Concept of Angry Beliefs
When the four basic needs in life are not met, we can develop a belief system based on anger. This “anger” belief system is designed to facilitate our needs being met. A belief built on anger is an attempt to control the possibility of being hurt again, or disappointed, and the attempt to deal with trauma. Beliefs give each individual a justification; a starting point or baseline for coping with life, managing problems, processing information, and functioning within relationships.
Angry beliefs determine our focus and fuel our thinking process. Angry beliefs and our thoughts become intertwined and help to create a false personality. These beliefs become evident by our actions and behavior so it is essential for us to identify our needs; our angry beliefs and how these beliefs were formed. We should be encouraged to challenge “angry” beliefs for validity in an attempt to establish clarity.
The Eight Factors that Influence our Thinking/Beliefs
1. Family: Moral development, character development, learned behaviors and social development. From birth to approximately 10 years of age our primary purpose in life is to please our family and bond with them.
2. Friends: The need to be accepted by our peers based on our instinctual need to be a part of a group.
3. Environment/Culture: The cumulative effect of the families and neighborhoods we grew up in.
4. Media: The reinforcement of secular philosophies.
5. Trauma: The events, experiences, and effects in life that produce trauma.
6. School: The development of structured academic learning.
7. Religion: The reinforcement of moral and character development.
8. Experiences/Consequences: Experiential learning/Results of our decisions and behavior.