Contempt

Contempt is the negative feeling that someone is worthless, deserving of scorn, or inferior; it is a person-focused emotion. It is often described as a combination of both anger and disgust and can be displayed by tone of voice, body language, and facial expression. Feelings of contempt often stem from a specific event (i.e., behavior) and lead to a rejection of the object of contempt. Contempt, along with anger and disgust, are described as a triad of hostile and other-condemning moral emotions. These emotions are moral because they are concerned with social order but focus on the moral violations of others rather than of the self. Although described as a negative emotion, some individuals enjoy feeling contemptuous because it makes them believe that they are ...