The Dark Connection Between Anger and Pleasure

A few years ago, I was walking my dog in a park. Up ahead, I noticed another man doing the same, but with one key difference: his dog, a teenage German Shepherd, wasn’t on a leash. The dog was running wildly all over the place, and the man didn’t seem to have much control over him. Since we were headed in the same direction, I slowed down to keep my distance. My own dog can sometimes be reactive, and I didn’t want to risk an interaction with an unfamiliar, unrestrained dog.

After a few minutes, the man stopped to look at his phone, his eyes now off his dog, while I continued to edge closer. Eventually, to maintain distance, I had to stop completely. I waited, hoping the man would leash his dog or move along. But he stayed put, blocking the path. Finally, after waiting for several minutes, I politely asked if he could leash his dog so I could pass.

What happened next left me stunned. The man leashed his dog but then charged toward me screaming at the top of his lungs, his face flushed with rage, and frothing at the mouth as he accused me of being the "leash police." His anger was so explosive, so unhinged, that it genuinely left me frozen for a moment. It wasn’t just irritation or annoyance; it was a full-blown meltdown, completely disproportionate to what I had asked. Admittedly, I was taken aback. All I had done was make a reasonable request. Why did it trigger such fury?

I’ve encountered this phenomenon in other contexts too: people responding with explosive anger to situations that don’t seem to warrant it. You may have experienced something similar, especially if you drive in a city. Road rage, for example, is rampant. Just recently, I saw a post from a neighbour describing how she stopped her car to help an elderly man who had fallen into a ditch. The shocking part? Other drivers, despite seeing what had happened, yelled profanities at her for slowing down traffic.

What’s happening in our society? Why are people so quick to anger, even when it makes no sense? I’ve been trying to understand this for some time, and I think I finally have an explanation. It’s not just about individual temperaments or isolated incidents; it’s about something much deeper, something tied to the way our brains, our emotions, and even our digital habits have been shaped over the years. Let me explain.

Anger and the Brain: A Rewarding Emotion

Anger, like all emotions, serves a purpose. It’s a powerful motivator, driving us to confront perceived injustices or set boundaries when our values are threatened. But anger isn’t just a psychological experience; it has a biological foundation too.

When we’re angry, our bodies enter a heightened state of arousal. Adrenaline floods the system, giving us energy, focus, and the drive to act. Beneath it all, the dopamine system, which is the brain’s reward and motivation center, plays a crucial role. Dopamine, often called the “feel-good” chemical, drives motivation and the anticipation of rewards. This includes the goals we pursue when we’re angry, like defending our beliefs or seeking justice.

The same reward system lights up when you anticipate a “victory” in conflict. Whether it’s winning an argument, silencing a critic, or receiving validation for your outrage, the dopamine response reinforces the behavior. Over time, this creates a feedback loop that makes anger addictive. It becomes not just a reaction, but something people actively seek out.

How Social Media Amplifies Anger

The rise of social media has taken this natural emotional response and turned it into a profitable commodity. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram rely on engagement to drive revenue. To achieve this, algorithms prioritize content that grabs attention and keeps users engaged. And nothing grabs attention quite like anger.

Content that provokes anger—divisive news articles, controversial opinions, or heated comment threads—is more likely to generate engagement. The angrier you are, the more you click, comment, and share. This engagement triggers dopamine spikes, reinforcing the association between anger and reward.

Here’s where it gets more troubling: because anger drives engagement, people are incentivized to get angry. Users learn that outrage, whether genuine or manufactured, garners attention and validation. As a result, anger becomes not just a response but a habit, spilling over into real-world interactions.

While anger can sometimes motivate positive action, such as fighting injustice or setting boundaries, it also has a darker side. For some, anger becomes about inflicting harm rather than resolving a problem.

When someone lashes out in anger, their focus is often entirely on their own emotional state. They’re consumed by their feelings, their sense of injustice, or their need to feel validated. In this state, the harm caused to others becomes secondary—or worse, it becomes part of the satisfaction. This selfishness transforms anger into something destructive.

In extreme cases, anger can become sadistic. The joy derived from seeing others suffer is disturbingly reminiscent of the behaviors seen in psychopaths. While most people are not psychopaths, the mechanisms are similar. The harm inflicted on others can feel like a reward, driving individuals to escalate conflicts instead of resolving them.

Breaking the Cycle

Understanding the connection between anger, dopamine, and our social habits is the first step toward breaking free. Recognizing when anger is being incentivized—whether by algorithms, by validation, or by our own egos—can help us pause and reflect. Ask yourself: Is my anger serving a purpose, or am I just feeding into a system that profits from my outrage?

Social media platforms also bear responsibility for creating and perpetuating this cycle. Their algorithms are designed to exploit anger for profit, and without accountability, the problem will persist. Advocacy for transparency, ethical design, and algorithmic reform is essential for curbing the influence of outrage-driven engagement.

The Bottom Line

Anger is a powerful emotion, but its connection to the dopamine system and its potential for selfishness and sadism makes it a dangerous one when left unchecked. Social media has exploited this dynamic, turning anger into a product that influences our habits both online and offline. At its worst, anger becomes a tool for selfish gratification, harming others in ways that reflect the darkest aspects of human behavior.

In today’s world, anger is no longer just a fleeting emotion—it has been incentivized and commodified. We are encouraged to stay angry, even when it doesn’t make sense, because anger is profitable. However, the cycle can be broken. By understanding how anger works and how it’s manipulated, we can regain control, using this emotion productively instead of letting it control us. Anger isn’t inherently bad, but when it is selfish or sadistic, it risks consuming more than just its target. It risks consuming us.