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Michelle - Jennifer's answer to your question was really excellent and I only want to add a few thoughts. As you have commented angry reactions do sometimes seem to run in families and that is because there may be underlying depressive or anxiety disorders. If these go untreated they can leave people in an ongoing state of low level irritability and easy agitation. Getting a thorough work-up for these conditions is important.   Sometimes these behavior patterns are learned from watching parents behave angrily at everything even though, as Jennifer pointed out, there may be other more central  feelings underneath. When people really want to change those behaviors they can sometimes find some help from Anger Management programs.