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Page 7 of 16 Consider the following example: I once did an experiment with a young cotton-top tamarin monkey who had very little experience being away from his mother. At the start of the experiment, I could see that he was trembling greatly. He exhibited what appeared to be fear, particularly of big, scary me and not having mommy to protect him. When I leaned in closer to him, however, his demeanor quickly changed from fear to anger. He stopped trembling and started screaming at me and baring his little teeth. He was sending me a clear message: get any closer and he'll rip my head off, or
at least he'll try. (I should note that this guy stood about six inches tall.) You can see how quickly fear can be transformed into anger. Why might this be the case, from an evolutionary point of view? Fear motivates us to freeze and hide as a way of defending ourselves. If the aggressor starts to approach, fear motivates us to run. However, if the aggressor gets too close, running is no longer an option. The only way to stop the aggressor when escape is no longer an option is to fight, or to threaten to fight.
And if the aggressor knows that we might be willing to fight to the death to defend ourselves, this aggressor may decide to pick another, less risky fight. The expression of anger is what's known in evolutionary biology as an honest signal. Actual rage cannot be faked-at least not by anyone but the most talented actor. When I saw that little monkey baring his teeth and heard him scream, I knew he wasn't bluffing, so I backed off. This is why non-human animals' aggression is an automatic expression of an automatic
emotion rather than a volitional mechanism. This is why such natural, instinctive expressions are hard-wired in non-human primates and other animals. But as you can see, what underlies anger is fear-an expectation that our values will be destroyed if we don't run away or defend ourselves. This is what makes moralization a defense mechanism-it masks an emotion we don't want to admit to having. Outwardly, what is expressed is self-righteous indignation-not just anger, but justified anger. But what underlies this
expression of anger is fear-fear of an apparent threat to our values. This connection between fear and anger is not merely psychological-it is neurological as well. The locus of both fear and anger is a tiny almond-shaped structure called the amygdala inside the emotional center of our brain, the limbic system. The amygdala facilitates what is known as the fight-or-flight response and can flip between anger and fear in a split-second, depending on the unconsciously evaluated costs and benefits of fighting or
fleeing from an aggressor.
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