The Anger Discomfort Scale To introduce a discussion on alternative ways of dealing with anger

1. Emotions, Stress, and HealthChapter 11 The Anger Discomfort ScaleTo introduce a discussion on alternative ways of dealing with anger

2. Experienced Emotion Izard (1977) isolated 10 emotions. Most of them are present in infancy, except for contempt, shame, and guilt. Bob Daemmrich/ The Image Works Patrick Donehue/ Photo Researchers, Inc. Tom McCarthy/ Rainbow Lew Merrim/ Photo Researchers, Inc. Marc Grimberg/ The Image Bank Nancy Brown/ The Image Bank Michael Newman/ PhotoEdit

3. Anger Anger “carries the mind away,” (Virgil, 70-19 B.C.), but “makes any coward brave,” (Cato 234-149 B.C.).

4. Causes of Anger • People generally become angry with friends and loved ones who commit wrongdoings, especially if they are willful, unjustified, and avoidable. • People are also angered by foul odors, high temperatures, traffic jams, and aches and pains.

5. Catharsis Hypothesis Venting anger through action or fantasy achieves an emotional release or “catharsis.” Expressing anger breeds more anger, and through reinforcement it is habit-forming.

6. Cultural & Gender Differences • Boys respond to anger by moving away from that situation, while girls talk to their friends or listen to music. • Anger breeds prejudice. The 9/11 attacks led to an intolerance towards immigrants and Muslims. • The expression of anger is more encouraged in cultures that do not promote group behavior than in cultures that do promote group behavior. Wolfgang Kaehler

7. The Anger Discomfort Scale The Anger Discomfort Scale • Anger Discomfort Scale (ADS). Designed by Bruce Sharkin and Charles Gelso, ADS attempts to assess respondents’ reactions to their own anger tendencies or experiences. • The authors conceptualized anger discomfort “as an inner, subjective experience similar to anxiety, tied to both intrapsychic and interpersonal factors.” Individuals who are high on anger discomfort feel threatened by their experience of anger (intrapsychic) and concerned about others’ reactions to their anger (interpersonal).

8. The Anger Discomfort Scale • The authors conceptualized anger discomfort “as an inner, subjective experience similar to anxiety, tied to both intrapsychic and interpersonal factors.” Individuals who are high on anger discomfort feel threatened by their experience of anger (intrapsychic) and concerned about others’ reactions to their anger (interpersonal).

9. The Anger Discomfort Scale • Read the list of statements that people may use to describe themselves. • For each item, use the scale that beset indicates how you generally feel. There are no right or wrong answers. Do not spend too much time on any one statement but give the answer that seems to describe how you generally feel.

10. The Anger Discomfort Scale • Scale: • 1=almost never • 2=sometimes • 3=often • 4=almost always

11. The Anger Discomfort ScaleScoring • reverse score the numbers before items 5, 10, and 11 (1 = 4, 2 = 3, 3 = 2, 4 = 1), • Then, total the numbers for all 15 items. • Scores can range from 15 to 60 • higher scores reflecting greater discomfort with one’s own anger. • Undergraduates obtained a mean ADS score of 30.6. There was no significant sex difference.

12. Handling anger • Wait: Your physiological response or arousal of anger will decrease if you wait • Stop ruminating or thinking over and over about the situation • Deal with issues as they come along in a rational manner • Don’t “stifle” and then “explode”

13. Handling anger • What if someone has actually hurt you – Some research suggest forgiveness is the best approach (Witvliet, 2001)