Anger Expression: Evaluating The Construct Validity Of Several Emotion Regulation Measures

ANGER EXPRESSION: EVALUATING THE CONSTRUCT VALIDITY OF SEVERALEMOTION REGULATION MEASURESby MATTHEW J. JASINSKIDecember 2013Advisor: Dr. Mark A. LumleyMajor: Psychology (Clinical)Degree: Master of ArtsResearchers have used the Anger Expression Inventory (AEI), Ambivalence ofEmotional Expression Questionnaire (AEQ), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale 20 (TAS)self-report measures to draw conclusions about relationships between emotion regulationand many other variables, but there is an insufficient amount of validation evidence aboutthese measures. After first filling out the self-report measures, 75 participants with chroniclow back pain completed a videotaped anger induction paradigm, in order to provoke thenaturalistic experience of anger. Participants were next given the opportunity to expresstheir anger to the experimenter, in either a guided or unguided condition. We then codedthe videos to rate the amount of anger and anxiety expressed by the participants bothverbally and non-verbally. Correlations among the predictor variables and behavioralvariables showed that Anger-Out and TAS were positively correlated with anger, andAnger-In and AEQ were independent of anger. The findings support the validity of Anger-Out, suggest that Anger-In and TAS measure slightly different constructs that thantheorized, and calls into question the validity of the AEQ.