Development, refinement, and psychometric properties of the Attitudes Toward God Scale (ATGS-9).

Perceived relationships with God can be a source of comfort or struggle. To advance the study of spiritual comfort and struggle, we develop the nine-item Attitudes toward God Scale (ATGS-9), and we describe six studies (2,992 total participants) reporting its development and psychometrics. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identified two factors: (1) Positive Attitudes toward God and (2) Disappointment and Anger with God. Subscale scores showed good estimated internal consistency, 2-week temporal stability, and evidence for construct and discriminant validity. Positive Attitudes toward God correlated with measures of religiosity and conscientiousness. Disappointment and Anger with God correlated with negative religious coping, lower religious participation, more distress, higher neuroticism, and entitlement. These results support the ATGS-9 as a brief measure of attitudes toward God. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consistency, specificity, and correlates of negative emotions.

Four studies with college student participants examined the consistency, specificity, and correlates of sadness, fear, and anger. Study 1 measured emotions with daily diaries, and Study 2 examined the relationship between trait emotions and state emotions. Studies 1 and 2 indicated that specific negative emotions are temporally stable, are positively correlated, and provide information above and beyond that provided by other negative emotions. Study 3 found that negative emotions are differentially associated with different facets of cognitive style, as measured by questionnaires that examined dysfunctional attitudes and attributions concerning negative events. Study 4 indicated that negative emotions are differentially associated with different facets of response style, as measured by the degree to which individuals described their thoughts, feelings, and actions in response to hypothetical events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting inept discipline: The role of parental depressive symptoms, anger, and attributions.

Relations among parents' psychological difficulties (i.e., depressive symptoms, overt anger), dysfunctional attributions for child misbehavior, and inept discipline were investigated in a representative community sample of 451 mothers and 449 fathers. Depressive symptoms and anger were hypothesized to relate to discipline via their link with parents' attributions. Path analyses revealed that depressive symptoms predicted parent-centered causal attributions (i.e., stable, global, and dispositional), which, in turn, related to laxness. Depressive symptoms also predicted child-centered responsibility attributions (i.e., controllable, intentional, and negative), which, in turn, related to overreactivity. Anger predicted overreactivity directly. The patterns of relations were similar for fathers and mothers. The importance of addressing parents' psychological difficulties and dysfunctional attributions in interventions for families with disruptive children is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In search of the "hot" cognitions: Attributions, appraisals, and their relation to emotion.

Two studies examined the hypothesized status of appraisals, relative to attributions, as proximal antecedents of emotion. In Study 1, which looked at 6 emotions (happiness, hope-challenge, anger, guilt, fear-anxiety, and sadness), 136 undergraduates reported on their attributions, appraisals, and emotions during past encounters associated with a variety of situations. In Study 2, which focused on anger and guilt, 120 undergraduates reported on these same variables in response to experimenter-supplied vignettes that systematically manipulated theoretically relevant attributions. The results of both studies indicated that the emotions were more directly related to appraisals than they were to attributions, and Study 2 provided evidence that appraisal serves as a mediator between attribution and emotional response. These findings lend support to the hypothesized status of appraisal as the most proximal cognitive antecedent of emotion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control, causal attributions, and affects in achievement-related contexts.

114 male and 94 female undergraduates completed the Multidimensional-Multiattributional Causality Scales, the Profile of Mood States, and a scale of commonly experienced feelings. On the basis of the theory outlined by B. Weiner et al (see record 1980-32563-001), it was hypothesized that particular affect clusters (pride, gratitude, guilt, and anger) would characterize Ss differing with respect to attributional style. Pride and its cognates were more common affective responses among Ss who attributed achievement successes to internal causes, whereas anger and surprise were more common among Ss who attributed achievement failures to external causes. Pride was more strongly related to success attributions for females than for males. Results provide moderate support for the linkage between causal attributions and affects. (French abstract) (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of interpersonal control, perspective taking, and attributions on older mothers' and adult daughters' satisfaction with their helping relationships.

