The recalibrational theory and violent anger

Anger is responsible for a large share of human aggressive acts, and yet most incidents of anger do not result in any aggressive behavior at all. To understand when and why an angry individual becomes violent we must understand what anger is and what function it solves. The recalibrational theory of anger is a computational-evolutionary model that maintains that the function of anger is to recalibrate individuals who place insufficient weight on the welfare of the angry individual when making decisions, i.e. anger raises the target's welfare tradeoff ratio (WTR). Features of anger that can be explained from this perspective include the major triggers of anger, the content of anger-based arguments, individual differences in anger thresholds, and the selective deployment of negotiative tactics such as the withdrawal of benefits and the infliction of costs. When certain criteria are met, cost infliction will take the form of violent aggression and can be understood as a bargaining tactic designed to recalibrate the target's WTR.

Research highlights► Understanding anger-based aggression requires knowledge of the function of anger. ► Anger’s evolved function is to recalibrate individuals who devalue one’s interests. ► Anger uses threats to harm and withdraw cooperation to bargain for better treatment. ► The structure of human anger-based arguments resemble fights by non-human animals.