The appraisal basis of anger : Specificity, necessity, and sufficiency of components

TLDR: The results showed that other accountability and arrogant entitlement, as an instance of unfairness, are specific appraisals ability for anger; and most important, none of the components is necessary or sufficient for anger.

Abstract: University of LeuvenThe nature of the association between anger and 5 appraisal–action tendency com-ponents—goal obstacle, other accountability, unfairness, control, and antago-nism—was examined in terms of specificity, necessity, and sufficiency. In 2 stud-ies, participants described recently experienced unpleasant situations in which 1 ofthe appraisal–action tendency components was present or absent and indicatedwhich emotions they had experienced. The results showed that (a) other account-ability and arrogant entitlement, as an instance of unfairness, are specific appraisalsfor anger; and most important, (b) none of the components is necessary or sufficientfor anger. The findings suggest that the relation between emotions and appraisal–action tendency components should be conceptualized instead as a contingent as-sociation, meaning that they usually co-occur.