The antecedents of anger in a sample of college students

Eighty-three college students were surveyed in an attempt to identify the situations that elicit anger or a loss of temper. The 356 responses were sorted into seven rational categories with substantial interrater reliability. There were no significant sex differences; however, there were more antecedents reported for anger than for loss of temper. On a self-rating scale a high percent of Ss gave a benign report on the frequency of their anger arousal and loss of temper. However, the intensity of anger was reported as greater than that of others by 32% of the males and 20% of the females.