Access Type

Open Access Thesis

Date of Award

January 2013

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Mark A. Lumley

Abstract

Researchers have used the Anger Expression Inventory (AEI), Ambivalence of Emotional Expression Questionnaire (AEQ), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale 20 (TAS) self-report measures to draw conclusions about relationships between emotion regulation and many other variables, but there is an insufficient amount of validation evidence about these measures. After first filling out the self-report measures, 75 participants with chronic low back pain completed a videotaped anger induction paradigm, in order to provoke the naturalistic experience of anger. Participants were next given the opportunity to express their anger to the experimenter, in either a guided or unguided condition. We then coded the videos to rate the amount of anger and anxiety expressed by the participants both verbally and non-verbally. Correlations among the predictor variables and behavioral variables showed that Anger-Out and TAS were positively correlated with anger, and Anger-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 than theorized, and calls into question the validity of the AEQ.

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