2016 · GS Paper 4 · Q7(a) · 5 marks

Anger is a harmful negative emotion. It is injurious to both personal life and work life. Discuss how it leads to negative emotions and undesirable behaviours.

In short

Unregulated anger breeds resentment, hatred, guilt, anxiety and envy, and drives aggression, rash decisions, broken relationships and abuse of authority at home and work. The Gita (2.62-63) traces this chain from anger to delusion to the ruin of reason.

Model answer

Ghissu Editorial · Verified 4 Oct 2026

Introduction
The Bhagavad Gita (2.62-63) traces a chain in which desire turns into anger, anger into delusion, and delusion into the ruin of reason. Left unregulated, anger rarely stays a single emotion: it breeds other negative feelings and spills into conduct.
How Anger Breeds Other Negative Emotions
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Resentment into hatred

Nursed anger hardens into a grudge; Duryodhana's humiliation at Indraprastha festered into a hatred that ended only at Kurukshetra.

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Guilt and shame

Remorse after an outburst lowers self-worth and makes the next provocation harder to bear.

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Anxiety and envy

Chronic anger keeps stress hormones high, breeds restlessness, and reads others' success as a personal slight.

Undesirable Behaviours in Personal and Work Life
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Aggression

In an Emotional Hijack, impulse overrides reason; Zidane's head-butt in the 2006 World Cup final got him sent off in his last match.

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Rash decisions

Anger narrows attention, so a manager punishes a whole team for one lapse or an officer passes a hasty order that cannot survive review.

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Broken relationships

Shouting and sarcasm erode trust in families and teams, and capable colleagues withdraw.

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Abuse of authority

A Self-Regulation Deficit makes an official rude to citizens, against the courtesy the All India Services (Conduct) Rules require.

Conclusion
Anger is not wrong in itself; Aristotle praised being angry with the right person, to the right degree and for the right purpose. The harm lies in unregulated anger, so self-awareness, a pause before response and empathy keep an officer composed and fair.

This model answer is indicative and the model can make mistakes; please verify key facts independently.

Hand-drawn diagram: The Anger Spiral. The Anger Spiral. Flow: Trigger read as insult → Arousal and rage → Reason narrows → Hurtful act → Guilt and resentment → Shorter fuse next time → (back to start)
Diagram: The Anger Spiral

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Emotional intelligence — Concepts7 questions

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Question from the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination 2016 paper. Answer written by Ghissu's engine and checked against our editorial standards. Found an error? Tell us and we correct it within 48 hours.

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