Evaluation of a domain-specific anger expression assessment strategy

Previous studies have shown that self-reports of an individual's anger expression vary between the home and the work domain. The aim of this study was to investigate the validity of such self-reports by comparing them with reports of intimate partners and work colleagues in the respective domain. Participants (N= 86) rated their anger expression on the general and on domain-specific versions of the State-Trait-Anger Expression Inventory (Spielberger, 1988). The self-rated anger-out-home scores correlated highly with partner ratings of anger-out-home scores (r = .61) and colleague ratings of anger-out-work scores correlated substantially with self-rated anger-out-work scores (r = .54). A similar but weaker correlation pattern emerged for anger control but not for anger-in. Self-other correspondence was higher for the domain-specific anger expression assessment than for the general anger expression assessment. These results demonstrate that the domain-specific strategy for the assessment of self-reported anger expression can validly measure differences in anger expression in different domains.     

Domain-specific assessment of anger expression and ambulatory blood pressure

Bongard and al’Absi (2003) proposed domain-specific anger expression as an improved method for measuring the expression of anger with stronger links to cardiovascular parameters. We tested this proposal by relating their domain-specific measure to ambulatory blood pressure. One hundred and forty-nine Singapore young adults responded to a modified version of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory that measured anger expression at home, school/work and leisure and then underwent 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Results indicated significant differences in reported anger expression in the three domains measured and also showed that domain-specific measures of anger expression were more strongly related to ambulatory blood pressure than was the general measure of anger expression. These results provide additional evidence for the importance of measures of anger expression that take account of the specific context in which anger occurs.     

Associations of blood pressure with self-report measures of anger and hostility among black and white men and women

This study examined associations between blood pressure (BP) and dispositional variables pertaining to anger and hostility. Black and White 25- to 44-year old male and female normotensives and unmedicated mild to moderate hypertensives completed four reliable self-report scales--the Cook-Medley Hostility (Ho) Scale, the Trait Anger subscale of the State-Trait Anger Scale (STAS-T), and the Cognitive Anger and Somatic Anger subscales of the Cognitive-Somatic Anger Scale--plus the Framingham Anger Scale and the Harburg Anger Scale. They also engaged in three laboratory tasks--Type A Structured Interview (SI), a video game, and a cold pressor task--that elicit cardiovascular reactivity. Ambulatory BP readings at home and at work were also obtained from most subjects. Blacks had significantly higher Ho and lower STAS-T scores than did Whites. Women reported higher levels of somatic anger than did men. White women showed significant positive correlations between STAS-T and systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) both at rest in the laboratory and during the SI. Black women revealed significant positive relationships between STAS-T and SBP and DBP at rest in the laboratory and at work as well as with DBP during the cold pressor test. For Black men, cognitive anger and DBP at rest were positively related. In contrast, White men revealed significant negative correlations between Ho scores and SBP at rest and during the video game; these men also showed significant negative relationships between somatic anger and SBP and DBP reactivity during the cold pressor test. Women, but not men, showed significant positive relationships between all four anger measures and ambulatory BP at work. Whereas main effects relating anger and cardiovascular measures were not apparent as a function of race, Blacks demonstrated significantly greater SBP and DBP reactivity than Whites during the cold pressor test, with the converse occurring during the SI. Men demonstrated significantly greater DBP reactivity than women during the video game. The present findings indicate that self-reports on anger/hostility measures and cardiovascular responses to behavioral tasks differ as a function of race but that relationships between anger and BP regulation need to take into account possible race-sex interactions and selection of anger/hostility measures.     

Self-Efficacy,Emotions and Work Engagement Among Teachers: A Two Wave Cross-Lagged Analysis

The aim of this study was to examine the reciprocal relations between teachers’ work engagement and their emotions, both positive and negative, and experienced in relation to their students, by implementing a two-wave panel design. The predictive role of self-efficacy with respect to teachers’ emotions and work engagement was also explored. The study included a sample of 941 teachers from various state schools in Croatia. A cross-lagged analysis demonstrated the reciprocal nature of the relationship between emotions and work engagement. Teachers who reported higher levels of positive emotions of joy, pride and love at first time point, tended to be more engaged in their work at subsequent assessment. The association between negative emotions and work engagement showed the opposite direction—teachers who experienced more anger, fatigue, and hopelessness in the first measurement point, were also less engaged at second time of assessment. Furthermore, teachers who were more engaged in their work in the first time point, also reported about lower levels of negative emotions but higher levels of positive emotions 6 months later. At last, teachers with higher perceived self-efficacy are more engaged in their work, experience more joy, pride and love, and less anger, fatigue and hopelessness, towards their students. However, these effects did not hold upon control of baseline levels of emotions and work engagement.     

