Development of a Russian State Trait Anger Expression Inventory

Transcription

1 Development of a Russian State Trait Anger Expression Inventory Howard Kassinove, Denis G. Sukhodolsky Hofstra University Christopher I. Eckhardt University of North Carolina at Wilmington Sergei V. Tsytsarev Hofstra University We examined the possible universality of Spielberger s (1988) model of anger by validating a Russian State Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI). In Eckhardt, Kassinove, Tsytsarev, and Sukhodolsky (1995), support was found for all STAXI factors except anger-in, using students from St. Petersburg State University. In the present study, 346 students from Russian high schools and the Pavlov Medical School served as subjects. Using new items, we found strong support for the factor structure hypothesized by Spielberger. All scales showed good to excellent alphas, and there was substantial similarity of the current means with results from the earlier study. The Russian samples, however, showed a lower level of state anger. The data support the possibility that state anger consists of two subscales, a simple experience and an experience combined with an action tendency. Trait anger occurs as a general temperament or as a reaction to specific triggers. It is positively related to anger-out and negatively related to anger control. Future studies can use this instrument to evaluate the stability of anger in Russian speaking populations, and to assess anger experiences and expression in response to specific triggers John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 53: , 1997 We thank Svetlana Solovyaya for her help in collecting the data at the Pavlov Medical School and Genadi Sukhodolsky for collecting the Russian high school data. We also acknowledge the help with translations and data entry, and the thoughtful suggestions provided by Igor Davidson, Merry McVey and Stephen Terracciano. Copies of the Russian STAXI can be obtained by writing to Howard Kassinove, Ph.D., Professor and Chairperson, Department of Psychology, 127 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Vol. 53(6), (1997) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CCC /97/

2 544 Journal of Clinical Psychology, October 1997 Anger is a frequently experienced negative emotion which, by comparison to anxiety and depression, has been relatively ignored in the psychological literature (Kassinove & Sukhodolsky, 1995a) and has been called the forgotten emotion by DiGiuseppe, Tafrate, & Eckhardt (1994). This neglect of anger is surprising since it can be a frequent, intense, and enduring experience (Averill, 1982, 1983). In addition, while there are some positive aspects to the experience and expression of anger, it is most often associated with disruptive intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences (Ellis, 1977). According to Deffenbacher (1992, 1995), moderate to intense overt anger may lead to a variety of negative outcomes such as poor evaluation by others, lowered self-esteem, interpersonal conflicts, and occupational maladjustment. Eckhardt and Kassinove (1995) have shown that maritally assaultive men emit a variety of angry and anger inducing verbalizations which may be causative of emotionally stimulated aggression against their partners. In addition, there is evidence that both the expression and suppression of anger are linked to coronary artery disease (Siegman, 1994), increased pulse rate (Funkenstein, King, & Drolette, 1954), and hypertension (Kulius, Schneider, & Egan, 1985), and that angry ruminations can lead to a variety of medical problems (Greer & Morris, 1975; Harburg, Blakelock, & Roeper, 1979; Harburg, Glieberman, Russell, & Cooper, 1991; Kalis, Harris, Bennett, & Sokolow, 1961; Spielberger, Crane, Kearns, Pellegrin, & Rickman, 1991). Given that anger is related to these kinds of negative outcomes it is important to be able to measure it reliably and validly. According to Spielberger, Reiheiser, and Sydeman (1995), early efforts were based on simple observations of behavior, clinical interviews, projective tests such as the Rorschach and Thematic Apperception Test, physiological assessments such as the galvanic skin response or heart rate, and self-report psychometric scales. However, there were many ambiguities about what was actually being measured due to the historical lack of differentiation among the constructs of anger, hostility, and aggression. In addition, universal agreement does not even exist on the meaning of the terms feeling and emotion. Kassinove and Sukhodolsky (1995a) recommended using the term feeling to refer to language-based, selfperceived, phenomenological state(s), and emotion to refer to the complex of self-perceived feeling state, physiological reaction patterns, and associated behaviors (p. 6). They suggested that anger can be seen,...asanegative, phenomenological (or internal) feeling state associated with cognitive and perceptual distortions and deficiencies (e.g., misappraisals, errors, and attributions of blame, injustice, preventability and/or intentionality), subjective labeling, physiological changes, and action tendencies to engage in socially constructed and reinforced behavioral scripts (Kassinove & Sukhodolsky, 1995a, p. 7). Accordingly, it can be assessed by reliable self-report tests which can then be linked to other variables of interest such as overt aggressive motor patterns or physiological reactions and medical problems. In this tradition, Spielberger s (1988) model represented an important advancement in anger assessment. His model recognized the importance of separating anger from related constructs such as hostility (defined as attitudes which motivate aggressive behavior) and aggression (defined as destructive and punitive behaviors), and it clearly separated felt experiences from modes of expression. The model allowed for the development of a psychometrically sound self-report device known as the State Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI; Spielberger, 1988). 1 Although other self-report devices exist (e.g., Snell, Gum, Shuck, Mosley, & Hite, 1995), the STAXI has become the standard in the field. The STAXI consists of six scales and two subscales measuring the experience and expression of anger. Experiences of anger are divided into State Anger (defined as transitory conditions that vary in intensity from mild annoyance to intense fury) and Trait Anger (defined as the 1 In this paper, items from the English version of the STAXI by Charles D. Spielberger, Ph.D. [Copyright 1979, 1986, 1988] are reproduced by special permission of the publisher, Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc., N. Florida Ave., Lutz, Florida.

