Anger, Emotional Expressivity and Psychological Well-Being in Sports Players

The objective of the present study is to observe whether there is a difference between boys and girls engaged in Instrumental Aggression Sports and those engaged in Hostile Aggression Sports with respect to anger, emotional expressivity and psychological well-being and to observe whether there is a relationship between these variables. A non-probability purposive sampling method was used to select a sample of 160 sports players, among whom 80 (40 boys and 40 girls) were engaged in instrumental aggression sports and 80 (40 boys and 40 girls) were engaged in hostile aggression sports. The Multidimensional Anger Inventory (Siegel, 1986), Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire (Gross, & John, 1998) and Psychological Well Being Scale (Ryff& Keyes, 1995) were administered to the participants. The results showed significant gender differences with respect to the dimension of anger arousal (p<0.05). However, no significant differences were found between the sport players engaged in instrumental aggression and those engaged in hostile aggression with respect to anger, emotional expressivity, and psychological well-being. The results also reveal that anger was positively correlated with emotional expressivity and negatively correlated with psychological well-being in both the groups (p<0.05). Additionally, emotional expressivity was negatively correlated with psychological well-being in sports players engaged in instrumental aggression sports and hostile aggression sports (p<0.05). The present study brings to light the toxic effects of anger and how we can learn to process emotions to augment effective functioning and psychological well-being.

Trait Anger Symptoms and Emotion Regulation: The Effectiveness of Reappraisal, Acceptance and Suppression Strategies in Regulating Anger

Objective: The aim of the current study was to compare the effects of instructed cognitive reappraisal, acceptance and emotional suppression on state anger after provocation among individuals with high trait anger. The moderating effects of trait emotion regulation (ER) styles were also examined. Method: Adults (N = 102) with elevated levels of trait anger were randomised to one of three ER conditions. Participants in both the reappraisal and emotional suppression conditions reported a decline in state anger and systolic blood pressure (SBP) post-anger provocation, whereas participants in the acceptance group did not experience a substantial decline in state anger or SBP post-anger provocation. Trait suppression was further found to enhance the effects of instructed suppression, while trait tolerance augmented the effects of instructed reappraisal. Conclusions: Support was found for the use of reappraisal and emotional suppression as adaptive strategies to cope with anger arousal in the short term after provocation.

It's a Mad, Mad World: Using Emotion Inductions in a Survey

Recent research has uncovered a dynamic role for emotion in political decision-making. Anger in particular has increased in importance as scholars uncover its role in motivating participation and partisanship. One method for examining these effects is to use an induction to invoke an emotion, though such techniques are often limited to the laboratory. We discuss pertinent psychological research on induction, test several methods, and make practical recommendations for political science survey research. Using a unique research design which varies the way anger is invoked, we first find significant effects using a scenario induction. We replicate these findings with an adult sample and extend the results to political inductions. We are able to offer practical advice to scholars interested in replicating the effects of angry campaign ads or better understanding the effects of anger arousal on political behavior.

The Impact of Masculinity on Anger Arousal in Ambiguous Situations

This study aimed to investigate the influence of sex and gender role identity on anger experience at varying levels of provocation in a sample of 585 Australian students. Participants viewed videotaped vignettes of a potentially anger-triggering event where the intent of another person was either ambiguous or unambiguous. Measures of self-predicted anger, trait anger, and gender role identity were then completed. Results supported the hypothesis that it is gender role identity rather than sex that is more closely related to angry emotion. There was, however, no support for the hypothesis that anger arousal would be greater in circumstances in which the intention behind a provoking event is ambiguous when the respondent identifies with a masculine gender role. The implications of these findings for the development of anger management programs are discussed.