Concurrent and Longitudinal Links Between Children’s Externalizing Behavior in School and Observed Anger Regulation in the Mother–Child Dyad

Two studies examined relations between children’s anger regulation and externalizing behavior utilizing community samples. The first study included 58 children from preschool through second grade and examined concurrent associations between regulation and externalizing behavior. The second study included 40 preschool and kindergarten children and examined regulation and externalizing behavior 2 years later. In both studies, anger reactivity and regulation strategies were assessed during home visits using the same observational task. In study 1, teachers completed a problem behavior checklist shortly after the home visit. In study 2, teachers completed a problem behavior checklist 2 years later. Results indicate that the dysregulation of anger is associated with externalizing problems concurrently and two years later. Findings also suggest that attention refocusing may be a successful strategy for reducing anger and externalizing problems among highly reactive children.     

In matters of opinion, what matters is the group: Minority group members’ emotional reactions to messages about identity expression

Two studies investigated the reactions of minority group members to messages about identity expression by ingroup and outgroup sources. Our main hypothesis was that compared to ingroup sources, outgroup sources arouse more anger when they argue for identity suppression. In the first study homosexuals evaluated an outgroup source arguing for identity suppression more negatively than an ingroup source, felt more threatened by this source and as a result, experienced stronger feelings of anger towards this source. The second study among members of a language-based minority replicated and extended these findings. Furthermore we showed that the anger that is experienced towards an outgroup source causes a willingness to change the opinion of this source. When ingroup or outgroup sources supported identity expression, evaluations and experience of anger did not differ in both studies. The importance of a source’s group membership in reactions to opinions about one’s group is discussed.     

Relationship of racial stressors to blood pressure responses and anger expression in black college students

The physiological effects of racism, as a stressor, were examined as they related to blood pressure (BP) and anger experiences in Black college students. Current research has failed to consider the stressful effects of racism as a factor contributing to the higher incidence of essential hypertension among Blacks. Twenty-seven Black college students viewed three excerpts showing racist situations involving Blacks; anger-provoking, nonracist situations; and neutral situations. After each scene, BP was taken, and a mood checklist was administered. The Framingham Anger Scale and the Anger Expression Scale were administered. Analyses revealed that BP significantly increased during the presentation of racist stimuli but not of anger-provoking or neutral stimuli. Self-reports of state anger, as measured by the mood checklist, were significant for both the anger-provoking and racist stimuli. BP scores were significantly correlated to the two trait anger measures. Exposure to racist stimuli was associated with BP increases among Blacks. Such cumulative exposure to racism may have important implications for the etiology of essential hypertension.     

Patterns of social desirability and anger in young men with a parental history of hypertension: association with cardiovascular activity.

We identified, via cluster analysis, subgroups of young men with a parental history of hypertension (PH+) who differed in their profiles of need for approval, covert experience of anger, and extent to which they express anger when provoked. The PH+ subgroup with high need for approval and low anger acknowledgment scored higher on denial but lower on measures of angry temperament and overt display of anger than did the PH+ subgroup with low need for approval and high anger acknowledgment or men without a parental history of hypertension (PH-). Moreover, the PH+ subgroup with high need for approval and low anger acknowledgment manifested significantly higher stressor-induced blood pressure (BP) responsivity than did the other two groups. Possible relations between parental history status, need for approval, anger, BP reactivity, and essential hypertension are discussed.     

Beyond negotiated outcomes: The hidden costs of anger expression in dyadic negotiation

This paper focuses on the hidden costs of expressing anger in negotiations. Two experimental studies show that an opponent’s expression of anger can elicit both concessionary and retaliatory responses by focal negotiators. In the first study, equal-power negotiators exhibited overt concessionary behaviors when their opponents expressed anger, but also sabotaged their opponents covertly. Feelings of mistreatment mediated the relationship between opponents’ anger expression and focal negotiators’ covert retaliation. In the second study, low-power negotiators made larger concessions when high-power opponents expressed anger, but they retaliated covertly against high-power negotiators. High-power negotiators were overtly demanding (and not concessionary) regardless of whether or not the opponent expressed anger, but also retaliated covertly against low-power opponents who expressed anger. The two studies suggest that the value-claiming advantages of expressed anger need to be weighed against the costs of eliciting (covert) retaliation. We discuss implications of the findings and provide recommendations for future research.     