3 Russian State Trait 545 tendency to experience states of anger more frequently in response to various provocations and a predisposition to perceive a wider range of situations as frustrating or annoying). Trait Anger is further divided into Angry Temperament, defined as a tendency to experience and express anger without specific provocations and Angry Reaction, defined as a propensity to become angry when provoked by specific events such as personal criticism, neglect, or rejection. Anger expression is divided into Anger-Out, Anger-In, and Anger Control modes based partially on directionality. Anger-Out (AX/Out) refers to the extent to which an individual expresses anger toward other people or objects in the environment. In response to the sentence stem, When Angry or Furious..., the outward expression of anger is assessed by the endorsement of items such as, I make sarcastic remarks to others or I say nasty things. Anger-In (AX/In) refers to the frequency with which angry feeling are held in or suppressed, and is assessed by the endorsement of items such as I boil inside, but don t show it and I am angrier than I am willing to admit. Anger control (AX/Control) refers to the effective control or reduction of anger, as measured by the endorsement of items such as I keep my cool and I control my behavior. The factor structure of the STAXI as reported by Spielberger (1988) has received strong empirical support in a number of studies (Fuqua et al., 1991; Spielberger, 1988; and see Spielberger, Reheiser, & Sydeman, 1995 for a review). Internal consistency coefficients for the subscales range from.70 to.89 indicating strong relationships among the scales items. The anger experience and expression scales have good test retest reliability, internal consistency, content, concurrent and discriminant validity, and have a factor structure which is relatively uniform across criterion groups (Crane, 1981; Deffenbacher, 1992; Fuqua et al., 1991; Spielberger, 1988; Westberry, 1980). After the relevance of a set of constructs in a given population has been demonstrated, the question arises as to whether they can be tapped in other populations. This issue has been particularly addressed in cross-cultural psychology in a debate between the universalist and relativist perspectives (Berry, Poortinga, Segall, & Dasen, 1992). The universalist position assumes that psychological phenomena are likely to be common for all human beings but may be modified by their cultures. Thus, if the reliability and validity of an American psychological test are demonstrated in other cultures, indicating that the constructs also exist in those cultures, it adds support for the universalist position. The demonstration of a construct s relevance in other cultures also adds to the evidence of its conceptual validity. With regard to the anger constructs under consideration in this paper, the STAXI has been translated into a number of foreign languages including Spanish, French, Hebrew, and Portuguese (personal communication, B. Van Antwerp, February 14, 1994). In Holland, a confirmatory factor analysis of the Dutch adaptation of the State Trait Anger Scale provided cross-cultural evidence for the twocomponent nature of trait anger (Van de Ploeg, 1988), and in Great Britain, Knight, Chisholm, Paulin, & Waal Manning (1988) found empirical support for the factor structure of the STAXI. Since 1991, our own research team has engaged in a number of collaborative projects with Russian scientists from St. Petersburg State University, the Top Security Hospital of St. Petersburg, and the Pavlov Medical School in St. Petersburg (e.g., Eckhardt, Kassinove, Sukhodolsky, & Terracciano, 1994; Kassinove & Eckhardt, 1994; Kassinove & Sukhodolsky, 1995b; Kassinove & Sukhodolsky, 1995c, Sukhodolsky, Tsytsarev & Kassinove, 1995). In addition to understanding patterns of thought, affect, and behavior in the Russian culture, one specific aim was to develop a reliable and valid Russian version of the STAXI in order to evaluate the relationship of anger components to other behavior patterns. It seems particularly important to develop a Russian STAXI for at least two reasons. First, some Western-developed psychometric instruments such as the MMPI (Hathaway, & McKinley, 1943) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (Wechsler, 1955) are available in Russian language format and are used regularly in larger cities such as Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and

