A study of human anger: questionnaire development, distribution, and validity analysis

Scaling Study on Human Anger

Research on anger has shown that people who tend to ruminate about past experiences that made them angry, focus attention on their angry moods, and think about the consequences and causes of episodes of anger they have experienced exhibit higher levels of the expression of anger and negative affectivity. Also, the perceptions of these individuals with regard to their social desirability and their satisfaction with life show strong correlations with anger rumination as measured by the Anger Rumination Scale (Sukhodolsky, et al., 2001). The development of the survey discussed in this brief paper included consideration of the perceptions that people have about their anger and angry episodes. An aspect of this type of perception is awareness -- in as much as an individual can be said to be self-aware during an angry outburst -- of signs of increasing irritability and precursor signs of impending anger.

The survey was also developed against the background of individual's experiences of post-outburst regret or remorse -- or simply a propensity to replay the situation that was a catalyst for the angry episode. Research on aggression in sports indicates that provocation and anger rumination are significant predictors of subsequent aggression, and that athletes who participate in team sports report higher levels of aggression than athletes who participate in individual sports (Maxwell, 2004).

The ability to regulate one's negative emotions and the capacity for general self-control have a moderating influence on the trait negative affect and life satisfaction (Lightse, 2011). Lightse, et al. (2011) found that individuals who exhibited low levels of self-efficacy, negative effect was shown to be strongly and inversely related to life satisfaction. In light of these findings, questions designed to measure the respondents' level of satisfaction with life and their sense of locus of control were used to lead the survey, the notion being that such questions might act as triggers to memories associated with past episodes of anger.

Survey Results

Figure 1. Reported Level of Satisfaction with Life

Figure 2. Expressed Belief in Forces Impacting Life Success

Figure 3. Percent of Respondents Reporting Anger Issues on Survey Questions 3-10

Data Analysis

Validity

The survey was given to ten people in a convenience sampling format. No demographic information was collected from survey participants, nor were participants encouraged to expand their answers to the survey questions. Further, survey participants who asked for clarification on the wording or meaning of the questions were not provided with explanations, but were asked to respond to the best of their ability according to their understanding of the question at that moment in time.

Reliabilty

Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper in which you describe your results from this short study

Appendix I -- Survey Instrument

1. Which of these statements comes closest to your own beliefs, even if neither is exactly right?

Success in life is pretty much determined by forces outside of our control.

Everyone has it in their own power to succeed.