6533b86efe1ef96bd12cb1d9

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Experiencing anger in a social interaction: The role of personality

Tamara M. PfeilerThomas KubiakHannelore Weber

subject

media_common.quotation_subject05 social sciences050109 social psychologyAngerbehavioral disciplines and activitiesNeuroticism050105 experimental psychologySocial relationmental disordersbehavior and behavior mechanismsTraitState angerPersonality0501 psychology and cognitive sciencesBig Five personality traitsAnger inPsychologypsychological phenomena and processesGeneral Psychologymedia_commonClinical psychology

description

Abstract Although prior research has shown a relationship between the Big Five personality factors and trait anger, evidence that links these personality traits to the experience of state anger is rare. The current study investigated the effect of the Big Five personality traits on the state anger experience after a provocation in a staged social interaction and how status differences moderate these personality effects in an academic sample. In the equal status condition (N = 131, 56% female, aged 18 to 37) participants were provoked by a confederate; in the low status condition (N = 125, 55% female, aged 18 to 51) anger was instead provoked by the experimenter. In both conditions, individuals higher in neuroticism experienced more state anger after being provoked. In contrast to our hypotheses, no status effects or interaction effects between personality traits and status condition influenced the anger experience. Our findings illustrate the importance of neuroticism in understanding how people react to provocations in social situations, while status had no impact on the anger experience.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2018-10-01Personality and Individual Differences
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.04.045