4 546 Journal of Clinical Psychology, October 1997 St. Petersburg. However, with rare exceptions such as the State Trait Anxiety Scale (Hanin & Spielberger, 1983), few scales that assess specific emotions have been revalidated and restandardized on Russian samples. Rather, simple translations have been made and, decisions about people are often based on American norms or norms based on convenience samples from larger cities. Given the vastness of the Russian Federation and the educational and social differences of larger cities versus rural areas, combined with the growth of Western oriented practitioners, clinical decisions are being made about individuals who are seeking help which may be inaccurate. Many problems will emerge if this mode of operation continues. Second, in the most recent U.S. population census almost 250,000 people reported Russian as the main language spoken in their home (1990 Census of Population and Housing), and this number is rapidly increasing. In 1993, for example, almost 60,000 people immigrated to America from the former USSR. These people receive a variety of psychological services in America and the Russian version of STAXI may, thus, have pragmatic utility. Finally, a Russian version of the STAXI can be used in a variety of collaborative research projects with other countries of the former USSR. A preliminary version of the Russian STAXI, based upon a direct translation of the original 44 STAXI items, was developed in 1995 by Eckhardt, Kassinove, Tsytsarev, and Sukhodolsky. The results provided initial support for Spielberger s model of anger in a sample of 120 Russian students from St. Petersburg State University. The scales, with the exception of AX/In (a.57), showed internal consistency reliability coefficients ranging from.72 to.88. In addition, the means and standard deviations in the Russian sample were generally comparable to those of the American standardization sample (Spielberger, 1988), with few differences of more than one or two points. However, the State Anger scores in the American normative sample, especially those of the men, were much higher (4.37 points) than found in the Russian sample. In the Russian sample, there were few gender differences. However, men scored higher than women on Anger-Out and on the Total Anger Expression score. This did not correspond to results from Spielberger s American sample where there were no AX/Out gender differences. Our preliminary results provided initial cross-cultural support for the Spielberger model of anger, adding to evidence for the universal nature of the anger experience and anger expression constructs. Quantitative differences between Russian and American samples were interpreted as due to the different levels of the construct in the samples, but not to the validity of the constructs in the two cultures. Of course, the small and homogeneous nature of the Russian sample also suggested caution in interpretation of similarities and differences. Of significance, a separate and reliable AX/In factor was not observed in the initial study. Obviously, the experience and expression of anger could vary across different cultures and this variation could have contributed to the failure of obtaining a distinct AX/In factor in the Russian sample. If true, it would support the relativist position. On the other hand, the verbal representation or labeling of emotions differs across different languages (Russell, 1991), and emotional meaning may be reflected differently in verbal connotations (Davitz, 1969). For example, there are at least two equivalents for the English word anger in the Russian language. The first, zlost, seems to refer to an unjustified and perhaps immature feeling of anger and may resemble the English word petulance. However, petulance actually refers more to a behavior pattern than to a feeling. In contrast, gnev seems to refer to anger which is appropriate and justified from the standpoint of the social rules of the Russian culture. These words, we note, do not refer merely to intensity differences for there are also Russian words for annoyance (raz-dra-zhyenee-ye) and rage (yarost). Thus, the inability of the directly translated original STAXI AX/In items to verify the construct could have reflected either the irrelevance of the anger-in construct in the Russian population or the inability of the directly translated items to directly tap the construct. The purpose of the present study, thus, was threefold. First, we wanted to attempt to replicate our original findings on the directly translated STAXI, in which most of the scales were