Older mother-adult daughter dyads (N?=?44) were interviewed separately about 3 variables hypothesized to affect satisfaction with the help provided to mothers by their daughters: feelings of interpersonal control, perspective-taking abilities, and attributions made about the self and other dyad member during positive and negative helping interactions. The most important predictors of partner satisfaction were mothers' and daughters' ability to accurately perceive the partner's feelings about the helping relationship and their feelings of interpersonal control. The most salient predictors of mothers' and daughters' own satisfaction were the attributions they made about the partner during a negative helping situation and their feelings of interpersonal control. These findings underscore the importance of considering interpersonal psychological variables in research concerned with helping relationships in later life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beat them or ban them: The characteristics and social functions of anger and contempt.

This article reports 3 studies in which the authors examined (a) the distinctive characteristics of anger and contempt responses and (b) the interpersonal causes and effects of both emotions. In the 1st study, the authors examined the distinction between the 2 emotions; in the 2nd study, the authors tested whether contempt could be predicted from previous anger incidents with the same person; and in the 3rd study, the authors examined the effects of type of relationship on anger and contempt reactions. The results of the 3 studies show that anger and contempt often occur together but that there are clear distinctions between the 2 emotions: Anger is characterized more by short-term attack responses but long-term reconciliation, whereas contempt is characterized by rejection and social exclusion of the other person, both in the short-term and in the long-term. The authors also found that contempt may develop out of previously experienced anger and that a lack of intimacy with and perceived control over the behavior of the other person, as well as negative dispositional attributions about the other person, predicted the emergence of contempt. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the formation and regulation of anger and aggression: A cognitive-neoassociationistic analysis.

Noting that a wide variety of unpleasant feelings, including sadness and depression, apparently can give rise to anger and aggression, I propose a cognitive–neoassociationistic model to account for the effects of negative affect on the development of angry feelings and the display of emotional aggression. Negative affect tends to activate ideas, memories, and expressive–motor reactions associated with anger and aggression as well as rudimentary angry feelings. Subsequent thought involving attributions, appraisals, and schematic conceptions can then intensify, suppress, enrich, or differentiate the initial reactions. Bodily reactions as well as emotion-relevant thoughts can activate the other components of the particular emotion network to which they are linked. Research findings consistent with the model are summarized. Experimental findings are also reported indicating that attention to one's negative feelings can lead to a regulation of the overt effects of the negative affect. I argue that the model can integrate the core aspect of the James-Lange theory with the newer cognitive theories of emotion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpretations of parental control by Asian immigrant and European American youth.

Although studies have reported ethnic and cultural differences in the effects of parenting on adolescent well-being, rarely have they included specific examinations of the cultural processes underlying these differences. This study examined adolescents’ affective interpretations of parents’ control (i.e., feelings of anger toward control) and how these interpretations may moderate the relationship between control and adolescents’ behavioral adjustment. The study comprised 1,085 immigrant youth of Chinese, Korean, and Filipino descent, and also European American youth from high schools in the greater Los Angeles area. Differences were found between European American and Asian immigrant youth in the effects of both behavioral control and psychological control. Furthermore, among European Americans only, as adolescents’ feelings of anger increased, the beneficial consequences of behavioral control decreased, whereas the negative effects of psychological control on behavior problems decreased. The results suggest that feeling anger toward parents’ use of psychological control may serve a protective function for European American youth but not for Asian immigrant youth. In contrast, feeling angry about behavioral control seems to reduce the beneficial consequences of control among European Americans but not Asian immigrants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Masculine gender role conflict: Effects on college men's psychological well-being, chemical substance usage, and attitudes towards help-seeking.

