Anger

Anger control problems tend to be associated with a number of "thinking errors:"

Cognitive deficits. People with anger control problems have an insufficient number of adaptive responses to provoking events. Research has shown that angry people, when asked how they would solve provocative situations, have fewer ideas than people without anger problems. Not surprisingly, their few ideas tend to be hostile.

Frequent false positives. People with anger control problems often misconstrue events such that they feel provoked even when they are not. People with anger control problems tend to be vigilant for the presence of people deliberately hassling them. Therefore, due to only seeing part of the picture, they tend to misconstrue innocuous behavior.

Rigid beliefs. People with anger control problems often possess steadfast beliefs as to the legitimacy of hostile retaliation. Some examples include, "The best way to get your needs met is to demand it" or "People are, for the most part, stupid and need to be dealt with forcefully." It is not difficult to imagine how adhering to such beliefs might lead to some volatile encounters.

Difficulty anticipating outcomes before action. People without anger problems are able to control how they respond to anger and actually keep it from getting out of control by predicting what could happen if they lost control People with anger problems tend to respond quickly without such forethought.