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Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Aggressiveness; Anger; College students--Psychology;

Abstract

The present investigation involved a multidimensional approach to the assessment of anger and aggression. Past research had neglected to use multiple assessment approaches to assess the degree of anger and aggression experience. The present study evaluated cognitive, behavioral, and physiological measures of anger and aggression. This study examined the subjects' thought processes, as well as their actual verbal behavior in role-play situations. The purpose of the present study was to find out what variables were the best predictors of verbal aggression and anger. Based on past research the following hypotheses were proposed: (a) subjects rated high on anger and aggression would be less assertive, (b) all subjects would be more aggressive towards males, (c) angry and aggressive subjects would exhibit a greater increase in arousal level, (d) angered and aggressive subjects would be less aware of their own arousal level, (e) aggressive and angry subjects would think less rationally under stress, (f) highly aggressive subjects would demonstrate a minimal concern for obtaining social approval, (g) highly aggressive subjects would demonstrate a greater number of cognitive errors, (h) subjects would display more aggressive thoughts than actual verbal aggressive behavior, (i) low assertive subjects would endorse more irrational beliefs than high assertives, (j) anger would be the best predictor of aggression, and (k) those subjects who score high on verbal aggression would also score high on physical aggression. Subjects were 50 (25 males and 25 females) introductory psychology students. All subjects were initially given several self-report measures which assessed overall anger, as well as several anger subscales, social desirability, irrational beliefs, cognitive errors, and assertiveness. All subjects were then assessed on the basis of their performance on ten role-play provocation situations. Each situation was presented via audiotape, and the subjects' verbalized thoughts and responses were rated on assertion and aggression. Heart rate and EMG were also recorded during the responses. Same and opposite sex provokers were counterbalanced across situations. The results were as follows: (a) high anger subjects experienced more assertive discomfort and were less likely to respond assertively; (b) subjects were slightly more aggressive towards male provokers than female provokers; (c) subjects high in anger and aggression did not experience an increase in arousal; (d) angry and aggressive subjects were more aware of their own arousal level instead of less aware; (e) verbal aggression was found to be related to irrational beliefs, while cognitive errors were associated with anger; (f) social desirability was found to be negatively correlated with aggression, although the correlation was nonsignificant; (g) cognitive errors were not related to verbal aggression, but irrational beliefs were; (h) aggressive thoughts were not significantly different from actual verbal behavior; (i) assertive discomfort was positively correlated with irrational beliefs and cognitive errors; (j) anger was a good predictor of aggression, however other factors were equally as good or better predictors; and, (k) verbal aggression was significantly correlated with physical aggression.

Year of Submission

1985

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Psychology

First Advisor

Francisco Barrios

Second Advisor

John W. Somervill

Third Advisor

David A. Whitsett

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

1985

Object Description

1 PDF file (183 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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