Habitual Goals and Strategies in Anger Regulation
Psychometric Evaluation of the Anger-Related Reactions and Goals Inventory (ARGI)
Abstract
The article presents two studies done with the Anger-Related Reactions and Goals Inventory (ARGI) combining the assessment of functional and dysfunctional anger-related reactions with the goals that people pursue in regulating interpersonal anger. Study 1 (N = 756) corroborated the questionnaire’s psychometric properties and factorial structure. Correlations with indicators for psychosocial well-being, trait anger, and the Big Five dimensions were largely in line with our predictions. Study 2 documented the convergence between self-reports (N = 104) and reports of two knowledgeable informants (N = 188), in particular for the dysfunctional reactions. We conclude that the ARGI is a reliable and valid questionnaire that taps into facets of anger regulation that are of high relevance for research on the consequences of anger for health and well-being.
References
1982). Anger and aggression. An essay on emotion. New York: Springer.
(2006). Ärger- und Angstbewältigung bei Patienten mit psychischen Störungen [
(Coping with anger and anxiety in patients with psychiatric disorders ]. Unpublished master’s thesis, Universität Greifswald, Germany.2007). The nonconscious regulation of emotion. In , Handbook of emotion regulation (pp. 429–445). New York: Guilford.
(2005). Ärger und Wohlbefinden [
(Anger and well-being ]. Unpublished master’s thesis, Universität Greifswald, Germany.1994). Losing control: How and why people fail at self-regulation. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
(2004). Toward an understanding of the determinants of anger. Emotion, 4, 107–130.
(2005). Domain-specific anger expression and blood pressure in an occupational setting. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 58, 43–49.
(2008). Forgiveness, feeling connected to others, and well-being: Two longitudinal studies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 182–195.
(2007). Hostility, anger, and depression predict increases in C3 over a 10-year period. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 21, 816–823.
(2002). Does venting anger feed extinguish the flame? Catharsis, rumination, distraction, anger, and aggressive responding. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 724–731.
(2005). Chewing on it can chew you up: Effects of rumination on triggered displaced aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 969–983.
(2008). Intent to harm or injure? Gender and the expression of anger. Aggressive Behavior, 34, 282–293.
(2004). Negative affects deriving from the behavioral approach system. Emotion, 4, 3022.
(2009). Anger is an approach-related affect: Evidence and implications. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 138–204.
(2007). Relations between personality and coping: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 1080–1107.
(2000). Constructive anger verbal behavior predicts blood pressure in a population-based sample. Health Psychology, 19, 55–64.
(2005). The experience, expression, and control of anger in perceived social support. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 391–401.
(2006). Evidence for effective treatment of anger-related disorders. In , Anger-related disorders (pp. 43–69). New York: Springer.
(2009). On the real magnitude of psychological sex differences. Evolutionary Psychology, 7, 264–279.
(1997). Recent findings on subjective well-being. Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology, 24, 25–41.
(2004). Anger Disorders Scale: Manual. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Multi-Health Systems.
(1993). Psychometrische Einsamkeitsforschung: Deutsche Neukonstruktion der UCLA Loneliness Scale [
(Psychometric loneliness research: The German version of the UCLA Loneliness Scale ]. Diagnostica, 39, 224–239.1995). Diagnosis of anger disorders. In , Anger disorders: Definition, diagnosis, and treatment (pp. 27–47). Washington, DC: Taylor and Francis.
(1999). Anger in close relationships: An interpersonal script analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 299–312.
(1987). Emotion, cognitive structure and action tendency. Cognition and Emotion, 1, 115–143.
(1995). On the accuracy of personal judgment: A realistic approach. Psychological Review, 102, 652–670.
(1998). Raging Rick to Tranquil Tom: An empirically based multidimensional anger typology for adolescent males. Psychology in the Schools, 35, 229–245.
(2009). What coping tells about personality. European Journal of Personality, 23, 289–306.
(2006). The role of angry rumination and distraction in blood pressure recovery from emotional arousal. Psychosomatic Medicine, 68, 64–72.
(2002). The role of rumination in recovery from reactivity: Cardiovascular consequences of emotional states. Psychosomatic Medicine, 64, 714–726.
