Implicit theories about interrelations of anger components in 25 countries.
We were interested in the cross-cultural comparison of implicit theories of the interrelations of eight anger components (antecedents, body sensations, cognitive reactions, verbal expressions, nonverbal expressions, interpersonal responses, and primary and secondary self-control). Self-report scales of each of these components were administered to a total of 5,006 college students in 25 countries. Equivalence of the scales was supported in that scales showed acceptable congruence coefficients in almost all comparisons. A multigroup confirmatory factor model with three latent variables (labeled internal processes, behavioral outcomes, and self-control mechanisms) could well account for the interrelations of the eight observed variables; measurement and structural weights were invariant. Behavioral outcomes and self-control mechanisms were only associated through their common dependence on internal processes. Verbal expressions and cognitive reactions showed the largest cross-cultural differences in means, whereas self-control mechanisms scales showed the smallest differences. Yet, cultural differences between the countries were small. It is concluded that anger, as measured by these scales, shows more pronounced cross-cultural similarities than differences in terms of both interrelations and mean score levels.
Department of Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands. itziar.alonso@ehu.es
Itziar
I
Alonso-Arbiol
Fons J R
FJ
van de Vijver
Itziar
I
Fernandez
Dario
D
Paez
Miryam
M
Campos
Pilar
P
Carrera
D000786:Anger; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D011581:Psychological Tests; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D055815:Young Adult