title: Every cloud has a silver lining: interpersonal and individual differences determinants of anger-related behaviors.
abstract: Two studies examined the effect of status and liking of the anger target on anger behavior and individual differences in anger-related behavior. Participants recalled anger instances in which the anger target was of higher/equal/lower status and/or liked/ unfamiliar/disliked; subsequently, they indicated which behaviors they had displayed. In both studies, anger behaviors could be grouped into behaviors that imply approaching the target (anger-out, assertion, reconciliation) and behaviors that reflect avoidance/anger-in or social sharing. The results demonstrated that approach behaviors more likely occur toward lower status or liked targets; avoidance behaviors and social sharing more likely occur when the target is of higher status or disliked. On an individual differences level, an approach and an avoid/social sharing person class were identified. The findings suggest that anger may motivate prosocial behavior or social sharing, depending on the individual and type of relation with the target. Only few gender differences were found.
authors.affiliation: University of Leuven, Department of Psychology, Belgium. peter.kuppens@psy.kuleuven.ac.be
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kuppens
authors.forename: Iven
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Van Mechelen
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meulders
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000786:Anger; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010551:Personality; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012919:Social Behavior