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The Theory Of Anger And Its Effects On The Individual 's Welfare

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Sell et al. (2009) address the relationship of anger to the ability to inflict costs and confer benefits during negotiation through bargaining. This is assessed within the recalibrational theory of anger which theorises there is an evolutionarily derived anger system that is used in bargaining to gain favourable outcomes by incentivising others to re-assess the worth they place on the angry individual’s welfare. Welfare Trade Ratios (WTRs) compute how much worth is placed on the welfare of another compared to the self within the recalibrational theory. Anger works to gain the highest cost-effective WTR from others depending on bargaining position that is derived from an individual’s ability to inflict cost (through aggression) and …show more content…

Therefore, anger is more effective in negotiation for stronger and more attractive persons.
The authors made these variables operational by proposing that:
A. for men upper-body strength predicts ability to inflict cost through aggression
B. for women attractiveness is used as an advantage in bargaining and would predict ability to confer benefit They consequently predict that:
A. stronger men and more attractive women will have an advantage in bargaining (ability to inflict cost/confer benefit), therefore succeed in conflicts more often, feel entitled to better treatment and be more prone to anger.
B. Stronger men should have a history of fighting and endorse violence as a resolution to personal and international conflict.
Correlation and regression analyses assessed relationships between self-report and upper-body strength measures. Men’s physical strength was measured using:
A. Lifting strength assessed using weight lifting machines (study 1)
B. Portable handgrip measures and cumulative scores of flexed bicep circumference, self and other perceived strength (based on rating photographs) (study 2)
The sample from study 1 was recruited from a gym. This sample may have atypical features so the student population was sampled in study 2. Participants in both studies completed self-report scales assessing anger-proneness, fighting history, rumination, belief in the utility

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