STAXI-2

Aim: To assess state anger, trait anger, and anger expression using State-Trait Anger
Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2) by Spielberger (1999)

Introduction:

- Definition of anger
Anger is an emotion characterised by antagonism toward someone or something you
feel has deliberately done you wrong. (APA,2024)

-Difference between anger & aggression

Anger is an emotional response to a perceived threat, frustration, or injustice. It is
characterised by physiological arousal and subjective feelings of dissatisfaction or
antagonism (Cohn and Tronick, 1983). This can motivate us to do something about the
situation.
Aggression is the external expression of anger through hostile or violent actions. It can
be physical (hitting, pushing) or verbal (yelling, insults, threats) (Siegel, 1999). The
purpose of aggression is to harm or control another person or object.
Anger is a complex emotion that manifests itself not only in our thoughts and feelings
but also in our bodies. When we experience anger, a cascade of physiological changes
occurs, preparing us to deal with the perceived threat or injustice. The physiological
response to anger is primarily driven by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) which
activates the body's fight-or-flight response (Cannon, 1929). This response is an
evolutionary adaptation designed to help us deal with immediate threats. It unfolds in
the following ways- hormonal surge, Increased Heart Rate and Blood Pressure,
enhanced blood flow, Increased Respiration: Breathing becomes faster and shallow,
muscle tension and sweat production.

- Physiological response to anger

Anger, a potent emotion, triggers a cascade of psychological responses within us. The
Fight-or-Flight Response: When angered, our bodies experience a surge of hormones
like adrenaline and cortisol (Cacioppo et al., 2015). This activation, rooted in
evolutionary responses (Ohman & Mineka, 2003), prepares us to confront or flee
perceived threats. Cognitive Appraisals and Emotional Intensity: Lazarus (1991)
emphasises the role of cognitive appraisals in shaping anger. Our interpretation of a
situation influences the intensity of anger we feel. For instance, perceiving an insult as
intentional might evoke stronger anger than attributing it to a misunderstanding. The
Spectrum of Anger Expression:
Anger can manifest in various ways, impacting our thoughts, behaviours, and
relationships:
Assertive Anger: This healthy expression involves clearly communicating our needs
and boundaries without aggression (Smith et al., 2018).
Passive Anger: Bottling up anger can lead to resentment and physical health problems
(Spielberger, 1988).
Aggressive Anger: Hostile expressions of anger, like yelling or violence, can damage
relationships and lead to legal consequences (Novaco & Frazier, 1972).

- Psychological response to anger

Psychological responses to anger involve emotional and mental reactions that can
influence behaviour and well-being. Common responses include:

1. Suppression: Consciously holding back angry feelings. For instance, a person

might smile and remain silent during an argument to avoid conflict, which can
lead to increased stress (Gross & Levenson, 1993).
2. Catharsis: Releasing anger through aggressive actions or fantasies, such as
hitting a punching bag, though it may not always reduce anger (Bushman,
2002).
3. Mindfulness: Paying attention to the present moment without judgement, which
can help reduce the intensity of anger by promoting acceptance and reducing
emotional reactivity (Arch & Craske, 2006).

- Cognitive response to anger

People are capable of having both conscious and unconscious cognitive responses to
anger. Cognitive responses to anger involve how individuals interpret and think about
anger-inducing situations. These responses can influence the intensity and duration of
anger. Common cognitive responses include:

1. Cognitive Reappraisal: Reframing the situation to change its emotional impact.

For instance, viewing a colleague's criticism as constructive feedback rather
than a personal attack can reduce anger (Gross, 2002).
2. Attribution: Determining the cause of the anger-inducing event. Blaming
external factors (e.g., "They must be having a bad day") rather than internal
traits (e.g., "They are mean") can mitigate anger (Kassinove & Tafrate, 2002).
3. Rumination: Continuously thinking about the anger-inducing event, which can
exacerbate and prolong anger (Sukhodolsky et al., 2001).