The authors investigated the effects of gender role conflict (GRC) on 148 18–55-yr-old college men's scores of psychological well-being, substance usage, and attitudes toward psychological help-seeking. Each of the 4 GRC variables was significantly related to at least 1 variable of interest. The Success, Power, and Competition variable of GRC was significantly related to (a) a decrease in psychological well-being, including scores for Trait Anger, the Angry Reaction subtype of trait anger, and the Angry Temperament subtype of trait anger, and (b) an increased report of alcohol usage. The Restricted Emotionality variable of GRC was significantly related to (a) a decrease in psychological well-being, including scores for Trait Anger and Trait Anxiety; (b) negative attitudes toward help-seeking; and (c) an increased similarity in personality style to chemical abusers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceiving outgroup members as unresponsive: Implications for approach-related emotions, intentions, and behavior.

In 2 studies, the authors investigated the determinants of anger and approach-related intentions and behavior toward outgroup members in interracial interactions. In Study 1, White and Black participants who were led to believe that their interracial interaction partner was not open to an upcoming interaction reported heightened anger and approach-related intentions concerning the interaction, including viewing their partner as hostile, intending to ask sensitive race-relevant questions during the interaction, and planning to blame the partner if the interaction went poorly. Results of Study 2 showed that White participants who received negative feedback about their Black partner's openness to interracial interactions behaved in a hostile manner toward their interaction partner. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the quality of interracial interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions, beliefs about control, and adjustment to breast cancer.

Examined attributions for cancer and beliefs about control over cancer for their association with adjustment to breast cancer. 78 29–78 yr old females with breast cancer served as Ss. Ss were administered a battery of tests that included the Profile of Mood States, Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Although 95% of the Ss made attributions for their cancer, no particular attribution (e.g., stress, diet) was associated with better adjustment. Analyses of attributions of responsibility for the cancer to the self, environment, another person, or chance yielded only a negative relation between adjustment and blaming another person. In contrast, both the belief that one could now control one's cancer and the belief that others (e.g., the physician) could now control the cancer were significantly associated with good adjustment. Of the different types of control, cognitive control was most strongly associated with adjustment, behavior control was less strongly associated with adjustment, and information control and retrospective control were unassociated with adjustment. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions and behavior in marital interaction.

To examine whether spouses' attributions for events in their marriage are related to their behavior in interaction, spouses were asked to report their marital quality, to make attributions for marital difficulties, and to engage in problem-solving discussions. Study 1 demonstrated that spouses' maladaptive attributions were related to less effective problem-solving behaviors, particularly among wives. Study 2 showed that spouses' maladaptive attributions were related to higher rates of negative behavior and, for wives, to increased tendencies to reciprocate negative partner behavior. In both studies attributions and behavior tended to be more strongly related for distressed than nondistressed wives. These results support social-psychological models that posit that attributions are related to behavior and models of marriage and close relationships that assume that maladaptive attributions contribute to conflict behavior and relationship dysfunction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A self-presentation approach to the fundamental attribution error: The norm of internality.

Three studies assessed the validity of the assumption of a general norm placing greater value on internal explanations for behavior than on external explanations (determined by Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale). Study 1 with 117 undergraduates demonstrated that Ss who expressed internal causal attributions received more social approval than those who expressed external ones. Study 2, in which 18 Ss rated themselves as giving more internal explanations for events than average others do, also demonstrated the greater positive value associated with internal attributions. In Study 3, 25 Ss given the injunction to create a positive impression described themselves as having a stronger bias toward internal attributions than did 24 Ss given the injunction to create a negative impression. The implications of the norm for internality are discussed and outlined for the actor–observer effect and for social psychological theories. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-situational consistency in causal attributions: Does attributional style exist?

Two studies evaluated the concept of an attributional style, as operationalized by the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ). Study 1, with 1,333 undergraduates, examined the reliability and validity of the ASQ and analyzed the factor structure of the measure. Only weak evidence of a cross-situationally consistent attributional style was found. An attempt to identify Ss who tended to be very consistent in their causal attributions on the ASQ similarly did not provide strong support for the attibutional style concept. In Study 2, the relation between scores on the ASQ and causal attributions for actual negative events, as assessed by the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, were examined among 85 pregnant women. Attributional Style scores were poor predictors of actual causal attributions, and selecting highly consistent Ss did not improve the ASQ's predictive validity. Implications for the attributional style concept and an attributional analysis of depression are discussed. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

State–Trait Anger Theory and the utility of the Trait Anger Scale.

