Hatred Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatred

Hazel Massery yelling at Elizabeth Eckford in a display of racial hatred in 1957.

Hatred is an intense negative emotional response towards certain people, things or ideas, usually related to opposition or revulsion toward something.[1] Hatred is often associated with intense feelings of anger, contempt, and disgust. Hatred is sometimes seen as the opposite of love.

A number of different definitions and perspectives on hatred have been put forth. Philosophers have been concerned with understanding the essence and nature of hatred, while some religions view it positively and encourage hatred toward certain outgroups. Social and psychological theorists have understood hatred in a utilitarian sense. Certain public displays of hatred are sometimes legally proscribed in the context of pluralistic cultures that value tolerance.

Hatred may encompass a wide range of gradations of emotion and have very different expressions depending on the cultural context and the situation that triggers the emotional or intellectual response. Based on the context in which hatred occurs, it may be viewed favorably, unfavorably, or neutrally by different societies.


As an emotion, hatred can be short-lived or long-lasting.[2] It can be of low intensity - 'I hate broccoli' - or high intensity: 'I hate the whole world'.[3] In some cases, hatred can be a learned response from external influences, such as from being abused, misled, or manipulated. As a general rule, hatred is the deep psychological response to feeling trapped or being unable to understand certain sociological phenomena. Robert Sternberg saw three main elements in hatred:

  1. a negation of intimacy, by creating distance when closeness had become threatening;
  2. an infusion of passion, such as fear or anger;
  3. a decision to devalue a previously valued object.[2]

The important self-protective function, to be found in hatred,[4] can be illustrated by Steinberg's analysis of 'mutinous' hatred, whereby a dependent relationship is repudiated in a quest for autonomy.[5]


Sigmund Freud defined hate as an ego state that wishes to destroy the source of its unhappiness, stressing that it was linked to the question of self-preservation.[6] Donald Winnicott highlighted the developmental step involved in hatred, with its recognition of an outside object: "As compared to magical destruction, aggressive ideas and behaviour take on a positive value, and hate becomes a sign of civilization".[7]

In his wake, object relations theory has emphasised the importance of recognising hate in the analytic setting: the analyst acknowledges his own hate (as revealed in the strict time-limits and the fee charged),[8] which in turn may make it possible for the patient to acknowledge and contain their previously concealed hate for the analyst.[4]



An advisory video from the Welsh Government






Those suffering from Misophonia have been known to express hatred when triggered.[14]


Hate, like love, takes different shapes and forms in different languages.[15] While it may be fair to say that one single emotion exists in English, French (haine), and German (Hass), hate is historically situated and culturally constructed: it varies in the forms in which it is manifested. Thus a certain relationless hatred is expressed in the French expression J'ai la haine, which has no precise equivalent in English; while for English-speakers, loving and hating invariably involve a force, an object, or a person, and therefore, a relationship with something or someone, J'ai la haine (literally, I have hate) precludes the idea of an emotion directed at a person.[16] This is a form of frustration, apathy and animosity which churns within the subject but establishes no relationship with the world, other than an aimless desire for destruction.

French forms of anti-Americanism have been seen as a specific form of cultural resentment, registering joy-in-hate.[17]


A United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom and religion cited the concept of collective hatred based on religion, which he described as a man-made phenomenon caused by deliberate actions and omissions of hate-mongers.[18]

Hatred can also be sanctioned by religion. The Hebrew word describing the psalmist's "perfect hatred" (Ps. 139.22) means that it "brings a process to completion".[19] There are also sources that explain how Islam developed around hatred for unbelief since it is considered the source of evil and that adherents endeavor to spread the Qur'anic faith as the vehicle for its eradication.[20] A specific example is hate speech. It is explained that religion aims to convert new adherents and that extreme speech made against other religion or its adherents is considered a tool so that changing other's beliefs is effective.[21]


