Tension and Hostility

 

Recent articles found in The New York Times are as follows: For Police, Body Cameras Break Old Code of Silence; Patent Manipulation Made Drug Company 114  Billion; A Daring Quest To Escape Russia, by Motorboat; Both Sides of Abortion Battle Zero in On State Constitutions; This Is Actually the End of History; A Smarter  Way  to Reduce Gun Deaths; Tomorrow's A.  I.  Actively Insidious; In The Woods, A Flashpoint Over Policing; Suspense at the Movies: What a Seat Will Cost.  Just recently we had  2 bank closings related to  industry deregulation, risk and those bank executives were reinforced with $ for their greed before the Fed takeover.  Also, a Russian jet forced down an American drone over the Black Sea ; inflation ; talk of recession; the billion plus lawsuit against Fox news and Trump's upcoming indictments.  We live in  scary times.  This disposition addresses fear, anxiety( tension) and aggression (hostility).

Essentially, Homo sapiens can be characterized as being fearful with  anxiety and hostility.  Fear is considered to be objective and a reaction to dangerous situations that may be accompanied by physical sensations such as trembling, perspiration , and increased  heartbeat. etc.  Anxiety is also a reaction to danger  but is subjective and may be a disproportionate reaction to danger or even a reaction to  an imaginary danger ; disguised ; and one may not even be aware of feeling anxiety and/or hostility .  Animals react to danger with fight or flight.  Our ability to obsessively ponder a danger separates us from animals.  Freud saw aggression as an instinct  and Murray referred to it as a need.  Murray's definition of aggression: "To overcome opposition forcefully.  To fight.  To revenge an injury.  To attack, injure or kill another.  To oppose forcefully replenish another."  Related to aggression is hostility which is a perceived emotional reaction toward another based on fear or anxiety (or tension } .These terms are used interchangeably.

Fear, anxiety and  aggression or tension and hostility (TH) are significant motivations and essential qualities of Homo sapiens and  influence  personality dramatically for good or for evil .  They are the ground floor, so to speak, the foundation  for Homo sapiens that begins and ends with life-and-death. Traumatic { the inability of the ego to cope effectively with stress }  experiences are associated with weaning, stranger anxiety and separation anxiety.  TH are mechanisms that assist in dealing with life’s dangers .  We are born in a state of helplessness and our anxiety or tension system becomes activated for survival.  Generally  we attempt to avoid the unpleasantness of the tension and seek to reduce that with actions  associated with a reduction of such or pleasure.  When anxiety cannot be dealt with effectively. a traumatic episode, it’s like the individual returns to his original state -  infantile helplessness.  In other words, TH is  dangerous and must be addressed.  We engage in many behaviors  in an attempt to reduce that terror .

With child-rearing experiences , the dynamics of TH continue.  The child perceives  actions by the male parent in his interactions with the female parent and other siblings.  Stressors for the male parent may relate to some physical ailment  or condition; work or employment related; his wife, etc. The  parents' verbal expression or reaction may be hostile or not.  Was the frustrated reaction said in a quiet, rational manner ?  Was the frustrated reaction said with hostility  with the use of swear words?  Was there a physical reaction like breaking of objects and / or   physical spousal abuse ?   When family violence  occurs it encompasses spousal battering , marital rape, child sexual abuse, and child physical and emotional maltreatment.  It also includes elements of control and abuse of power by the person committing the violence.

By being a witness to a parent's aggressive and hostile behavior, the child learns how to imitate the hostile actions.  In other words, hostility is modeled and thus learned.  The child also learns how the female parent reacts to violence.  Does she fight back against spousal abuse ?  Similarly, when the child exhibits hostile behavior, is that met with corporal punishment by the  parent ?  How  do  parents  respond to the child's hostile behavior ?  Do the  parents use corporal punishment or do they ignore, make excuses, give a lecture, or reinforce that behavior depending upon circumstance ?

Because of childhood  TH , coping mechanisms lead to becoming compliant ; seeking favoritism;  or developing some educational or sport skill .  Also contributing to and associated with insecurity  and hostility during development , are rivalries . We seek favoritism from  caretakers and  engage in competition with siblings- called sibling rivalry.  The importance of the peer group  associations cannot be underestimated.  A sense of belonging, being popular, fitting in, being part of  are quite necessary for a sense of security.  Being a best friend , wanting to be picked first becomes important and continues through life . 

Back in the day, high school football games ,in Detroit ,were played during the evening.  Then, one Friday evening, a serious knife fight occurred, in the stands, with students and followers from  archrival  Pershing . The result, no more night football games.  In college, I pledged to the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity.  As a pledge, I had to carry a gold colored brick with ZAM lettering.  A pledge from a rrival fraternity took my brick.  He suffered the consequences of my actions, and no one took my brick again. Needless to say, I exhibited TH with that  pledge rival.

