Toward Psychological Operationalization of the Hate Concept: an Interpersonal or Intergroup Phenomenon?

In psychological studies the discussion of the life-long role of hate was previously substituted by the discussion of anger, hostility and aggression, or of prejudice and social discrimination. The main source of human destructive activity was ignored. Hate can be considered to be the basis of prejudices, hostility and many forms of destructive behavior, especially enemy aggression and violence, and can shape motives of social isolation, domestic violence and violence against out-groups. Empirical data reveal two main components of hate: passive (avoiding) and active (aggressive), representing two main strategies in social interaction with aversive persons and groups. Hate cannot be viewed similar to love in the framework of the three-dimensional structural model (Sternberg, 2005b; Sternberg & Sternberg, 2008).

It would be an overstatement to say that hate, a strong and widespread passion,was ignored by European and world literature and philosophy. All great philosophersfrom Empedocles to Spinoza and Kant discussed hate. For example, Spinoza wrote in the third part of his famous Ethica in the comments to theorem 13: “…love is nothing else but pleasure accompanied by the idea of an external cause: Hate is nothing else but pain accompanied by the idea of an external cause. We further see that he who loves necessarily endeavors to have, and to keep present to him, the object of his love; while he who hates endeavors to remove and destroy the object of his hatred.”

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