismissed. – Pamela Meyer
- Motivation Attribution Asymmetry
- Assumption that your ideology is based in love, while your opponent’s is based in hate.
- Each side thinks it is driven by benevolence while the other is evil and motivated by hatred.
- Usually leads to contempt, a noxious brew of anger and disgust.
- Having contempt of one’s ideology can lead to contempt of people
Disgust – Dehumanization
- Disgust is an emotion that keeps you safe from the stuff that can make you sick.
- Danger is when you turn disgust into an emotion that is weaponized against people who make you sick, simply because you either disagree with them or they are different from you.
- Moral disgust is even more dangerous because of its dehumanizing implications.
- Once you dehumanize people, it is easier to be violent and cruel to them because the innate part of your brain and heart that says not to hurt people is shut off because you’ve stripped them of their humanity.
- Dehumanization is the greatest threat to humanity.
- Once a target is viewed with disgust, research shows that the judgment seems to be permanent. The perceived reprehensible moral character becomes immutable and unforgivable.
Self-righteousness and righteousness
- Self-righteousness as a “terminal uniqueness”, you think you’re different from everyone else.
- Stop assuming that people who disagree with you don’t care about people or issues as much as you do.
- Moral outrage is self-enhancing and related to self-righteous anger
- Be super conscientious about the moral outrage and instead focus on doing the next right thing.
If there’s anything that looks and feels like a pig rolling in shit these days, it’s performative moral outrage, especially on social media.