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.     

Powerless people don't yell but tell: The effects of social power on direct and indirect expression of anger

Expressing anger can engender desired change, but it can also backfire. In the present research we examined how power shapes the expression of anger. In Study 1, we found that powerless individuals were less inclined to express their anger directly but more inclined to express it indirectly by sharing it with others. Powerless participants’ reluctance to express anger directly was mediated by negative social appraisals. In Study 2, we replicated the effect of power on direct anger expression in a situation in which participants had actual power (or not). Anger was evoked in the laboratory using an ecologically valid procedure, and participants were given an opportunity to express anger. Study 3 showed that powerless participants expected direct anger expression to arouse more anger than fear in the target, whereas the opposite was true for indirect anger expression. Powerful participants always expected to elicit more fear than anger in the target.     

Anger, Spiritual Meaning and Support from the Religious Community in Dementia Caregiving

This study explores the relationships between spiritual meaning and social support from the religious community and problem behaviors, anger and depression in 128 dementia caregivers. The results suggest a mediating role of anger in the relationship between the appraisal of problem behaviors and depression. Support from the religious community is directly and negatively associated with anger, but the relationship between spiritual meaning and anger is mediated by caregivers’ appraisals of problem behaviors, suggesting that spiritual beliefs might help caregivers to find meaning in caregiving experiences and thus appraise care recipients’ behavioral problems as less stressful.     

Anger and social appraisal: a "spicy" sex difference?

The central objective of this study was to investigate the role of social appraisal in sex differences in anger expression. Anger expression was inferred from the amount of hot sauce given to the person who induced anger. Participants were randomly assigned to a social condition, in which they expected to meet this person, or to a nonsocial condition, in which they had no such expectation. Men and women differed in their anger expressions, despite the fact that they did not differ in anger experience. Women expressed anger to a lesser extent than men, but only in the social condition. Social appraisal partly mediated the relation between sex and anger expression. The role of social appraisal in emotion and appraisal theory is discussed.     

Leaving Room for Complexity in Attempts to Understand Associations between Romantic Relationships and Health: Commentary on Wanic and Kulik

Wanic and Kulik (2011) discuss research addressing links between romantic relationships and health, with a focus on gender differences in response to relationship conflict among couples residing in the U.S. Their subordination-reactivity hypothesis proposes that women??s subordinate role in relationships renders them more vulnerable to relationship conflict and less likely to reap the health benefits of relationships than men. They contrast their hypothesis with the interpersonal orientation hypothesis and provide convincing evidence for further examination of the importance of status in relationships. We add to their commentary by noting the potential importance of considering research examining men??s vulnerability when faced with relationship dissolution, personality traits (e.g., dominance) in addition to social roles within relationships, and by describing preliminary research addressing gay and lesbian partnerships. We conclude by imploring researchers to remain tolerant of ambiguity in this area of research as new findings continue to reveal the significant but complex associations between romantic relationship experiences and health for both men and women.     

Feminist and Nonsexist Counseling: Implications for the Male Counselor

Over the past 30 years much has been written about feminism, but the literature needs to point out morestrongly the critical role of counselors, particularly male counselors, in facilitating social change toward a more egalitarian view of the world. This article discusses, from a feminist perspective, issues of anger, power, autonomy, and gender role stereotyping and their importance for women in counseling relationships. Recommendations for training counselors in feminist or nonsexist therapy are also reviewed.     

Unemployment and self-conception: A symbolic interactionist analysis

A symbolic interactionist analysis of the relationship between unemployment and self-conception was tested using a cross-sectional questionnaire design (n = 88). Job loss had significant negative associations with reflected appraisals (perceived evaluations) from friends, family, employers, unemployed people and people in general. Significant relationships between reflected appraisals and the evaluative, consistency and involvement dimensions of self-concept were also observed. Consistent with symbolic interactionist theory, path analysis showed that reflected appraisals mediated the relationship between employment status and self-conception. Unemployment duration and gender both moderated the effects of reflected appraisal upon self-conception such that reflected appraisals were associated with different self-concept dimensions for unemployed men versus unemployed women and ‘shorter’ versus ‘longer-term’ unemployed people. Results are discussed in the context of recent developments in the social psychology of the self-concept. Suggestions for future research are outlined.     

The Division of Labor Among Egalitarian and Traditional Women: Differences in Discontent, Social Comparison, and False Consensus

We compared 118 egalitarian women (subscribers to the Dutch feminist magazine Opzij ) with 118 traditional women (subscribers to the widely read Dutch women's magazine Margriet ). On average, egalitarian women had a more equal division of household labor at home than did traditional women but experienced more discontent about the division of labor in their relationship. Egalitarian women with an unequal division of labor experienced more discontent than did traditional women with an unequal division of labor. Relative to traditional women, egalitarian women more often compared their own contribution to housework with their partner's contribution (relational comparison) and with other women's division of labor (referential comparison). Compared to traditional women, egalitarian women gave higher prevalence estimates of both the percentage of Dutch women doing virtually all housework and the percentage of women unhappy with the division of labor.     

