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Angry students talking during a class A 2023 report on PsychologyToday.com suggested that anger in American is at an all-time high . The rise of anger in this country has been discussed in a variety of media outlets.
For example, a 2024 report on Travel.alot.com provided a list of the angriest states of America based on statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, internet comments, and the FBI’s hate crime data.
According to this list, Alabama was ranked as the angriest state in America. According to a 2024 report by the University of Michigan, a contributing factor to the rise of anger in America is the rise in the political anger and cynicism . In 2024, the Hechinger Report released an opinion piece which discussed how divisive political anger has engulfed society, including many college campuses .
Outside of political anger, a significant number of young adults and college students have traditionally struggled with managing anger. A 2024 report on CrownCounseling.com , a counseling practice in New York, states that approximately 64% of young people between the ages 14 to 21 experienced uncontrolled anger.
Many campus counseling centers across American also have resources related to anger management, such as a 2025 report by the counseling center at Union College . The ability to express anger effectively is a skill that can be developed. Developing anger management skills can be done within an individual student.
This development can also occur interpersonally, such as between students and faculty/university administrators. Three anger management lessons that apply to college campuses include viewing anger as a signal, choosing how to respond while angry, and responding to the anger in others. A major misconception about anger management is viewing anger as simply an impulse.
Impulses are unreflective urges or a strong desire to act without thinking. However, according to a 2023 report by the American Psychological Association, anger can be defined as a normal, usually healthy, human emotion . Anger is an adaptive emotion, which indicates that there’s a threat in a person’s environment that needs to be responded to.
Sometimes this threat might be an exaggerated perception, but the goal of anger management is not to eliminate the feelings of anger, but to better control one’s response to the emotion, which, ironically, might result in experiencing less anger. When students experience anger, the goal is for them to view anger as a signal to think before acting. This is because immediate and primitive reactions to environmental threats usually fail in comparison to intentional and thoughtful responses.
If there’s widespread anger on a particular campus, this indicates that many members of the campus community feel threatened. Thus, administrators and faculty should seek to understand what underlying emotions are fueling this anger. There are three general responses to threats.
These responses include attacking the threat, approaching the threat, or avoiding the threat. The goal for anger management is to increase the flexibility in the displayed responses to environmental threats. Sometimes it’s appropriate to attack a threat, such as in self-defense.
Many times, there’s a need to approach a threat in a clam manner, such as while interacting with a loved one. Other times, it’s important to avoid a threat, such as when it’s not worth the time and energy to respond. Those who struggle with anger management often have a default response to emotional or physical threats.
If a student “always attacks” others while angry, then this student is likely to experience problems in their ability to relate to others and might even experience consequences from the school. If the administration of a university “always avoids” threats out of anger, then this will likely result in students feeling disappointed and might even cause more anger on campus. A hallmark of anger management is the ability to respond effectively to others who are angry.
Authority figures undermine their own authority when they use anger to “attack” those with whom they have authority over. For example, a university administrator who personally attacks students in anger runs the risk of looking incompetent. Furthermore, a student who “attacks” an angry peer gives the message that the relationship is fragile.
The ability to stay calm and to not mirror the anger of others is a display of emotional intelligence, confidence, and maturity. Students who struggle with anger management will likely benefit from seeking counseling from their campus counseling centers. For those who wish not to visit the campus counseling center, anger management is a common reported concern for those seeking counseling in the community, and, in 2024, Frobes.
com provided a list of free online anger management courses . Given the statistics related to anger management problems among emerging adults, and the reported prevalence of political anger and cynicism, it’s important for students and university officials to emphasize the value of viewing anger as a signal, being intentional about how to respond while angry, and learning effective ways to respond to anger in others..