Frustration is also associated with hostility.  Frustration occurs with interference  to goal seeking behavior.  Research by Dollard ,Miller and others explored the frustration - aggression hypothesis.  They believe that the amount of frustration  is related to the intensity of a goal and that response  by the degree of interference or barrier with the response.  Further, the frequency of interferences or how often the frustrated response takes place is also significant. The frustration mechanism or barrier can be either verbal or physical . Also, the frustration response can be repressed , immediate , delayed or displaced. Significantly, the hostile  response may be turned toward the frustrating agent or agents  as in  scapegoating or even inward  toward self. Frustration varies according to  severity of punishment expected  .One may display hostility towards the child, but not toward an authority figure . Research has found that parental styles contribute greatly to the hostile expressions of their children.

A few ways that Homo sapiens engage to escape TH include the defense mechanisms.  Repression is one defense mechanism . How many times  do we experience irritation when driving on the freeway.?  Another driver may cut you off.  You may decide to "forget it," because of fear of a  possible acceleration of hostility.  There are so many times that one experiences  the feeling of being agitated and  decide not to consciously react.  Having to drive the freeway daily, these situations continue. This adding up repression of TH is not associated with a loving attitude to drive back and forth to work.

Denial is a second defense mechanism to attempt to escape the tension or anxiety .  The election loss by Donald Trump is a good example.  Hold onto the lie and deny the reality that Joe Biden was elected president fairly.  Then with the Fox news. -  Dominion lawsuit, we find out that they, being Fox news, knew the truth and yet perpetuated the big lie because they didn't want to lose their viewership  because  of  that association with profits  Denying the fantasy of marriage and living happily ever after, is a contradiction as illustrated by the number of divorces and remarriages.  Is there one perfect woman or man to meet all one's needs?  There's also an illusion about the perfect job; the dream house; the exotic vacation etc .These marketing clichés or non-truths propel individuals over and over  to chase their fantasies regarding  some fairy tale .

Another way humans attempt ,with repetitive failure, to reduce  the unpleasantness of TH is by addictive behavior with alcohol, drugs, food, gambling and sex .  Hostility is often displayed under the influence  of alcohol as impulse control and critical thinking  becomes compromised. Avoid, for  well-being, drunks and drunk drivers . In fact,  craziness and hostility was exemplified when the government established alcohol  prohibition . Bootleggers ,mafia  types and Elliott Ness had their engagements . These addictions only temporarily mask the unpleasantness associated with the reality of living in an imperfect world.

Additionally, another way to  attempt to escape TH is with  mental or physical activity or inactivity with hypnosis, meditation etc.  Keep busy with any activity to distort reality. Keep your calendar full, exercise, become a workaholic or find any  activity to distract . Does success or the fantasy of success result from becoming a workaholic ?  How long does having the right job with the right salary result in success and feeling good about oneself ?  When Is one totally in control of all the factors that take place related to  job promotion ? No man goes before his time — unless the boss leaves early.

— Groucho Marx

Today's adolescents have that electronic device in their hand and  don't leave home without it.  They are  engaged in their device, and one  purpose of that is to not notice their  anxiety.  Forget about playing sports, studying , so forth and spend that time with your device.  Just think of all the nonsense that one is exposed to when using these devices with the  plethora  of social media  hate, lies, falsehoods and scapegoating that occurs.  A number of school shooters ( loners, inadequate  powerless types) were alienated and their "peer group" was simply  a hate group on social media.  If  feeling  alone ,helpless and  powerless, get a gun, become part of a hate group, and gain TV and social media “fame.”

Another way to attempt to mitigate that infantile feeling of helplessness , fearfulness and powerlessness ,that has been reinforced throughout one's life cycle, along with the demands for rivalry and success within our discriminatory capitalistic system, is through gun accumulation .  Talk to anyone about the thrill and the feeling of "power" while at  a target range or killing an animal . We also know that people have difficulty correctly identifying their feelings.  This so-called “power” is only a rationalization going on between one's ears.  It's a defense mechanism designed to dismiss factors related to self-esteem, powerlessness, as well as TH.  This gun industry, with  slick propaganda ,presents a contradiction between  needs and the factual frustrations in satisfying them. For economic reasons, these insecurities are constantly being stimulated by this capitalistic  culture with advertisements and conspicuous consumption.  One hears, there's going to be a ban on guns and that results in more gun and ammunition sales.  It's a clever dishonest device and essentially is a psychic consequence for the individual who is troubled with a constant discrepancy between his desires and his fulfillments.

When I lived in the Bay Area, there was a neighbor that lived miles away.  I didn't know him but was told that every time he had a disagreement with his wife, he  moved dirt and plowed more trails on his land .  He had numerous trails. Plowing dirt is a safer substitute than gun purchase.

In summation, biologically, all organisms turn to "dust."   Homo sapiens, with evolution, have developed a cortex.  Despite this “new” brain that separates  us from animals, man continues to be driven by his helplessness, TH and needs.  With increased levels of TH, the character deficient have-nots still have the means to act out hate and murder with their killing weapons. Is it too late for common sense  weapon legislation  ?  If it is too late, expect more of the same.  

Reference

American Psychological Association.  Violence and the Family.

Horney, Karen.  The Neurotic Personality of Our Time.

Murray, Henry.  Explorations in Personality.