5 Russian State Trait 547 supported. Second, if possible, we wanted to develop a reliable version of an AX/In scale in the Russian version. Finally, we wanted to use a larger and different sample in order to increase the generalizability of the original results. Subjects METHOD Two samples of Russian students participated in this study. The first group consisted of 108 high school students from the city of St. Petersburg. There were 54 males and 54 females. The second group of 238 students (80 males and 158 females) was drawn from the Pavlov Medical School in St. Petersburg. In Russia, students may enter a medical school immediately upon graduation from high school and, thus, in some ways these students resemble American technical university students. However, they differ from the original group of students used by Eckhardt et al. (1995) who were studying (i.e., majoring) in the faculties of mathematics and psychology. In contrast, the present subjects chose to enter a specific professional school rather than the broader spectrum St. Petersburg State University. Of the entire sample of 346, 93% were single. Their mean age was (SD 2.84), with a range of 14 to 32 years. Reflecting the emerging religious picture in Russia, 233 (79%) reported their religion to be orthodox (i.e., Russian Orthodox), 51 (17%) indicated they were agnostic or atheist, 10 (3%) indicated Protestant, Catholic, or other, and 62 (16%) left the question unanswered. In response to the question, To what extent do you practice your religion (1 Not at all; 5 My whole approach to life is based on my religion), the mean score was 1.90 (SD.89). It is important to note that in Russia it is currently somewhat faddish to wear religious items and indicate that one is religious, in the same way that it was important to indicate that one was an atheist 10 years ago. Materials The preliminary Russian State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (R-STAXI) was directly translated from the American version. Each item was rated on a four-point scale to assess the frequency or intensity of angry feelings and whether a particular mode of anger expression is typically used. The original American and Russian versions contained 44 items, which formed six scales and two subscales. Anger experiences. The 10-item State Anger Scale measures the intensity of angry feelings at a given moment in time while the 10-item Trait Anger Scale assesses individual differences in the cross-situational disposition to experience states of anger. Two factor-derived subscales comprise Trait Anger. The Trait Anger-Temperament (TA/Temperament) subscale (four items) assesses the extent to which individuals experience anger in the absence of direct provocation while the Trait Anger-Reaction (TA-Reaction) subscale (four items) measures anger experiences as a result of specific triggers such as criticism or unfair treatment by others. Anger expression. There are four scales designed to measure various aspects of the model. Eight items comprise the AX/In scale which measures how frequently angry feelings are suppressed or inhibited. However, as noted above, this scale was not adequately replicated in the preliminary Russian version. Thus, 22 new items were developed which were judged by the authors to reflect an anger-in style of expressing angry feelings, and which made logical and conceptual sense in the Russian language. The R-STAXI used in this study began with 30 anger-in items (the 22 new items plus the original 8 items). Anger-Out is also an eight-item

6 548 Journal of Clinical Psychology, October 1997 scale which assesses how frequently the individual expresses anger toward others or objects. Items on this scale, from a purely behavioral perspective, might be considered as measures of verbal aggression (e.g., I make sarcastic remarks to others ) or motor aggression (e.g., I do things like slam doors ). The eight-item Anger Control Scale measures a style of attempts to modify experienced angry feelings and actively control the outward expression of anger. The final scale, Anger Expression Total, is a general index of the frequency of anger expression (regardless of direction) and is comprised of the AX/In and AX/Out scales, while adjusting for Anger Control. Translations All 44 Russian translated items used by Eckhardt et al. (1995) were also used in the present study to allow for replication of our initial results. Those items were translated by a native, Russian speaking clinical psychologist (Tsytsarev) with assistance from a Russian psychiatrist. They were then back-translated by an advanced clinical psychology doctoral candidate (Sukhodolsky) and an assistant, both of whom were born and educated in the former USSR. Because of the unique idioms used in English to describe anger (e.g., harboring grudges, keeping cool vs. feeling burned up ), several items did not have an exact Russian translation and adjustments were made. The complete research team then held discussions to resolve conflicts. The 22 new AX/In items used in the present study (generated by Sukhodolsky and Tsytsarev), were back translated by another Russian speaking American assistant (born in the Ukraine), and any minor discrepancies were discussed by team members. Anger Expression RESULTS Because the initial study failed to produce an internally consistent AX/In scale, a series of analyses were first undertaken to determine the best 24 items that would fit a three factor (AX/In, AX/Out, AX/Control) model for modes of anger expression. The original 24 anger expression items from the American STAXI and the 22 new Ax/In items were subjected to a principal components analysis, using listwise deletion of cases with missing values. After setting the number of desired factors to three, an oblimin rotation converged in 14 iterations to provide simple structure. However, since the factors were not highly correlated, it was decided to proceed with a varimax rotation which converged in five iterations. The three factors explained 35.4% of the variance. Of the original eight AX/In items from the American STAXI, five loaded on a factor we labeled AX/In. Their loadings ranged from.68 to.49. Three of the new items were also uniquely associated with this factor, with loadings from.68 to.52. Three other new items with strong loadings on this factor and another factor, or that did not make conceptual sense, were not selected for inclusion on the final AX/In scale. All of the original eight AX/Out items loaded on one factor, from.65 to.23, and no other items load directly on this factor. Thus, all of the original items were selected for final inclusion. Of the original eight AX/Control items, five loaded together. However, two of the new items originally classified as AX/In, and one original AX/In item, also loaded on this factor. A reexamination of these items suggested that the Russian verbs used were quite strong and suggested a control process rather than simply an inward directionality. Thus, the five original AX/Control items were added to the three items originally classified as anger-in to form a new eight item AX/Control scale.

