Contempt

Contempt is a moral emotion that involves looking down on someone and feeling superior to them. According to the Haidtian terminology, contempt falls within the family of other-condemning emotions, alongside anger and disgust. Emotions like contempt are typically directed toward individuals or groups perceived as violators of certain moral norms. People are inclined to limiting positive social engagement with individuals or groups they hold contempt for since they view them as unworthy of respect.

Although contempt may be subtler than anger, it still leads to negative views and diminished regard for those perceived as violators of moral norms. In other words, contempt is one of the emotions we feel toward people we think have done something wrong. Psychological research suggests that contempt can even reinforce social hierarchies, often serving to maintain divisions between individuals perceived as morally superior and those considered inferior.

By intentionally denying warmth and respect, contempt communicates moral disapproval and reinforces societal structures that favour specific values or behaviours. On the other hand, contempt may have the advantage of clarifying the group's moral position and making the transgressions of moral norms more concrete and personified.

Contempt is the primary response to what are termed ‘crimes against community.’ Such violations include disrespect for the community's standards, norms, or the community itself, as exemplified by acts like flag burning. For many communities, the flag holds deep emotional significance as a unifying symbol. The act of burning a flag expresses the burners’ rejection of the principles, identity, or history associated with those represented by the flag, and is often accompanied by contempt, anger, and a desire to purge the world of what they perceive as the community members’ corrupt or tainted existence. As such, witnessing the desecration of a flag can elicit feelings of contempt, as it violates deeply held beliefs about the significance of symbols, objects, or values important to individuals or communities.

FURTHER READING

Beichelt, T. (2022). Homo Emotionalis: On the Systematization of Emotions in Politics. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.

Capelos, T. (2010). Feeling the Issue: How Citizens’ Affective Reactions and Leadership Perceptions Shape Policy Evaluations. Journal of Political Marketing, 9(1–2), 9–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/15377850903583038

Erisen, C., & Vasilopoulou, S. (2022). The affective model of far‐right vote in Europe: Anger, political trust, and immigration. Social Science Quarterly, 103(3), 635-648.

Haidt, J. (2003). The moral emotions. In R. J. Davidson, K. R. Scherer, & H. H. Goldsmith (Eds.), Handbook of affective sciences (pp. 852–870). Oxford University Press.

Rozin, P., Lowery, L., Imada, S., & Haidt, J. (1999). The CAD triad hypothesis: a mapping between three moral emotions (contempt, anger, disgust) and three moral codes (community, autonomy, divinity). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(4), 574.

Van Doorn, J., Zeelenberg, M., & Breugelmans, S. M. (2014). Anger and prosocial behavior. Emotion Review, 6(3), 261-268.

Zembylas, M. (2007). Mobilizing anger for social justice: The politicization of the emotions in education. Teaching Education, 18(1), 15-28.