What makes people angry: Dimensions of anger-evoking events

The effects of nine event dimensions on self-reported anger were investigated in three studies, using descriptions of everyday provocations. The descriptions were constructed according to predetermined dimensions by utilizing several Cartesian designs. The main results indicated that level of damage is the most influential dimension affecting judgmental anger. Other dimensions such as intentionality tentionality and preventability of the damage also consistently increased the level of anger. When the damage was unexpected or could not be corrected, level of anger was sometimes elevated as well. It is concluded that human anger is affected by three basic aspects of a harmful event, its main determinants being extent of damage and, to a lesser degree, the causes of the damaging act and the likelihood of damage occurrence. Several interpretations of the strong effect of level of damage are proposed.