ANGER!! 

I think that anger is not a real emotion, but rather a symptom of an underlying emotion.

Those emotions are pain, fear, or frustration.

In my experience, people often express pain, fear, or frustration, through a display of anger.

Not a FEELING of anger, but a DISPLAY of anger.

And I have noticed that I do not respond the same way to displays of anger, as I do to expressions of fear, frustration, or pain.  That is to say that when people display anger toward me, or in my presence, I tend to put up walls, and distance myself, and protect myself.

When people express fear, frustration or pain, however, I tend to empathize, and draw closer to that person, rather than defend or protect. I suppose it would be good for me to work on realizing that when people display anger they really have some other underlying emotion, and I can still empathize, even though they are expressing anger.  But that won't come naturally to me.  I will need to work on that, if I want to make it so.

Why do people project anger when they really feel something else?  I don't know.  Pride maybe?  The fear of looking weak?  I don't know.  But it creates a lot of dysfunction in the world, I think.