Anger and Anger’s Expression Generally and in Romantic Relationships

This research explored whether anger and anger expression differed when experienced generally versus in the context of a romantic relationship. Undergraduates completed trait anger and anger expression measures as they applied to their experiences generally and again as they applied to their romantic, partnered relationships. Students reported more anger and anger suppression generally than in relationships, but women reported more anger in relationships than men. Women reported more anger-out forms of anger expression in relationships than in general, whereas men did not differ in their anger expression style as a function of context. Men reported more overall anger-control in both contexts than women. Effect sizes for context and gender × context interactions were small to moderate. Parallel measures generally and in relationships were highly correlated. Findings are consistent with research demonstrating that context, and specifically the context of an intimate partnered relationship, influences anger and anger expression, but also suggest a large person factor as well. Implications for future research and work with couples in therapy are given.     

Constructive anger verbal behavior predicts blood pressure in a population-based sample.

The creation of an observational Constructive Anger Behavior-Verbal Style Scale (CAB-V) and its relation to resting blood pressure (BP) in an age- and sex-stratified, population-based sample is examined. Participants (N = 1,862) provided hypertension risk factor information, had resting BP assessed multiple times, and completed a videotaped interview, which was later coded for CAB-V and Hostile Style. High CAB-V scores remained a significant predictor of lower resting BP when controlling for the effects of standard hypertension risk factors (age, sex, body mass index, physical activity, alcohol use, smoking status, parental myocardial infarction history, education, and diabetic status) and psychosocial measures (anxiety, depression, hostility, social support, and Hostile Style). This relation also remained when excluding known hypertensive persons. Results suggest that constructive anger expression may have an independent beneficial association with resting BP.     

Sparking Anger and Anxiety: Why Intense Leader Anger Displays Trigger Both More Deviance and Higher Work Effort in Followers

While previous research has assumed that intense leader anger displays result in negative consequences, researchers have recently started to outline their potential for prompting followers to improve their performance. We explain these conflicting positions by demonstrating that leaders’ anger intensity positively affects both deviance and work effort through triggering anger and anxiety in followers. We conducted two critical incident studies, replicating our results with different methodologies and controlling for potential alternative explanations. In line with theories on reciprocal emotions, supervisor-directed deviance became more likely with higher leader anger intensity because followers reacted with correspondingly more anger. However, in line with theories on complementary emotions, leaders’ anger intensity was also positively related to followers’ work effort due to followers’ anxiety. These results were replicated when taking leaders’ anger appropriateness into account as a potential moderator of the deviance-related path and when controlling for followers’ feelings of guilt (an alternative explanation for followers’ work effort). Our paper provides evidence that intense anger displays increase followers’ work effort but also cautions leaders to show these, as the work effort caused by them is based on followers’ intimidation and likely to be accompanied by deviant reactions. By considering the affective reactions triggered in followers, our paper integrates diverging theoretical perspectives on followers’ reactions to leaders’ anger intensity. Moreover, it is one of the first to disentangle the interpersonal effects that different expressions of the same emotion may have.     

Developmental history of care and control,depression and anger: Correlates of maternal sensitivity in toddlerhood

This study examined maternal sensitivity in response to toddler distress in relation to mothers' childhood care and control experiences with parents, maternal depression, and maternal anger. Fifty‐two mothers and infants participated. Mothers reported childhood care and control experiences prenatally. At 2½ years, mothers reported depressive symptoms and anger on questionnaires, and reported maternal behavior in a daily diary for 1 week, yielding ratings of maternal sensitivity to fear and anger. Results were as follows: (a) Mothers' acceptance during childhood correlated negatively with both maternal depression and maternal anger, and positively with maternal sensitivity to fear at 2½ years; (b) maternal anger mediated the association between childhood care and maternal sensitivity to fear at 2½ years; and (c) the interaction of maternal and paternal control during childhood predicted maternal sensitivity to anger at 2½ years, controlling for maternal education. When maternal control was low, paternal control was positively associated with maternal sensitivity to anger whereas when maternal control was high, paternal control was negatively associated with maternal sensitivity to anger. Results are discussed in relation to prior studies, with particular emphasis on attachment theory. Implications for preventive intervention efforts are considered.     

Cognitive,affective and social mechanisms in depression risk: Cognition,hostility, and coping style

Although some research has assessed cognitive variables in individuals at risk for depression, few studies have specifically assessed the role of automatic thinking, and virtually no studies have assessed anger and coping in this group. The current study compared measures of these variables in a high-risk group that was defined on the basis of a previous episode of depression, and a control group comprised of low-risk/never depressed individuals. Even though neither group evidenced depressive symptoms at the time of assessment, group comparisons and regression analyses indicated that high-risk individuals reported more negative automatic thoughts than did low-risk participants and that social support seeking, self-blame, and avoidance emerged as coping predictors of risk as did higher levels of anger and hostility. These data thus suggest patterns of interpersonal, behavioural, and cognitive variables that may characterise depression risk.     

