ABSTRACT
Anger has been listed as one of the basic emotions throughout history. It has been documented in ancient times (Aristotle, 384-322 ; Aquinas, 12251274, cited in Averill, 1987) and in contemporary theories of emotion (Shaver, Schwartz, Kirson, & O’Connor, 1987), and in both Western (Ekman, 1992; Izard, 1992) and Eastern (Hahn & Chon, 1990; Shweder & Haidt, 2000) theories of emotion. The following provides examples from different cultures where anger has been included among the basic emotions, with a special focus on older theories of emotion: Confucianism (No: Hahn & Chon, 1990); Indian (Krodha: Shweder & Haidt, 2000); Aquinas (Ira: Averill, 1987). (For contemporary proposals see Ortony & Turner, 1990; Turner, 2000.)
In almost all of the theories or proposals, four emotions-fear, anger, joy, and sadness —have emerged as the most basic and primary ones. Moreover, in the Indian classification (Shweder & Haidt, 2000), anger, disgust, perseverance, and sexual passion are regarded as primary basic emotions, while the other four emotions, amusement, sorrow, fear, and wonder, are considered secondary basic emotions. Thus, anger appears to be the most fundamental human emotion that appears consistently across cultures and time.
