A very strong emotional feeling is hatred. What is hostility and what events can cause its occurrence? Psychologists suggest that a person initially has a need for hatred, which he sometimes realizes with pleasure. We will talk about this negative emotion in this article.
Definition of a concept
Hatred is a long, intense, negative feeling, reflecting disgust, hostility, rejection of a certain object. They can be either an individual person or a group of people, an inanimate object or phenomenon. This emotion can cause specific actions of the object or its inherent qualities. You can hate an idea that contradicts the beliefs and values of the subject, a phenomenon that negatively affects his life, prevents the satisfaction of important needs for him. A strong negative feeling can be associated with a test of joy from any failures of the object of emotions, with the desire for him all kinds of evil, and even the desire to harm him.
Causes of occurrence
A feeling of hatred can arise on the most insignificant and petty occasion. It was the apparent irrationality of such reasons that prompted psychologists to put forward a version of the initial human need for hostility. This feeling can be easily inspired from the outside. Wars and other types of social and social conflicts are often accompanied by appropriate propaganda, inciting anger between people. Hatred of a strange, incomprehensible way of life, customs and values provokes the most serious crimes against a certain group of people or an individual person. A hostile attitude can arise even in relation to oneself, if the individual feels that he is not reaching the proper level of his claims. In each case, one should find the reason for the destructive attitude to the subject of hatred, then the conflict that arises can be resolved, and hostile emotions will subside.
Love and hatred
It is generally accepted that these two concepts are completely opposite to each other and are antonyms. However, in various cultures of the world, these emotional phenomena are inextricably linked and represent a kind of unity. Love and hate can simultaneously be combined in a person in relation to the subject of his feelings. Freud spoke of the dual nature of these emotions. The psychoanalyst considered that in close relations conflicts inevitably arise, generated by various contradictions. Some ethologists argue that the simultaneous manifestation of hatred and love is associated with mental and physical mechanisms that provide both humans and animals with the ability to deeply personal relationships and a natural tendency to aggression.
A possible explanation for the close relationship of love and hate lies in the fact that the more the individual has in common with another person, the closer they are connected with him and the more he becomes involved in any relationship. Thus, the conflict between close people always proceeds with more fury and passion than between strangers. The lack of common features and interests makes the opponent perceive more objectively.
Hate
Feeling irresistible disgust can cause anything. According to the object of hatred, several types of this negative feeling can be distinguished. For example, in addition to the adult, scientists also distinguish children's hatred. Usually it is aimed at parents after the appearance of a sister or brother in the family. Psychologists call the emergence of such an emotion in children "the feeling of Cain."
Fear and hatred are closely related. A person is hostile to an object that, as it seems to him, is capable of harming him. Such a manifestation of negative feelings sometimes becomes insurmountable. Scientists distinguish several types of pathologies:
- Misogamy is an acute aversion to marriage bonds.
- Mysandria is the hostility of a woman to men.
- Misogyny is the fear and hatred of men towards women.
- Misopedia - an aversion to children, including their own.
- Misanthropy is hostility towards people in general.
It is generally accepted that the more educated a person is, the less reason he has to hate, that such a manifestation of feelings is the prerogative of individuals with a low level of intelligence and weak will.
Types of aggression
As mentioned above, it creates the desire to hate your object with hatred. Evil can be caused in different ways, so psychologists distinguish several types of aggression.
Verbal and physical
The use of physical force to express one's negative emotions is called physical aggression. Hostility, expressed in the form of a quarrel, abuse, verbal accusations and threats, is considered verbal.
Indirect and direct
Direct aggression is directed directly at the object of hatred, indirect aggression is acts acting on another person in a roundabout way, through gossip, malicious jokes, as well as disordered bursts of rage (stamping feet, screaming, and so on).
External and internal
External hostility is directed outward, while internal hostility is directed toward oneself. The latter is manifested in self-abasement and the desire to do harm to oneself.
Reasonable (healthy) and destructive
The boundaries of aggression are sometimes difficult to determine. Some see hostility in energetic behavior. If aggression looks attractive and causes sympathy, then it can be called healthy or reasonable.
In this section, far from all types of manifestations of hostility are given. In this kind of activity, people are often very inventive.
Social hatred
There is a concept that scientists and psychologists commonly call the term "social hatred." What is this phenomenon? Some believe that this is a feeling of hostility and disgust experienced by a group of people. Moreover, the object of hatred does not matter. Others suggest that this feeling is called social because it is aimed at a specific group of people or a specific person as a representative of this community. The objects of hostility can be various socially relevant signs - gender, race, nationality, sexual orientation, age. In social sciences, the concept of intolerance exists to denote this kind of hatred. There is a narrower understanding of the subject. Sometimes social hatred is called class hostility. At the same time, religious and racial hatred are excluded.
Social hatred is based on differences between groups, and they are given irresistible and inevitably leading to conflict significance. A different appearance, lifestyle and cultural values become the reason for a serious confrontation. Interestingly, the degree of these differences does not play a special role. Hatred, anger between related, culturally similar groups (states, religious denominations, peoples) are more fierce than between communities alien to each other.
Hate crime
In some countries of the world there is a special qualification called hate crime. This concept refers to violations committed under the influence of aversion to certain groups of the population. Typically, such a classification increases the severity of the offense. In Russia, religious, national, racial intolerance is also an aggravating factor.
In many states, deliberate acts are also considered a crime aimed at creating hatred between groups of people, that such manifestation of hostile feelings should be prosecuted. For example, in Russia, propaganda of aggression against social groups is a criminally punishable act.
Conclusion
In this article, we tried to talk about what hatred is. What does a feeling bring to a person? On the one hand, in reasonable doses, this emotion mobilizes and calls for active action, on the other hand, it destroys your subject from the inside, forcing him to make meaningless and destructive actions. But we live in a world that is based on the struggle of opposites, in it each phenomenon has its own special meaning. So hatred goes hand in hand with love, is based on the instinct of self-preservation, makes a person publicly express accumulated doubts. The rational individual must learn to overcome this negative feeling, subordinate it to his will and understand the reasons for his appearance.