Work and home boundary violations during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of segmentation preferences and unfinished tasks

During the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented number of employees faced the challenges of telework. However, the current literature has a limited understanding of the implications of employees' obligated home-based telework and their satisfaction with the work and home domains. We use boundary theory to examine work and home boundary violations in relation to satisfaction with domain investment in two daily diary studies, examining both domain-specific and cross-domain effects. In addition, we examine the moderating role of segmentation preferences in both studies and investigate the mediating role of work- and home-related unfinished tasks in Study 2. Both studies provide empirical evidence of the domain-specific relationship between boundary violations and domain satisfaction and provide limited support for cross-domain effects. Neither study finds support for the notion that segmentation preferences moderate the relationship between boundary violations and domain satisfaction. Finally, the results of Study 2 highlight the importance of unfinished tasks in the relationship between boundary violations and domain satisfaction. Specifically, work and home boundary violations relate to an increase in unfinished tasks in both domains. Finally, the indirect effects suggest that home-related unfinished tasks may be detrimental to satisfaction in both domains, while work-related unfinished tasks may be detrimental for work-related, but not home-related, satisfaction.     

人际愤怒的利与弊：来自元分析的证据

愤怒是因愿望落空、目标受挫或边界被犯而产生的负性情绪, 指向他人的愤怒即为人际愤怒。人际愤怒对接收者的影响有争议, 有人认为人际愤怒弊端极大, 有人认为人际愤怒是可资利用的工具。这种分歧可能源于评价指标、参照对象和应用场景的不同, 有必要用元分析系统考察人际愤怒的利与弊。本研究对67篇文献, 总样本量为15462人的185个效应值进行了分析, 结果发现：人际愤怒会让接收者让步更多、亲社会行为减少、问题解决行为提升, 同时情境不公平感增加, 对愤怒表达者的态度和能力评价均降低, 这些效应受接收者文化背景和相对权力大小的调节。这提示人际愤怒利弊相依, 能改变愤怒接收者的某些行为, 却增加对表达者的消极评价, 应视情景谨慎使用。     

Interpersonal reactions toward depression and anger

Two studies examined the effect of interpersonal attitude on reactions toward others' expression of anger or depression, Participants read a story in which their schoolmate experienced a negative event and expressed anger or depression, and reported their perceptions, affective reactions, and behavioural intentions such as support or rejection. The results indicated that an expression of anger elicited more negative reactions than an expression of depression only when a person whom participants disliked expressed the emotion. Furthermore, structural equation modelling indicated that the effect of interpersonal attitude on sympathy, blame, and support intention was mediated by the perception of the distressfulness of the event. The discussion considered the processes through which the expression of negative emotions evokes positive or negative interpersonal reactions.     

Cardiovascular health in women: the role of anger and its expression

The relationships between anger expression (in, out, and control) and cardiovascular health (emotional distress, cardiovascular symptoms reported, and preventive health behaviors) were analyzed in 327 women (range 17-60 years). The same criteria (N= 218), as well as blood pressure (BP) registered in medical checkups (N= 90) were recorded one year later. Four groups according to anger-in and anger-control scores, going from the most hostile (high anger-in and low anger-control) to the least hostile (low anger-in and high anger-control) were considered. The results indicated that the most hostile group, with the least adaptive anger expression, presented worst cardiovascular health than the other three groups, at both temporal moments. Furthermore, the presence of women with pathological BP levels was higher in the groups of high anger-in. These data ratify the role of anger expression, especially its repression (anger-in) and the lack of adequate canalization or control in women's cardiovascular health from a prospective design. Appropriate management of anger feelings and the practice of preventive health behaviors can protect women from cardiovascular problems.     

Humiliated fury is not universal: the co-occurrence of anger and shame in the United States and Japan

It has been widely believed that individuals transform high-intensity shame into anger because shame is unbearably painful. This phenomenon was first coined “humiliated fury,” and it has since received empirical support. The current research tests the novel hypothesis that shame-related anger is not universal, yet hinges on the cultural meanings of anger and shame. Two studies compared the occurrence of shame-related anger in North American cultural contexts (where shame is devalued and anger is valued) to its occurrence in Japanese contexts (where shame is valued and anger is devalued). In a daily-diary study, participants rated anger and shame feelings during shame situations that occurred over one week. In a vignette study, participants rated anger and shame in response to standardised shame vignettes that were generated in previous research by either U.S. or Japanese respondents. Across the two studies, and in line with previous research on humiliated fury, shame predicted anger for U.S. participants. Yet, neither in the daily diary study nor for the Japanese-origin vignettes, did we find shame-related anger in Japanese participants. Only when presented with U.S.-origin vignettes, did Japanese respondents in the vignette study report shame-related anger. The findings suggest that shame-related anger is a culture-specific phenomenon.