Gender Differences in the Relationship between Anger and Aggressive Behavior

Summary & key facts

This study tested how anger and aggressive behavior relate for men and women. 424 adults did a behavioral aggression task, and 304 of them also filled out a questionnaire about their usual (trait) anger. The researchers found that men and women showed similar amounts of aggressive behavior overall. But for men — especially when provocation was low — higher trait anger was linked to more aggression. That link was not found for women. The authors note the sample was drawn from a large Midwestern university, which may limit how far the results apply.

Key facts:

• Total sample: 424 adults completed a behavioral aggression task.
• Trait anger questionnaire: a subset of 304 participants completed the anger measure.
• Overall levels of aggressive behavior were similar for men and women in this study.
• For men, aggression was significantly associated with trait anger at low levels of provocation.
• At high levels of provocation the relationship between trait anger and aggression for men was only a statistical trend (not a clear significant result).
• For women, trait anger was not significantly associated with aggressive behavior in this study.
• The study used a behavioral aggression task to measure aggression and a questionnaire to measure trait anger.
• Participants were adults at a large Midwestern university, which may limit how well results apply to other groups.

Abstract

Evidence is mixed regarding differences in prevalence of aggressive behavior, with many (though not all) studies suggesting that men are more aggressive than women. Furthermore, while aggression often occurs in response to provocation-induced anger, this relationship may be stronger for men; women may be more likely to engage in non-aggressive (e.g., affiliative) behaviors in response to provocation, particularly at low-level provocation. This study examined gender differences in aggression as well as differences in the relationship between anger and aggression for men and women. Adults (N = 424) participated in a behavioral aggression task, and a subset of participants (n = 304) completed a questionnaire assessing trait levels of anger as part of a larger study at a large midwestern university. Results indicated that while men and women aggressed at similar levels, aggression was significantly associated with trait anger for men only, at low levels of provocation, with only a trending relationship for high provocation. This suggests that while men and women may be equally aggressive in certain situations, this behavior may be differentially associated with anger.

Topics

Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Intimate Partner and Family Violence

Categories

Psychology Social Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Aggression Alternative medicine Anger Clinical psychology Computer science Developmental psychology Human factors and ergonomics Injury prevention Medical emergency Medicine Pathology Poison control Programming language Provocation test Psychology Suicide prevention Trait