7 Russian State Trait 549 The 24 selected anger expression items were then subjected to a new principal components analysis (Table 1). Following a varimax rotation which converged after three iterations, three factors emerged which explained 43.9% of the variance. Table 1 shows the factor loadings of the 24 items. Each of the items loaded on the expected factor, based on the initial analysis. Thus, these 24 items were then considered as final items. Factor Structure Complete Scale Once the 24 anger expression items were selected, a principal components analysis of the complete 44-item scale was performed. An oblimin rotation failed to converge and, thus, a varimax rotation was used which converged in 13 iterations and led to a 9-factor solution. A scree test, however, suggested a 7-factor solution with strong to moderate first and second factors explaining 19.4 and 10.8% of the variance respectively (eigenvalues of 8.53 and 4.75), and with all seven factors explaining 50.8% of the variance. Table 2 presents the seven factors and the varimax-rotated factor loadings of.30 or higher for all 44 items. The factors were generally easy to interpret and provide support for this version of the Russian STAXI and for Spielberger s model within the Russian culture. Factor 1 Table 1. Factor Loadings of the 24 Selected Anger Expression Items Following Varimax Rotation Factors Item 1 (Anger Control) 2 (Anger-In) 3 (Anger-Out) 39 I control my behavior (.79) I control my angry feelings (.77) I control my temper (.76) I don t give my anger any outlet (.66) I keep things in (.64) I can stop myself from losing my temper (.64) I am patient with others (.60) Nothing can force me to show my anger (.59) I tend to harbor grudges that I don t tell anyone about.11 (.68) My anger doesn t find a way out and I remain agitated.06 (.68) I won t forget the insult.13 (.61) I am angrier than I am willing to admit.03 (.56) I pout or sulk.07 (.56) I am irritated a great deal more than people are aware of.15 (.54) My aggravation builds up without release.07 (.53) I withdraw from people.07 (.51) I make sarcastic remarks to others (.69) 54 I say nasty things (.67) 41 I argue with others (.65) 45 I strike out at whatever infuriates me (.62) 59 If someone annoys me I m apt to tell him or her how I feel (.62) 36 I do things like slam doors (.39) 24 I express my anger (.39) 57 I lose my temper (.25) Eigenvalues Percentage of variance Note. Significant loadings shown in parentheses.

8 550 Journal of Clinical Psychology, October 1997 Table 2. Factor Loadings of All 44 Russian STAXI Items Following Varimax Rotation and Scree Test Factors 1 AX/Control 2 State Anger 3 T/Anger Reaction 4 AX/Out 5 T/Anger Temperament 6 AX/In #1 7 AX/In #2 ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM 9.72 ITEM ITEM 7.67 ITEM 2.66 ITEM 3.63 ITEM 5.63 ITEM 8.62 ITEM 4.51 ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM ITEM Eigenvalues Percentage of variance clearly represented AX/Control, as all eight of the original anger control items loaded on this factor at.60 or higher. Factor 2 clearly represented State Anger, as all eight of the original items loaded on this factor at.31 or higher. Items 1 and 6 which appear to load on factor 2 actually had much higher loadings on factor 7.

