Relationships among self-efficacy, dispositional optimism, trait anger, and modes of expressing anger in college students

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships among Self-Efficacy, Dispositional Optimism, Trait Anger and Modes of Anger Expression. Instruments used included the Self-efficacy Scale (SES), the Life Orientation Test (LOT), the Trait Anger subscale of the State-Trait Anger Scale (STAS), and the Framingham Anger Scales (FAS). The subjects in this study (N=720) were college students surveyed as intact groups in their classes. The majority of subjects were undergraduate students. It was hypothesized that Self-Efficacy and Dispositional Optimism are negatively related to being chronically angry, suppressing anger, and expressing anger in a blaming way; conversely, it was hypothesized that Self-Efficacy and Dispositional Optimism are positively correlated with expressing anger through discussion. In addition to correlational analyses, t-tests were used to compare subjects who scored high and low on Self-Efficacy and Dispositional Optimism in terms of their levels of Trait Anger and customary Modes of Anger Expression. Similarly, t-tests were used to determine gender differences. Analyses revealed: (a) scores for Self-Efficacy and Dispositional Optimism were moderately and positively correlated with the tendency to express anger through discussion; conversely, scores for Self-Efficacy and Dispositional Optimism were moderately and negatively correlated with scores reflecting tendencies to be chronically angry, suppress anger, express anger outwardly in a blaming way, and experience physical discomforts when angry; (b) students scoring in the upper 25 percent of scores for Self-Efficacy and Dispositional Optimism were significantly (p<.0001) more likely to report expressing anger through discussion than students scoring in the lower 25 percent of scores for Self-Efficacy and Dispositional Optimism; (c) students scoring in the upper 25 percent of scores for Self-Efficacy and Dispositional Optimism were significantly (p<.05) less likely to report being chronically angry, suppressing anger, blaming others, and developing physical discomfort when angry than students scoring in the lower 25 percent of scores for Self-Efficacy and Dispositional Optimism; (d) college women and men did not report significant differences in the tendency to be chronically angry, suppress anger, or express anger outwardly; (e) women reported a greater tendency to express anger through discussion, and to develop physical discomforts when angry, than did men in this sample; (f) women and men did not significantly differ in scores for Self-Efficacy; however, women had significantly higher scores for Dispositional Optimism than did men in this sample. In summary, Self-Efficacy and Dispositional Optimism are positively associated with expressing anger through discussion which, plausibly, may offer opportunities for problem-focused coping or discovery of insights and solutions. Conversely, Self-Efficacy and Dispositional Optimism are negatively associated with being chronically angry, suppressing anger, and expressing anger in a blaming manner which are each negative correlates of physical and mental health. Therefore, one may conclude that among four customary Modes of Anger Expression, the tendency to express anger through discussion is negatively associated with correlates of disease and positively associated with correlates of health. Based on data collected in this study, a plausible conclusion is that Anger-Discuss represents a Mode of Anger Expression with healthy connotations. There are more Modes of Anger Expression that correlate negatively than those that correlate positively with measures of mental health (i.e., Self-Efficacy and Dispositional Optimism). More efforts are needed in contemporary research to designate healthy rather than pathological ways of expressing anger. In addition, more research is needed to determine what aspects of expressing anger through discussion may be most salient to health and quality of life.