- Theories of Anger
 1. Recalibration Theory of Violent Anger
The recalibrational theory of anger is a computational-evolutionary model that
maintains that the function of anger is to recalibrate individuals who place insufficient
weight on the welfare of the angry individual when making decisions, i.e. anger raises
the target's welfare tradeoff ratio (WTR), (Societal institutions echo evolved human
nature: An analysis of the Western criminal justice system and its relation to anger,
Aaron Sell, Psychology, Sociology, Evolution and Human Behavior, 2023)

2. A Dual Threshold Model of Anger

The dual threshold model includes an expression threshold, which is crossed when
individuals communicate rather than suppress anger, and an impropriety threshold,
which is crossed if expressed anger violates organisational emotion display norms.
This is a theoretical model of contextualised anger expression to challenge prominent
antisocial, aggression, and individual actor perspectives reflected in literature, and it
asserts that organisational observers’ judgments and reactions help determine whether
anger results in more negative or positive outcomes (A Dual Threshold Model of
Anger in Organizations (2007)).

- Definitions for state and trait anger

Trait anger
Trait anger is described as a dispositional characteristic where one experiences
frequent anger, with varying intensity (e.g., mild irritability, intense rage), and is often
accompanied by related negative emotions such as envy, resentment, hate, and disgust
(Buss, 1961; Siegman & Smith, 1994).

State anger
State anger refers to a temporary feeling of annoyance, frustration, or rage. It's a
normal human emotion that arises when you perceive something as unfair,
threatening, or irritating. Unlike trait anger, which is a personality characteristic of
being easily angered, state anger is situational and fades over time. Jerry L.
Deffenbacher and his colleagues wrote, “affectively, state anger is experienced along a
continuum from little to no anger through mild to moderate emotions such as
irritation, annoyance, and frustration to highly emotionally charged states such as fury
and rage” (Deffenbacher, et al., 1996, p. 131).

- Differences between state and trait anger

Spielberger's state-trait theory of anger

The State-Trait Anger Theory, developed by Charles Donald Spielberger (1927-2013),

is a psychological theory that examines the nature and dynamics of anger. Affect
incidences that we experience as anger are common to all humans. Emotion is an
essential survival mechanism to protect against threats. Spielberger explains that
“normally emotions such as anxiety and anger…pain and joy interact to motivate a
person to a goal directed action” (Spielberger & Reheiser, 2009).
State-Trait Anger Theory examines individual variations of expressions of anger,
including intensity, duration, and frequency of expressions of anger. The state-trait
elements of the theory separates states of anger expressed in specific incidents from
personality traits that lead to more frequent, higher intensity, and longer duration of
incidents of angry emotional states.

- Two other scales for assessment of anger

1. The Multidimensional Anger Inventory (MAI) - is a tool developed by Dr.
Judith M. Siegel to assess different dimensions of anger, including frequency,
duration, intensity, and expression. The MAI is a 30-item scale of anger and
hostility which includes scales: frequency, duration, magnitude, mode of
expression, and direction of expression. The MAI is administered by asking
individuals to rate how often they experience different feelings and behaviours
related to anger on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from “never” to “always”.
The Multidimensional Anger Inventory (MAI) is a reliable and valid measure
of anger and hostility in various populations. The MAI scale has adequate
test–retest reliability (r = .75) and high internal consistency (alpha = .84 and
.89 for the 2 samples), (Siegel, J. M. (1986). The Multidimensional Anger
Inventory).

2. The Buss–Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI) - is a questionnaire to measure

aggression and hostility levels. It was developed by Drs. Arnold Buss and
Marion Durkee in the 1950s. The BDHI consists of 75 items that are divided
into 8 subscales: Hostile Attitude, Indirect Hostility, Verbal Hostility, Physical
Hostility, Resentment, Irritability, Suspicion, and Antisocial Attitude. Each
item is rated on a five–point scale ranging from “not at all“ to “very much.”
The BDHI includes three components: Hostile Attitude, Indirect Hostility,
Direct Hostility. The BDHI has good psychometric properties. It has high
internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity. The BDHI has
also been shown to be sensitive to change over time, (Buss, A.H. and Durkee,
A. (1957) An Inventory for Assessing Different Kinds of Hostility).