THE GENDER STEREOTYPING OF EMOTIONS

Three studies documented the gender stereotypes of emotions and the relationship between gender stereotypes and the interpretation of emotionally expressive behavior. Participants believed women experienced and expressed the majority of the 19 emotions studied (e.g., sadness, fear, sympathy) more often than men. Exceptions included anger and pride, which were thought to be experienced and expressed more often by men. In Study 2, participants interpreted photographs of adults'ambiguous anger/sadness facial expressions in a stereotype-consistent manner, such that women were rated as sadder and less angry than men. Even unambiguous anger poses by women were rated as a mixture of anger and sadness. Study 3 revealed that when expectant parents interpreted an infant's ambiguous anger/sadness expression presented on videotape only high-stereotyped men interpreted the expression in a stereotype-consistent manner. Discussion focuses on the role of gender stereotypes in adults'interpretations of emotional expressions and the implications for social relations and the socialization of emotion.     

The meaning of tears: Which sex seems emotional depends on the social context

The media coverage sometimes given to crying women points to the importance of understanding whether gender affects interpretations of crying. This article reports two studies that examined whether observers infer different emotions or dispositions from crying men and women. Study 1 showed that, in the absence of information about the social context of crying, participants inferred gender‐stereotypical traits and emotions. Study 2's manipulation of the social context of crying (relationship versus employment) affected participants' interpretations of crying by men and women. In employment contexts, participants perceived crying men as more emotional and sad than crying women as well as less competent. The emotionality inferences mediated the judgments of differing male and female competence. In relationship contexts, interpretations of crying women and men did not differ. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personality Influences in Appraisal–Emotion Relationships: The Role of Neuroticism

ABSTRACT Although appraisal theorists have pointed out that appraisal–emotion relationships should vary as a function of personality traits, evidence demonstrating this is limited and inconsistent. To examine this issue, Ecological Momentary Assessment was employed in which undergraduates indicated their negative emotions and appraisals at regular intervals for 2 days in natural contexts. The results revealed that individuals higher in Neuroticism showed more negative appraisal styles than those lower in Neuroticism. More important, higher Neuroticism was associated with stronger appraisal–emotion relationships of 4 negative emotions (anger, sadness, fear, and guilt). These findings imply that Neuroticism affects not only how people appraise their environments but also the reactivity of their negative emotions to appraisals.     

The Best Is Yet to Come? Attitudes Toward Gender Roles Among Adolescents in 36 Countries

In the present article, we look at attitudes toward gender roles among young women and men in 36 countries with different levels of societal gender inequality. By applying multilevel models to data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2009, the study contributes to our understanding of gender inequality by showing that (a) both young women and young men (in 8th grade; M_age = 14.39 years) display more gender-egalitarian attitudes in countries with higher levels of societal gender equality; (b) young women in all countries have more egalitarian attitudes toward gender roles than young men do, but (c) the gender gap in attitudes is more evident in more egalitarian contexts; and (d) a higher level of maternal education is associated with more gender-egalitarian attitudes among young women. In contrast, no statistically significant association emerges between maternal employment and young men’s attitudes. Overall, the findings suggest that adolescents in different contexts are influenced by the dominant societal discourse on gender inequality, which they interiorize and display through their own attitudes toward gender roles. However, the findings also indicate that young women are more responsive to external cues than young men are. This result, coupled with the fact that young men in egalitarian contexts have not adopted gender-egalitarian attitudes to the same extent as young women, is concerning because it suggests a slowdown in the achievement of societal gender equality that is still far from being reached.     

Embracing Complexity and Seeking Simplicity in Interpersonal Relationships: A Defense of the Subordination-Reactivity Hypothesis

In the target article (Wanic and Kulik 2011), we proposed in the subordination-reactivity hypothesis that women??s (typically) subordinate role in marital relationships renders them physiologically more vulnerable to martial conflict, which may explain partly the finding that marriage generally benefits the health of men more than women. In that article, we noted that our hypothesis should be considered in conjunction with other ??non-mutually exclusive?? relationship processes that also may contribute to the greater health benefit of marriage for men. The accompanying commentaries take issue with our article on the grounds that a) interpersonal relationships and health are multidimensional and complex; b) our subordination-reactivity hypothesis diverges from existing interpersonal theory and research; and c) it is ??almost always?? unwise to ??pit?? one explanation or theory against another. In this response we argue a) the indisputable point regarding the complexity of interpersonal relationships and health does not challenge the validity of our hypothesis; b) our hypothesis, as stated, is not logically inconsistent with the prior interpersonal theory and research cited, and c) there is considerable value to pitting explanations against each other when possible, and arguments to avoid doing so are at odds with fundamental scientific practices.     

DEPRESSION IN WOMEN AS RELATED TO ANGER AND MUTUALITY IN RELATIONSHIPS

Self-in-relation theory (Jordan, Kaplan, Miller, Stiver, & Surrey, 1991) proposes that a lack of mutuality in women's relationships predisposes them to depression and inhibits their ability to acknowledge and address effectively emotions such as anger. Research linking anger to depression has not examined women's emotional expressivity within the context of their partner relationships. Women's depression as a function of both their level of anger suppression or inappropriate anger expression and the level of perceived relationship mutuality was studied in a sample of 223 college women, aged 18 to 54. Lower levels of mutuality and higher levels of suppressed or inappropriately expressed anger were associated with depression. Moreover, mutuality made contributions to predicting depression beyond that explained by anger. Lower mutuality was also related to higher anger suppression, but unrelated to inappropriately expressed anger.     

