What Causes Anger?

Many sorts of things can act as triggers for Anger:

• Irritants: These are things that get on our nerves, for example, because they are repetitive or intrusive, such as constant loud music coming from the flat downstairs.
• Costs: These may be financial costs when someone steals or breaks something that belongs to us; they may be convenience costs, such as being delayed in traffic; or they may be perceived costs, such as loss of face or being the object of disrespect.
• Transgressions: These occur when someone breaks a rule that we expect them to abide by – for example, being contradicted by one’s partner in public, or having a confidence betrayed.