Eight studies present support for the state–trait anger theory. In Studies 1–3, high-anger participants reported (a) greater anger in many different provocations, in their most angering ongoing situations, and in daily life, (b) greater anger-related physiological arousal, (c) greater state anger and dysfunctional coping in response to a visualized provocation, and (d) greater use of suppression and outward negative expression of anger. Only heart rate in the visualized provocation did not support predictions. In Studies 4–5, high-anger individuals suffered more frequent and intense anger consequences. In Studies 6–8, trait anger had higher correlations with dimensions of anger than with other emotions, cognitions, and behaviors. Few gender differences were found across studies. Results were discussed in terms of state–trait theory, convergent and discriminant validity for the Trait Anger Scale, anger expression, gender, and the implications for counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of distressed and aggressive behavior.

Two studies examined the hypothesis that distressed behavior induces negative emotions in others but also prompts solicitousness and deters aggression. In Study 1, 48 marital dyads rated various behaviors in terms of their feelings and reactions toward a spouse engaging in each behavior. Distressed behavior prompted both negative and solicitous emotions, but deterred hostile reactions. Aggressive behavior prompted negative feelings and hostile and argumentative reactions. In Study 2, 41 couples rated videotaped examples of a woman engaging in distressed, aggressive, or neutral behavior, with variations in verbal content and nonverbal affect. Examples of distressed behavior prompted more negative feelings and more solicitous feelings than neutral behavior. Aggressive examples prompted more negative feelings and hostile reactions. The studies indicate the importance of distinguishing between distressed and aggressive behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Potential hostility and dimensions of anger.

Examined the construct validity of Potential for Hostility ratings derived from the Structured Interview by correlating PH scores with 21 scales from 4 anger/hostility measures: the Buss-Durkee Guilt-Hostility Inventory, Multidimensional Anger Inventory (J. M. Seigel, 1985), Anger Self Report, and R. W. Novaco's (1975) anger inventory. Ss were 82 male college students (mean age 20 yrs) and 50 male faculty, staff and older students (mean age 40 yrs). Factor analyses yielded 3 components (Experience of Anger, Expression of Anger, Suspicion-Guilt). PH was correlated with the Expression of Anger factor in a 2-factor solution and was equally correlated with the Expression of Anger and Experience of Anger factors in a 3-factor solution. Implications for assessment of hostility are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What does it mean to be angry at yourself? Categories, appraisals, and the problem of language.

According to appraisal theorists, anger involves a negative event, usually blocking a goal, caused by another person. Critics argue that other-agency is unnecessary, since people can be angry at themselves, and thus that appraisal theory is wrong about anger. In two studies, we compared anger, self-anger, shame, and guilt, and found that self-anger shared some appraisals, action tendencies, and associated emotions with anger, others with shame and guilt. Self-anger was not simply anger with a different agency appraisal. Anger, shame, and guilt almost always involved other people, but almost half of the occurrences of self-anger were solitary. We discuss the incompatibility of appraisal theories with any strict categorical view of emotions, and the inadequacy of emotion words to capture emotional experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of racial stressors to blood pressure responses and anger expression in Black college students.

27 Black college students viewed 3 excerpts showing racist situations involving Blacks; anger-provoking, nonracist situations; and neutral situations. After each scene, blood pressure (BP) was taken; a mood checklist, the Framingham Anger Scale (S. Haynes et al; see PA, Vol 68:10702), and the Anger Expression Scale of C. Spielberger et al (1985) were administered. Analyses revealed that BP significantly increased during the presentation of racist stimuli but not of anger-provoking or neutral stimuli. Self-reports of state anger, as measured by the mood checklist, were significant for both the anger-provoking and racist stimuli. BP scores were significantly correlated to the 2 trait anger measures. Exposure to racist stimuli was associated with BP increases among Blacks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)