How Can I Manage My Anger?

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Justice-driven actions are usually rooted in compassion and concern for others.

Revenge differs from justice because it is driven by personal pain, identity threat, and emotional wounds.

Revenge offers only temporary relief and rarely resolves deeper emotional pain.

Our sense of justice is shaped by personal experiences, culture, and early development.

I've had a strong feeling of justice since I was a kid. At times, I thought life was unfair to some people. My mom used to tell me: "You will never find justice in this world." At the time, I disagreed with her. I thought my mom must have been hurt to say something like that.

But today I think I understand her words. Maybe she meant that every person carries their own definition of justice.

Justice involves the belief that people should be treated fairly and that rewards, punishments, rights, and responsibilities should be distributed appropriately (Colquitt, 2001). Our sense of fairness starts developing early in childhood and continues to be shaped by our experiences, culture, family, and personal pain (Blake & McAuliffe, 2011).

Let me give you an example. I remember walking home in winter when I saw a crying boy lying in the snow, surrounded by two other boys who would not even give him a chance to get up. I stopped not knowing what to do. I told them to stop but they did not care. So I found an adult and asked for help.

Afterward, I felt relief, because I thought justice had been restored.

But now, looking back, I think I was responding to my own definition of justice…. I still believe helping that boy was the right thing to do.

But why did I react so strongly? Where did that feeling come from?

Our sensitivity to fairness is influenced by our own experiences, bullying, humiliation, neglect, or unfair treatment (Sommerville, 2013).

In another situation, I was walking outside and saw a mother physically abusing her child. I could not tolerate the scene. My palms started sweating for some reason and I felt very irritated by that scene. I stopped and politely said:........

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