(2003). A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 504–528.
(1999). Emotion regulation: Past, present, future. Cognition and Emotion, 13, 551–573.
(2003). Anger and the behavioral approach system. Personality and Individual Differences, 35, 995–1005.
(2007). Trait anger predicts relative left frontal cortical activation to anger-inducing stimuli. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 66, 154–160.
(2001). State anger and prefrontal brain activity: Evidence that insult-related relative left prefrontal activation is associated with experienced anger and aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 797–803.
(1993). ADS – Allgemeine Depressionsskala [
(General Depression Scale. German version of the CES-D ]. Göttingen: Hogrefe.2004). Anger response styles and blood pressure: At least don’t ruminate about it. Annals of Behavior Medicine, 27, 38–49.
(2000). Gender and anger. In A. H. Fischer, Eds., Gender and emotion: Social psychological perspectives (pp. 211–231). Cambridge: University Press.
(1996). Untersuchungen mit einer deutschen Version der “Positive and Negative Affect Schedule” (PANAS) [
(Studies with the German version of the PANAS ]. Diagnostica, 42, 139–157.2004). Every cloud has a silver lining: Interpersonal and individual determinants of anger-related behaviors. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 1550–1564.
(1991). Emotion and adaptation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
(2003). There is more to anger coping than “in” or “out.” Emotion, 3, 12–29.
(2007). Automatic emotion regulation during anger provocation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 698–711.
(1976). The functions and regulation of the arousal of anger. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 1124–1128.
(2003). The Novaco Anger Scale and Provocation Inventory (NAS-PI). Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
(2004). Assessment of anger and aggression in male offenders with developmental disabilities. Psychological Assessment, 16, 42–50.
(1988). The cognitive structure of emotions. Cambridge: University Press.
(2006). Age, anger regulation and well-being. Aging and Mental Health, 10, 250–256.
(2002). The association of coping to physical and psychological health outcomes: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 25, 551–603.
(1977). The CES-D scale: A self report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.
(2008). All in the mind’s eye? Anger rumination and reappraisal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 133–145.
(1980). The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 472–480.
(1998). Regulating responses to anger: Effects of rumination and distraction on angry mood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 790–803.
(2004). Emotions in everyday life: Probability of occurrence, risk factors, appraisal and reaction patterns. Social Science Information, 43, 499–570.
(1992). Das State-Trait-Ärgerausdrucks-Inventar (STAXI) [
(The State Trait Anger Expression Inventory ]. Bern: Huber.1993). Appraisal components, core relational themes, and the emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 7, 233–269.
(1999). State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory 2. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
(2001). The Social Desirability Scale-17 (SDS-17). European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 17, 222–232.
(2003). Self-pity: Exploring the links to personality, control beliefs, and anger. Journal of Personality, 71, 183–220.
(2001). Development and validation of the Anger Rumination Scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 31, 689–700.
(2008). Hedonic and instrumental motives in anger regulation. Psychological Science, 19, 324–328.
(1996). Assessing individual differences in constructive versus destructive responses to anger across the lifespan. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 780–796.
(1998). Gender differences in motives for regulating emotions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 974–985.
(2001). Children’s emotional experience of peer provocation: The relation between observed behavior and self-reports of emotions, expressions, and social goals. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25, 320–330.
(1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.
(2000). General traits of personality and affectivity as predictors of satisfaction in intimate relationships: Evidence from self- and partner-ratings. Journal of Personality, 68, 413–449.
(2004). Explorations in the social construction of anger. Motivation and Emotion, 28, 197–219.
(2003). Ärgerbezogene Reaktionen und Ziele: Entwicklung eines neuen Fragebogens. [
(Anger-related reactions and goals: Development of a new questionnaire ]. Diagnostica, 49, 97–109.2007). Sex differences in anger-related behavior: Comparing expectancies to actual behavior. Cognition and Emotion, 21, 1669–1698.
(2004). Social anxiety and anger regulation. European Journal of Personality, 18, 573–590.
(1998). WHO-5 well-being questionnaire. Retrieved from www.who-5.org
. (