Contempt

For other uses, see Contempt (disambiguation).

Look up Contempt in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Contempt is an intense feeling of disrespect and dislike. It is similar to hate, but implies feelings of superiority/superciliousness. A person who has contempt for another individual looks down (condescends) on that person. The "recipient of contempt is deemed unworthy, beneath redemption. Contempt may be related to feelings of disgust and bitterness.^{[citation needed]}

Professor Robert C. Solomon places contempt on the same line continuum with resentment and anger. According to him the differences between the three emotions are that: resentment is directed toward a higher status individual, anger is directed toward equal status individual and contempt is directed toward lower status individual.

Robert C. Solomon, Ph.D.. "The Passions: Emotions and the Meaning of Life" (1993) <http://books.google.com/books?id=TCAUagXFG4sC&pg=PA264&lpg=PA264&dq=contempt+anger+and+resentment+solomon&source=web&ots=8DA1cnuEA5&sig=-Mnq2RoZLfVsbvi34kS80fFZ6OY>

The old adage, "familiarity breeds contempt" means that we get sick of people and places that we see everyday. In fact, however, familiarity often produces attraction. This is documented as the mere exposure effect in psychology. The exception to the mere exposure effect is if the object is disliked in the beginning.^{[citation needed]}

Contempt in fiction

Melkor, the arch-villain of The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien is said to have had "contempt for all things save himself", leading to his fall from grace and transformation into the evil Morgoth.

Contempt and marriage

In the book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking author Malcolm Gladwell discusses John Gottman\'s theories of how to predict which couples will stay married. Gottman\'s theory states that there are four major emotional reactions that are destructive to a marriage: defensiveness, stonewalling, criticism, and contempt. Among these four, Gottman considers contempt the most important of them all. Gladwell, Malcolm (copyright 2005). Blink. Back Bay Books imprint (Little, Brown and Company), pp. 32-33. ISBN 0-316-01066-9. 

References

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia