Literature lives from emotions. That’s why it’s important for us authors to understand emotions and describe them as vividly as possible. Our series on emotions today is about one of the strongest feelings: hate.
Physical signals
Mental reactions
Emotional reactions
Cognitive reactions
Main triggers for hate
Case study
Prose
Physical signals:
Facial expressions: A person who hates may show an intense and hostile facial expression, such as a scowl, narrowed eyes, and clenched jaw.
Posture: the person’s body may appear tense and rigid, with clenched fists or a stiff posture. They may also display aggressive body language, such as pointing fingers, gesturing, or invading personal space.
Increased heart rate: hatred can trigger the body’s stress response, resulting in an increased heart rate as adrenaline flows through the body.
Change in voice pitch: The person’s voice may sound louder, sharper, or more aggressive.
Sweating: Intense emotions such as hate can cause the body to sweat as the sympathetic nervous system is activated.
Mental reactions:
Intense Anger: Hate is often accompanied by intense anger, where the person feels a strong desire to harm or cause suffering to the object of their hate. This may lead to hostile thoughts and fantasies.
Negative thinking patterns: the person may engage in negative thinking patterns, constantly thinking about their hatred and finding reasons to justify it. Black and white thinking may also occur, in which the object of hatred is seen as completely evil or inferior.
Emotional distress: hatred can cause emotional distress, including feelings of bitterness, resentment, and vindictiveness. It can also lead to feelings of emotional turmoil and inner conflict.
Loss of empathy: Hate can cause a person to lose empathy and compassion toward the object of their hate. They may dehumanize or objectify the person or group they hate, viewing them as less than human or unworthy.
Preoccupation with the object of hate: The person may become obsessed with the object of their hate, thinking about it constantly, seeking information about it, and even stalking or harassing it.
Emotional reactions:
Intense negative emotions: Hate is often associated with strong negative emotions such as anger, rage, disgust, and contempt. These emotions can feel overwhelming and dominate the person’s thoughts and actions.
Increased emotional arousal: Hate can lead to heightened emotional arousal, with the person feeling irritable, irritable, and easily provoked. This emotional state can last for an extended period of time, leading to emotional exhaustion and fatigue.
Emotional distress: hatred can cause emotional distress, including feelings of anxiety, frustration, and emotional pain. It can also lead to feelings of inner conflict or turmoil as the person struggles with their intense feelings.
Vengeful tendencies: Hate can trigger a strong desire for revenge or retribution, with the person feeling a compelling urge to retaliate against the object of their hate. This can further fuel the negative emotional cycle and perpetuate a cycle of hostility.
Cognitive Reactions:
Biased Thinking: When a person feels hatred, they may engage in biased thinking in which they interpret events, actions, or information in a way that confirms their negative beliefs about the object of their hatred. This can lead to cognitive distortions, such as overgeneralization, jumping to conclusions, or selective perception.
Rumination: hatred can lead to persistent rumination, in which the person constantly thinks about the object of their hatred, replays past events, and becomes upset about real or perceived grievances. This rumination can negatively impact psychological well-being and lead to increased hostility.
Negative attributions: A person who feels hatred may make negative attributions, ascribing malicious motives or negative characteristics to the object of their hatred, even when there is no evidence to support them. This may exacerbate their negative emotions and beliefs toward the person or group they hate.
Cognitive Rigidity: Hate can lead to cognitive rigidity, in which the person refuses to change their negative beliefs or attitudes toward the object of their hate, even when they have evidence to the contrary. This can lead to a closed mindset and impair the ability to empathize or see alternative perspectives.
Main triggers for hate
Hate is a complex emotion that can arise from a variety of triggers and manifest in different ways depending on the person and situation. However, some common triggers and recurring patterns associated with hate include the following
Differences: Differences in race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics may be perceived as threats to one’s identity, values, or beliefs, triggering feelings of fear, insecurity, or superiority that lead to hatred toward those perceived as different.
Prejudices and stereotypes: pre-existing prejudices and stereotypes, often learned through societal or cultural influences, can contribute to the development of hate. These prejudices can be based on unfounded assumptions, misinformation, or negative generalizations about certain groups and can foster the development of negative attitudes and feelings toward those groups.
Personal experiences: Personal experiences of harm, trauma, or victimization by individuals or groups in a particular category can trigger feelings of resentment, anger, or revenge that lead to hatred toward those individuals or groups.