9 Russian State Trait 551 Factor 3 represented T/Ang-Reaction. However, in addition to loading by items 14, 15, 18, and 20, we also found that item 19 loaded on this factor. This item also loaded on a T/Ang- Reaction factor in Eckhardt et al. (1995). Factor 4 represented AX/Out. Six of the eight AX/Out items loaded from.68 to.41. Item 45 ( I strike out at whatever infuriates me ), item 57 ( I lose my temper ) and item 59 ( If someone annoys me I m apt to tell them how I feel ) seem very clearly to represent the outward expression of anger. However, they did not load cleanly on any of the first seven factors. Items 45 and 59 could have formed a separate factor, as they loaded together at.59 and.67 on factor nine, had we chosen a nine-factor solution as suggested by choosing eigenvalues above 1.0. These two items may represent a particular type of anger-out expression in the Russian culture, or may have become separated based on the particular set of Russian verbs chosen. Factor 5 clearly represented T/Ang-Temperament. Items 11, 12, 13, and 16 loaded cleanly here (all above.65) which corresponds to the four American items on this factor and the results of Eckhardt et al. (1995). Factor 6 and factor 7 might both be labeled as AX/In. Factor 6 was represented by items 50, 29, 43, 31, and 56, which loaded at.46 or higher. They were all classified as AX/In in the 24 items analysis reported above. Items 38, 44, and 64 loaded cleanly on factor 7, at.62 or higher, and were classified as AX/In in the 24 item analysis. Interestingly, these three items ( I won t forget an insult ; I tend to harbor grudges that I don t tell anyone about ; My anger doesn t find a way out and I remain agitated ) seem to refer to a time dimension. This does not seem to be true of the items on factor 6. Perhaps the inward expression of anger might be represented as both a state and a longer term pattern of responding. Factor Structure State Anger and Trait Anger In order to compare the present results to our original findings, we performed individual principal components analyses for the 10 State Anger and the 10 Trait Anger items. This also allowed us to compare our results with those of Spielberger (1988) who performed these individual scale analyses. State Anger. Eckhardt et al. (1995), Fuqua et al. (1991), Spielberger, et al. (1995), and Van der Ploeg (1988) have each indicated that State Anger may not be unidimensional. Evidence suggests that two factors may underlie the state anger construct. Thus, we began with an oblimin rotation and set the number of factors to two. Table 3 presents the results of this analysis. The two factor solution converged in 7 iterations and explained 54.1% of the variance. Since the factors were moderately correlated (.42), we retained the oblimin solution. Although eight of the items loaded on factor 1, six of these also loaded on factor 2 and some (items 4 and 8) loaded quite strongly on factor 2. Factor 2 was made up of only two items ( I am furious; I am mad ) and seems to reflect a state without action intent. In contrast, the only two items to load solely on factor 1 (item 7, I feel like banging on the table and item 10, I feel like swearing ) seem to reflect action tendencies. Trait Anger. The principal components analysis on Trait Anger was carried out to confirm what was found in the factor analysis of all 44 items in this paper, what was found by Spielberger (1988) for the American version, and the findings of Eckhardt et al. (1995) for the preliminary version of the Russian STAXI. That is, that Trait Anger has two components: T/Ang- Temperament and T/Ang-Reaction. When the number of allowable factors was set to two, a varimax rotation converged in three iterations and provided a better solution than the oblimin rotation. The two factors explained 51.8% of the variance. Table 4 presents the results of this analysis. Six items had loadings of

10 552 Journal of Clinical Psychology, October 1997 Table 3. Factor Loadings of the 10 State Anger Items Following Oblimin Rotation Factors Item I am burned up I feel angry I feel like swearing.70 2 I feel irritated I feel like hitting someone I feel like breaking things I feel like banging on the table.63 4 I feel like yelling at somebody I am furious I am mad Eigenvalues Percentage of variance to.75 on factor 1, which clearly represented T/Ang-Reaction. These six items included the four that are traditionally used in the American version of the STAXI (items 14, 15, 18, and 20) and the other two items which loaded in the principal components analysis of the full 44 items presented above. Item 17, however, loaded on both factors. Since item 19 had the lowest loading and item 17 loaded on both factors, it was concluded that the best representation of T/Ang-Reaction is found in the same four items (14, 15, 18, and 20) used in the American version. Factor 2 is T/Ang-Temperament, and is represented by items 11, 12, 13, and 16 as is found in the American STAXI. Again, it was decided to eliminate item 17 which loaded on both factors. Thus, as in the American STAXI, TA-Temperament is represented by items 11, 12, 13, and 16. Table 4. Factor Loadings of the 10 Trait Anger Items Following Varimax Rotation Factors Item 1 Trait Anger/ Reaction 2 Trait Anger/ Temperament 20 I feel infuriated when I do a good job and get a poor evaluation I feel annoyed when I am not given recognition for doing good work It makes me furious when I am criticized in front of others I get angry when I m slowed down by other s mistakes When I get frustrated, I feel like hitting someone When I get mad, I say nasty things I fly off the handle I am a hotheaded person I am quick tempered I have a fiery temper.71 Eigenvalues Percent of variance

