Abstract
<p>This paper redefines workplace anger and coercive control not merely as individualemotional expression, personality traits, or failures of self-regulation, but as part of abroader process in which dominance desire transforms an organization into areward-producing environment. Previous research has examined abusive supervision,workplace bullying, psychological safety, organizational silence, emotional contagion,and the behavioral effects of power. However, less attention has been paid to why formsof control that are inefficient for the organization may nevertheless persist as rewardingexperiences for the dominant leader.Building on the Anger-as-Indulgence Model, which conceptualizes anger as anemotionally rewarding resource, this paper shifts attention from anger itself to thedominance environment that continuously produces anger. If anger is like chocolate,offering immediate emotional reward through silencing others, controlling the situation,and confirming one’s own correctness, then dominance desire is the chocolate factorythat keeps producing it. In dominance-oriented workplaces, subordinates’ self-esteem,autonomy, professional agency, and horizontal trust are gradually depleted. As a result,organizational learning, psychological safety, technical continuity, and mutual trust areweakened. Yet this very weakening can increase the leader’s centrality, perceivednecessity, and sense of control.To explain this paradox, the paper introduces two concepts: dominance-environmentreward and the dominance meme loop. Dominance-environment reward refers to thecontinuing psychological reward obtained when an organization is arranged so thatsubordinates become dependent on the leader for permission, judgment, approval, andvalidation. The dominance meme loop describes the self-reinforcing cycle in whichdiminished autonomy and self-esteem among subordinates make the leader appear morenecessary, thereby justifying further control.The paper also introduces the concept of apparent dominance conversion. Rather thanattempting to infer the leader’s subjective intention, this perspective focuses on how theorganization appears to function from the outside. Even when a leader subjectivelyframes their behavior as instruction, safety management, or developmental guidance, ifthe observable consequences include silence, fear, backstage complaints, withdrawal,turnover, and imitative aggression, the organization may be functioning as adominance-reward system.The central conclusion is that anger is chocolate, but dominance desire is the factorythat produces it. When an organization begins to function as that factory, it does notnecessarily collapse loudly or immediately. It quietly loses autonomy, trust, learningcapacity, and professional vitality.</p>