Daring to Be Darling: Attractiveness of Risk Takers as Partners in Long- and Short-Term Sexual Relationships

In an attempt to explain gender differences in risk taking from an evolutionary perspective, this study examined the attractiveness of risk taking in potential mates. Questionnaire data from a sample of 352 primarily undergraduate students at Liverpool University, U.K., provided participants?? ratings of physical, social and financial risk-taking and risk-avoiding profiles in terms of attractiveness for long- and short-term relationships. As well as showing a considerable variation in the ratings of different types of risk, we found that the relationship type affected male and female preferences in a similar fashion. Both genders rated risk avoiders as more attractive than risk takers in the context of long-term relationships. In contrast, for short-term relationships men and women preferred risk takers over risk avoiders.     

Distressing Relationships,Anger, and Stress Amplification in a Sample of Young Adult African Americans

This study examined the impact of relationship distress in a sample of 637 African American young adults from the Family and Community Health Study. Using data from privately collected, in-depth interviews, we assessed how distress in nonmarital romantic partnerships and best friendships influence anger. While social support researchers have examined the stress buffering influence of supportive relationships, we utilized the principle of negative potency to test the stress amplification effect of relationship distress through an assessment of stressful life events and racial discrimination. Our analysis showed that distress in relationships was associated with anger, while the presence of these relationships was not. Support for the stress amplification hypothesis was found as men and women who experience intense racial discrimination coupled with a more hostile best friend had elevated levels of anger. Gender differences were also evident and discussed.     

Social Dominance Orientation Relates to Believing Men Should Dominate Sexually, Sexual Self-Efficacy, and Taking Free Female Condoms Among Undergraduate Women and Men

Gendered-based power affects heterosexual relationships, with beliefs in the U.S. prescribing that men dominate women sexually. We draw on social dominance theory to examine whether women??s and men??s level of support for group-based hierarchy (i.e., social dominance orientation; SDO) helps explain gender-based power beliefs and dynamics in heterosexual relationships. We conducted a laboratory study at a Northeastern U.S. university among 357 women and 126 men undergraduates who reported being heterosexual and sexually active, testing three sets of hypotheses. First, as hypothesized, women endorsed SDO and the belief that men should dominate sexually less than men did. Second, as hypothesized, among women and men, SDO was positively correlated with the belief that men should dominate sexually, and negatively correlated with sexual self-efficacy (confidence in sexual situations) and number of female condoms (a woman-controlled source of protection) taken. Third, structural equation modeling, controlling for age, family income, number of sexual partners in the past month, and perceived HIV/AIDS risk, supported the hypothesis that among women and men, the belief that men should dominate sexually mediates SDO??s association with sexual self-efficacy. The hypothesis that the belief that men should dominate sexually mediates SDO??s association with number of female condoms taken was supported for women only. The hypothesis that sexual self-efficacy mediates SDO??s association with number of female condoms taken was not supported. Results suggest SDO influences power beliefs and dynamics in heterosexual relationships. Although female condoms are an important woman-controlled source of protection, power-related beliefs may pose a challenge to their use.     

Can a manager have a life and a career? International and multisource perspectives on work-life balance and career advancement potential

The present study was the first cross-national examination of whether managers who were perceived to be high in work-life balance were expected to be more or less likely to advance in their careers than were less balanced, more work-focused managers. Using self ratings, peer ratings, and supervisor ratings of 9,627 managers in 33 countries, the authors examined within-source and multisource relationships with multilevel analyses. The authors generally found that managers who were rated higher in work-life balance were rated higher in career advancement potential than were managers who were rated lower in work-life balance. However, national gender egalitarianism, measured with Project GLOBE scores, moderated relationships based on supervisor and self ratings, with stronger positive relationships in low egalitarian cultures. The authors also found 3-way interactions of work-life balance ratings, ratee gender, and gender egalitarianism in multisource analyses in which self balance ratings predicted supervisor and peer ratings of advancement potential. Work-life balance ratings were positively related to advancement potential ratings for women in high egalitarian cultures and men in low gender egalitarian cultures, but relationships were nonsignificant for men in high egalitarian cultures and women in low egalitarian cultures.     

愤怒有度:领导表达愤怒情绪对领导绩效的影响

领导表达愤怒情绪一定不好吗?最近研究发现,领导表达愤怒情绪对领导绩效(任务绩效和关系绩效)存在积极影响与消极影响的不一致结论。文章尝试使用双阈限模型揭示领导的愤怒情绪产生积极影响或消极影响的边界条件。进一步明确领导表达愤怒情绪的阈限是影响领导绩效的关键因素,拓展了双阈限模型对领导愤怒情绪影响其领导绩效的理论解释。