Philosophers from the ancient time sought to describe hatred and today, there are different definitions available. Aristotle, for instance, viewed it as distinct from anger and rage, describing hate as a desire to annihilate an object and is incurable by time.[22] David Hume also offered his own conceptualization, maintaining that hatred is an irreducible feeling that is not definable at all.[23]

See also[edit]


  2. ^ a b Y Ito ed., Encyclopedia of Emotion (2010) p. 302
  3. ^ S Kucuk, Brand Hate (2016) p. 12-3
  4. ^ a b I Craib, Psychoanalysis (Cambridge 2001) p. 208
  5. ^ Y Ito ed., Encyclopedia of Emotion (2010) p. 303
  6. ^ S Freud, 'The instincts and their vicissitudes' (1915) in On Metapsychology (PFL 11) p. 135-5.
  7. ^ D W Winnicott, The Child, the Family, and the Outside World (Penguin 1973) p. 239
  8. ^ J Malcolm, Psychoanalysis (London 1988) p. 143
  9. ^ A Phillips/B Taylor, On Kindness (London 2004) p. 93-4
  10. ^ Stotzer, R.: Comparison of Hate Crime Rates Across Protected and Unprotected Groups Archived 2013-10-19 at the Wayback Machine, Williams Institute, 2007–06. Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
  11. ^ Hate crime Archived November 26, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, Home Office
  12. ^ "Dictionary.com: Hate speech". Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  13. ^ Zeki, S.; Romaya, J.P. (October 2008). Lauwereyns, Jan (ed.). "Neural Correlates of Hate". PLoS ONE. 3 (10): e3556. Bibcode:2008PLoSO...3.3556Z. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003556. PMC 2569212. PMID 18958169.
  14. ^ Swedo, Susan; Baguley, David M.; Denys, Damiaan; Dixon, Laura J.; Erfanian, Mercede; Fioretti, Alessandra; Jastreboff, Pawel J.; Kumar, Sukhbinder; Rosenthal, M. Zachary; Rouw, Romke; Schiller, Daniela (2021-04-07). "A Consensus Definition of Misophonia: Using a Delphi Process to Reach Expert Agreement": 2021.04.05.21254951. doi:10.1101/2021.04.05.21254951. S2CID 233152520. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ^ James W. Underhill, Ethnolinguistics and Cultural Concepts: truth, love, hate & war, (2012) p. 160
  16. ^ James W. Underhill, Ethnolinguistics and Cultural Concepts: truth, love, hate & war, (2012) p. 161-2
  17. ^ James W. Underhill, Ethnolinguistics and Cultural Concepts: truth, love, hate & war, (2012) p. 173-181
  18. ^ Temperman, Jeroen (2015). Religious Hatred and International Law: The Prohibition of Incitement to Violence or Discrimination. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 317. ISBN 9781107124172.
  19. ^ Harris, R Laird (2003-10-01). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Moody Publishers; New Edition. ISBN 978-0802486493.
  20. ^ Johnson, James Turner (2010). Holy War Idea in Western and Islamic Traditions. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press. p. 89. ISBN 9780271042145.
  21. ^ Howard, Erica (2017-07-28). Freedom of Expression and Religious Hate Speech in Europe. Routledge. ISBN 9781351998789.
  22. ^ Smith, Tiffany Watt (2016-06-07). The Book of Human Emotions: From Ambiguphobia to Umpty -- 154 Words from Around the World for How We Feel. Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316265393.
  23. ^ Spencer, F. Scott (2017). Mixed Feelings and Vexed Passions: Exploring Emotions in Biblical Literature. Atlanta, GA: SBL Press. p. 61. ISBN 9780884142577.

Further reading[edit]

  • The Psychology of Hate by Robert Sternberg (Ed.)
  • Hatred: The Psychological Descent into Violence by Willard Gaylin
  • Why We Hate by Jack Levin
  • "Hatred as an Attitude", by Thomas Brudholm (in Philosophical Papers 39, 2010).
  • The Globalisation of Hate, (eds.) Jennifer Schweppe and Mark Walters, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • The Craftsmanship of your life by love and hatred