11 Russian State Trait 553 Descriptive Data and Reliability of the Russian STAXI We decided to first examine any differences which might exist between the high school and medical school students. A series of t tests were performed on State Anger, Trait Anger, Trait Anger-Temperament, Trait Anger-Reaction, Anger-In, Anger-Out, Anger-Control and Total Anger Expression. None of them were significant and the data were thus collapsed across this variable for further analyses. Table 5 presents the means, standard deviations, and internal consistency estimates (a coefficients) for the Russian STAXI, separated by sex and for the entire sample. Overall, these data are remarkably similar to what was found in the original sample of St. Petersburg University students (Eckhardt et al., 1995) and to the data provided by Spielberger (1988). With regard to State Anger, the present mean scores for Russian males and females (12.00 and 11.28) are within one-half of a point originally found for the St. Petersburg male and female students (11.52 and 10.97). Given our N of 346, it is rather easy for small differences to be statistically significant and in the current data set the.73 point higher score of the men was statistically different from that of the women (see Table 5). On the Trait Anger scales the scores were very similar to those found in the original St. Petersburg State University sample, with no difference of more than 1.32 points on Trait Anger, T/Ang-Temperament or T/Ang-Reaction. In addition, the difference between the current means and those in the STAXI manual for American college students is less than one-half a point for both men and women. The differences in T/Ang-Temperament and T/Ang-Reaction are never more than 1.03 points, for men and women considered separately. Finally, we found no sex differences in Trait Anger, T/Ang-Temperament, or T/Ang-Reaction which corresponds to the Eckhardt et al. data set. With regard to the expression of anger, the current group scored lower on AX/In (by 1.62 points for men and 2.69 points for women) than did the original group of St. Petersburg State University students. This probably reflects the different items used in the present study. In addition, the current group of men scored significantly higher than the current group of women. On AX/Out, the current mean scores were 1.66 points lower for men, and about 1.04 points higher for women as compared with the St. Petersburg sample. In the current data set there were no significant sex differences, while in the St. Petersburg data set men were significantly higher on AX/Out. With regard to AX/Control, the current group of men and the women both had mean scores that were 1.64 points higher than in the St. Petersburg University samples. In Table 5. Means, Standard Deviations, and Alpha Coefficients by Gender on the Russian STAXI Males Females Total Scales M SD M SD t a M SD State Anger (3.50) (2.73) 2.15* (3.05) Trait Anger (5.23) (5.38) (5.35) Anger Temperament 7.29 (2.49) 7.71 (2.60) (2.56) Anger Reaction 8.81 (2.66) 9.28 (2.81) (2.77) Anger-In (4.86) (4.37) 2.09* (4.59) Anger-Out (3.94) (4.20) (4.11) Anger Control (4.78) (5.15) 3.59** (5.10) Anger Expression Total (9.80) (9.15) (9.39) Note. n for males ranged from 119 to 132; n for females ranged from 196 to 209. *p <.05. **p <.01.

12 554 Journal of Clinical Psychology, October 1997 Table 6. Relationships Among the Experience and Expression Scales on the Russian STAXI Anger Expression Anger-In Anger-Out Anger-Control State Anger Trait Anger Anger Experience T/Ang Temp T/Anger Reaction Anger-In.22**.11.28**.30**.11.30** Anger-Out.52**.27**.56**.46**.36** Anger-Control.09.42**.41.25** State Anger.36**.30**.26** T-Anger Temp.39** **p <.01. addition, the mean score for the current group of men was significantly higher than for the women. Thus, the current group of men were more likely to hold their anger in and to attempt to control it, as compared with the women. Relationships Among the Scales Table 6 presents the Pearson correlations among the various subscales on the R-STAXI. Correlations of.31 and above would explain more than 10% of the variance and will now be discussed. As expected, Trait Anger was positively related to State Anger and is congruent with the definition that people higher on anger as a trait are more likely to experience it in various situations. Trait Anger was positively related to an AX/Out mode of responding and negatively related to AX/Control. In this Russian sample, therefore, people who are higher on the trait are likely to show it and may not want to, or may not have adequate mechanisms, to control it. This cannot be a firm conclusion, however, as the relationship of Trait Anger and AX/In was.30 and just missed our criterion for discussion. AX/Out was positively related to both T/Ang- Temperament and T/Ang-Reaction, and T/Ang-Temperament was negatively related to AX/Control. Thus, people who are higher on the likelihood of generally reacting without specific provocation with anger are more likely to express it and less likely to be able to control it. Finally, as might be expected, T/Ang-Temperament and T/Ang-Reaction were significantly and positively related. With regard to the modes of anger expression assessed, it can be seen that AX/In and AX/Out, and AX/In and AX/Control show very low interrelationships, suggesting that they represent separate and independent modes for the expression of anger. AX/Out and AX/Control are negatively and significantly correlated, suggesting that individuals who express their anger outwardly are not likely to try, or to be able, to control such expression. DISCUSSION The present results provide clear support for this version of the Russian STAXI. Each of the individual scales was found to have good to excellent internal consistency, the factor structure was equivalent to that found in the American version and similar to what was found in the initial Russian STAXI (Eckhardt et al., 1995), and the intercorrelations among the scales are as might be expected. The negative relationship of AX/Out with AX/Control in the current data set closely matches that found by Spielberger, Krasner, and Soloman (1988), and the small relationship (r.22) of AX/In with AX/Out in the current study is not that dissimilar to

