I’ve noticed that I seem to get really angry at people when I observe them playing the status game with what I perceive as poor skill. Is there some ev psych basis for this or is it just a personal quirk?
I think it’s a very common trait, but any Evo psych explanation I know would probably just be a just-so story.
Just So Story: The consequence of getting angry is treating someone badly, or from a game theoretical perspective, punishing them. Your perception of someone playing status games with low skill is a manifestation of the zero sum nature of status in tribes: Someone playing with low skill is a low status person trying to act and receive the benefits of being higher status, and it behooves you to punish them, in order to preserve or increase your own status. It’s easier for evolution to select for emotional reactions to things than for game theoretical calculations.
I’ve noticed that I seem to get really angry at people when I observe them playing the status game with what I perceive as poor skill.
My suspicion: status games are generally seen as zero sum. Someone attempting to play the status game around you is a threat, and thus it probably helps to be angry with them, unless you expect them to be better than you at status games, in which case being angry with them probably reduces the chance that they’ll be your ally, and they will be able to respond more negatively to your anger than a weaker opponent.
Another possible just-so story we can tell is that being (seen as) angry makes it safer to injure someone (e.g., “cold-blooded” murder or battery is seen as less acceptable than killing or battering someone “in the heat of passion”), so when we identify someone as incapable of retribution we’re more inclined to make ourselves seem angry as well, the combination of which allows us to eliminate competitors while they’re weak with relative impunity. (And, of course, the most reliable way to make ourselves seem angry is to feel angry.)
Is that actually the explanation for Raiden’s reaction, though? Probably not; telling just-so stories isn’t a terribly reliable process for arriving at true explanations.
Edit: Whoops… should have read drethelin’s comment first. Retracting for redundancy.
Not sure if related, but I often get angry at people doing things that make them look like idiots in my eyes, but I have a suspicion they would impress a random bystander positively.
As an example, imagine a computer programmer speaking things that you as a fellow programmer recognize as a complete bullshit, or at best as wild exaggerations of random things that impressed the person… but for someone who does not understand programming at all, they might (I am not sure) sound very knowledgeable, unlike the silent types like me. -- I don’t know if they really impress the outsiders positively or not. I can’t well imagining myself not having the knowledge I have, and I am also not good at guessing how other people react to the tone of voice or whatever other information they may collect from the talk about topic they don’t understand. -- I just perceive the danger that the person may sound more impressive than me, and… well, as an employee, my quality of life depends on the impressions of people who can’t measure my output separately from the output of the team containing also the other person.
Also, again not sure if related, when I get angry at someone, when I analyze the situation I usually find that they are better than me in something. In the specific situation above, it would be “an ability to impress people who completely don’t understand my work”. This is easy to miss, if I remain focused only on the “they speak nonsense” part. But the truth is their speaking nonsense does not make me angry; it’s relatively easy to ignore, and it would not bother me if I did not perceive a threat.
So, for your situation: are you afraid that the “people playing the status game with (supposedly) poor skill” might still win some status at your expense? If yes, the angry reaction is obvious: you are in a situation where you could lose, but you could also win; which is the best situation to invest your energy in. (Imagine an alternative universe, where the person trying to play the status game is completely harmless and ridiculous, and everyone openly agrees on that. Would you feel the same anger?)
Not an explanation, but perhaps try to see this as a benefit to you? I have witnessed plenty of poker players get very angry at bad players. Over time bad players lose money to good players, so one shouldn’t complain about bad players. Someone who is ineffective at status signalling won’t affect you, you already see through them.
Personally, I find that I have an admiration for people with skill, even in things such as effective status signalling. When people lack a certain savoir-faire about them, it makes me upset, but then I remind myself I shouldn’t.
I’ve noticed that I seem to get really angry at people when I observe them playing the status game with what I perceive as poor skill. Is there some ev psych basis for this or is it just a personal quirk?
I think it’s a very common trait, but any Evo psych explanation I know would probably just be a just-so story.
Just So Story: The consequence of getting angry is treating someone badly, or from a game theoretical perspective, punishing them. Your perception of someone playing status games with low skill is a manifestation of the zero sum nature of status in tribes: Someone playing with low skill is a low status person trying to act and receive the benefits of being higher status, and it behooves you to punish them, in order to preserve or increase your own status. It’s easier for evolution to select for emotional reactions to things than for game theoretical calculations.
My suspicion: status games are generally seen as zero sum. Someone attempting to play the status game around you is a threat, and thus it probably helps to be angry with them, unless you expect them to be better than you at status games, in which case being angry with them probably reduces the chance that they’ll be your ally, and they will be able to respond more negatively to your anger than a weaker opponent.
Another possible just-so story we can tell is that being (seen as) angry makes it safer to injure someone (e.g., “cold-blooded” murder or battery is seen as less acceptable than killing or battering someone “in the heat of passion”), so when we identify someone as incapable of retribution we’re more inclined to make ourselves seem angry as well, the combination of which allows us to eliminate competitors while they’re weak with relative impunity. (And, of course, the most reliable way to make ourselves seem angry is to feel angry.)
Is that actually the explanation for Raiden’s reaction, though? Probably not; telling just-so stories isn’t a terribly reliable process for arriving at true explanations.
Edit: Whoops… should have read drethelin’s comment first. Retracting for redundancy.
Not sure if related, but I often get angry at people doing things that make them look like idiots in my eyes, but I have a suspicion they would impress a random bystander positively.
As an example, imagine a computer programmer speaking things that you as a fellow programmer recognize as a complete bullshit, or at best as wild exaggerations of random things that impressed the person… but for someone who does not understand programming at all, they might (I am not sure) sound very knowledgeable, unlike the silent types like me. -- I don’t know if they really impress the outsiders positively or not. I can’t well imagining myself not having the knowledge I have, and I am also not good at guessing how other people react to the tone of voice or whatever other information they may collect from the talk about topic they don’t understand. -- I just perceive the danger that the person may sound more impressive than me, and… well, as an employee, my quality of life depends on the impressions of people who can’t measure my output separately from the output of the team containing also the other person.
Also, again not sure if related, when I get angry at someone, when I analyze the situation I usually find that they are better than me in something. In the specific situation above, it would be “an ability to impress people who completely don’t understand my work”. This is easy to miss, if I remain focused only on the “they speak nonsense” part. But the truth is their speaking nonsense does not make me angry; it’s relatively easy to ignore, and it would not bother me if I did not perceive a threat.
So, for your situation: are you afraid that the “people playing the status game with (supposedly) poor skill” might still win some status at your expense? If yes, the angry reaction is obvious: you are in a situation where you could lose, but you could also win; which is the best situation to invest your energy in. (Imagine an alternative universe, where the person trying to play the status game is completely harmless and ridiculous, and everyone openly agrees on that. Would you feel the same anger?)
Not an explanation, but perhaps try to see this as a benefit to you? I have witnessed plenty of poker players get very angry at bad players. Over time bad players lose money to good players, so one shouldn’t complain about bad players. Someone who is ineffective at status signalling won’t affect you, you already see through them.
Personally, I find that I have an admiration for people with skill, even in things such as effective status signalling. When people lack a certain savoir-faire about them, it makes me upset, but then I remind myself I shouldn’t.