Modification of Free-Floating Hostility

Abstract

In attempting to help TAB participants reduce their anger/hostility, it is important that the group leader recognize the magnitude of the task he or she is undertaking. The group leader is in fact asking them to relinquish a longstanding worldview and coping style that they previously thought was necessary for their economic or professional survival. For example, some hostile TAB persons have viewed others with suspicion and cynicism as a protection against the possible future pain of disappointment and betrayal. Others have responded with anger/hostility to even trivial situations and actions that they believe are in error. Indeed, it is a real question whether TAB persons become angry/hostile because they are not in direct control of various actions or because they perceive that these actions are being executed erroneously. In other words, would a TAB person feel anger/hostility if he or she were not in control of an event even though he or she recognized that it was being executed properly? I am not sure of the answer to this question.