Socialization and upbringing: early socialization and upbringing may play a role in shaping attitudes and beliefs toward particular groups or individuals. Messages from family, peers, the community, or the media that promote intolerance, discrimination, or hostility toward certain groups can contribute to the development of hate.
Group dynamics: Hate can be fueled by group dynamics in which individuals conform to or adopt the beliefs and attitudes of a particular group to which they belong, such as an extremist ideology, a supremist group, or an online echo chamber. Group identity, loyalty, and a sense of belonging can reinforce feelings of hatred toward perceived opponents or rival groups.
Fear and uncertainty: Fear and uncertainty about one’s well-being, status, or future can trigger hatred of those perceived as threats or competitors for limited resources, opportunities, or power. In times of social, economic, or political uncertainty, fear, and insecurity can exacerbate tensions and conflicts and lead to hatred.
Lack of engagement and understanding: lack of exposure to different cultures, beliefs, or perspectives and limited understanding of others can contribute to the development of hate. Ignorance, fear of the unknown, or lack of empathy toward people who are different can lead to negative attitudes and feelings toward them.
Case study:
Let’s make it more concrete again and craft a case study from our new knowledge about physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual reactions: Laura was at a party over the weekend. There she was harassed by a young man who also physically harassed her. Other partygoers noticed this but did not come to Laura’s aid. Now she is full of hatred for the whole group. Here is a possible scenario of Laura’s physical, mental, emotional, and cognitive reactions to the incident at the party:
Physical reactions:
Laura might experience heightened physiological arousal, such as increased heart rate, rapid breathing, and tense muscles, as a result of the harassment and physical altercation she experienced. Her body may have gone into a fight-or-flight response during the incident, and she may continue to feel the physical effects of that response afterward.
Psychological reactions:
Laura may have intrusive thoughts and vivid memories of the harassment and physical altercation, replaying the events over and over in her head. She may also struggle with racing thoughts or difficulty concentrating as she grapples with the incident and its aftermath.
Emotional reactions:
Laura may feel a range of intense negative emotions such as anger, fear, disgust, and contempt toward the young man who molested her and the other partygoers who did not come to her aid. She may also feel a sense of betrayal or disappointment toward the group for not intervening and providing support.
Cognitive Reactions:
Laura may be thinking in a biased way, viewing the entire group of partygoers as complicit or responsible for the harassment and feeling a deep-seated hatred toward them. She may also be struggling with mistrust of others in her social circle, as the incident has shaken her sense of safety and security.
In addition to immediate reactions, Laura’s hatred of the group may persist over time, affecting her psychological well-being, relationships, and behavior. She may continue to harbor negative feelings and thoughts toward the group and even have vengeful tendencies, looking for ways to get revenge or seek justice for the harm she has suffered.
Prose version
Let’s take it a step further and turn it into a prose text:
The morning sun peeked through the window, casting a golden glow on Laura’s face as she lay in bed. But the warmth of the sunlight was nothing against the cold, festering hatred that had taken root in her heart. Her mind was a whirlwind of emotions, playing the events of last night over and over again like a broken record. The harsh words, the physical contact, and the indifference of the other partygoers haunted her, filling her with a seething anger that refused to dissipate.
Her body felt heavy, weighed down by the weight of the evening’s events. Her muscles were tense, a constant reminder of the physical altercation she had been through. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest, an unrelenting reminder of the fear and anger coursing through her veins.
Laura’s thoughts were a tempestuous storm, surging with resentment and hostility toward the young man who had molested her and the group of partygoers who had turned a blind eye. She couldn’t understand how they could just stand by and watch the ordeal unfold without intervening, without showing even a shred of compassion or support. The betrayal sat deep and left a bitter taste in her mouth.
The once vibrant and lighthearted spirit Laura had been known for was now overshadowed by a dark cloud of hatred. Her mind was consumed with thoughts of retribution and seeking justice for the suffering she had endured. She felt a burning need to confront the group, to make them feel the pain and anger she was experiencing.
But beneath the surface of her anger, there was also a deep sadness. Laura could not understand how people could treat each other with such cruelty, how hatred could be so pervasive in the world. It weighed on her and made her heart even heavier.
As she reluctantly dragged herself out of bed, Laura knew that the aftermath of the party would not be easy to deal with. The emotions were raw, the wounds fresh, and the hatred that had gripped her threatened to consume her completely. She was determined to find a way to cope with the overwhelming feelings, heal the trauma, and somehow find a way to let go of the hatred that had taken root in her soul.