13 Russian State Trait 555 Spielberger et al. (1988), who noted that the relationship of these two variables is essentially zero. We particularly note that when the complete 44 item scale was subjected to factor analysis the outcome strongly supported the model. Nevertheless, there were some minor quantitative differences in mean scores between this version and the initial version, and between Russian and American means. These, we believe, are attributable to issues of reliability or sampling, or to differing levels of facets of the model in the two cultures. However, both the factor replication and the high reliability coefficients provide support for the applicability of Spielberger s (1988) anger model in Russia and for use of the Russian STAXI with Russian speaking persons who reside in America. The results provide an element of support for the universalist position of emotional experience and expression (Berry et al., 1992), especially with regard to anger. In the STAXI model, anger experiences are conceived as states or traits, and the state of being angry was originally conceived of as unidimensional. However, reports by Fuqua et al. (1991), Spielberger (1988) and Van der Ploeg (1988) have suggested that there may be two aspects to the state of anger. The first may involve a simple experience feeling of anger while the second is hypothesized as a transient desire to express the feeling. In the initial version of the Russian STAXI we also found support for a two-factor model but were unable to interpret the factors. In the present data set we again found support for the two factor model, but this time the factors correspond to the hypothesis noted above. The first part of a state of anger may be conceived of as a simple experience or an experience without a drive to act (e.g., I am mad ). The second part is an action tendency towards expression of the feeling (e.g., I feel like swearing ). This conception not only supports results found by other investigators, but corresponds to our everyday experiences with people who seem to be angry but do not act and are just grouchy, as compared with others who seem angry and we know enough to keep our distance from them since they seem likely to act on the feeling. Certainly, evidence for this duality of state anger is mounting and more research will provide additional clarification of state anger. With regard to normative scores, the Russian scores from the original and the current samples are lower than reported in the STAXI manual. While true for both sexes, the mean differences are especially noteworthy for the men (St. Petersburg University men 11.52; current men 12.00; STAXI manual 15.89; difference 3.89 to 4.37 points). Americans, as we noted in Eckhardt et al. (1995), may be more used to tuning in to their anger and/or to feeling free to express it on questionnaires. In the present study, men showed significantly more state anger than women. This may reflect a sex difference in anger experiences or in freedom to respond on a questionnaire. However, the absolute difference is small and sex differences on State Anger were not found by Eckhardt et al. (1995) or Kopper and Epperson (1991) in an American sample. If this small difference is supported in future studies we will be able to generate macro level, society-wide hypotheses. However, little can be said about the normative level of experience in a single person. The analysis of anger as a trait led to support for two subscales, one which reflects angry responses in the absence of provocations and the other in response to specific triggers. The items on these two subscales in the Russian STAXI paralleled those in the American STAXI, and the present results parallel those found by Eckhardt et al. (1995). This adds to our confidence in the model. We found only minor differences in overall Trait Anger, T/Ang-Temperament, and T/Ang-Reaction when we compared the current results to those of the St. Petersburg University sample. In addition, there were no sex differences on these scales. However, in a large sample of 1010 young American adults Spielberger, Reiheiser, and Sydeman (1995) reported that males (M 21.46; SD 5.32) scored significantly higher than females (M 20.46; SD 5.72) on Trait Anger, and that the difference was due primarily to differences on the T/Ang- Temperament subscale. Again, we note that the sex difference on that scale was only.37 points and is unlikely to be meaningful for the individual case.

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