- Uses/application of STAXI-2
 1. MEASURES INTENSITY AND FREQUENCY- The State Anger scale
assesses the intensity of anger as an emotional state at a particular time. The
Trait Anger scale measures how often angry feelings are experienced over time.
The Anger Expression and Anger Control scales assess four relatively
independent anger-related traits: expression of angry feelings toward other
persons or objects in the environment, holding in or suppressing angry feelings,
controlling angry feelings by preventing the expression of anger toward other
persons or objects in the environment, and controlling suppressed angry
feelings by calming down or cooling off.
2. REAL LIFE APPLICABILITY- The STAXI-2 helps counsellors identify
individuals who tend to suppress their anger, making it a useful tool in
identifying those at risk for physical health issues such as hypertension, as well
as mental health issues.
3. RELIABLE AND VALID- The technical manual presents correlations of the
State Anger and Trait Anger scales with other personality scales. It also
provides evidence supporting validity of the anger expression scales. Norms
are available for adolescents (16 to 19 years), adults, and psychiatric patients.

Methodology
A. Item description
1. Item domains: STAXI-2 is a test designed by Spielberger in 1999. The
test measures the aggression and hostility in the individual. The three
domains are state anger, trait anger and anger expression.
2. Norms: All the norms were followed as per manual
3. Reliability: Internal consistency coefficients for the scale have ranged
from 0.86 to 0.95; test-retest reliability coefficients have ranged from
0.65 to 0.75 over a 2-month interval (Spielberger et al, 1983).
Test-Retest coefficients for this measure in the latest study ranged from
0.69 to 0.89 (Spielberger et al, 1989).
4. Validity: Considerable evidence attests to the construct and concurrent
validity of the scale (Spielberger et al, 1989).

B. Scoring: Percentile ranks and T scores corresponding to STAXI-2 scale and

subscale scores can be found using the normative tables in Appendixes A and B,
respectively. Locate the appropriate normative table based on the examinee's age and
gender. The STAXI2 yields scores for 6 scales, 5 subscales, and the Anger Expression
Index. The raw score is converted into percentiles.

C.Demographic Details
 Name : LV
Age : 22
Gender : female
Education : B.Com, currently studying in for an MBA
Occupation : student , part time working in a private firm
Ordinal position : 1st born
Family structure : nuclear
Genogram

Mother’s education : B.Com , M.Com

Mother’s occupation : Homemaker
Father’s education : B.Com , MBA
Father’s occupation : employee of a private firm
Geographical area : Urban - MUMBAI
Socio-economic status : upper middle class

D. Case History:
The participant is a 22 year old female, who is from Mumbai, and is currently
studying MBA and is working a part time job in a private firm. She is the first born in
her family and has a brother who is 2 years younger to her. They used to originally
live in a joint family, till the time her grandparents passed away. Her grandparents
were very strict, but her parents made sure that she and her brother never experienced
the heat. She had a pretty normal childhood, she has always been a very outgoing and
enthusiastic girl. She had many friends growing up. She had to face many difficulties
as an elder girl child in her family and face her grandmother’s wrath at times. Hence
she faced many anger related issues such as she used to get angry really quick and she
herself used to not understand how to manage her anger. She has been top counselling
inorder for her to learn to manage her anger. Her issue with anger was not very
extreme but she and her mother felt the need for counselling. Since then she has been
becoming better at anger management. Along with that she also mentioned that it's not
like she never gets angry but rather she has created her own ways to deal with anger.
She has learnt to try to consider other’s perspective in any argument, and not be stuck
with horse’s view.
 E. Materials Required
1. Pencil, Eraser
2. MSE sheet
3. Consent form.
4. STAXI-2 Questionnaire
5. STAXI-2 Answer key
6. STAXI-2 Manual

Procedure
A. Arrangement of materials: Arrange all the materials carefully, Leader Form,
Rater Form, pen/pencil, proper seating arrangement, participant was brought to
the room and seated comfortably.

B. Precautions : The following precautions were taken:

a. Elimination of all external stimuli that could affect the conduction of the
test.
b. Choosing an area with proper Sunlight and Light and Ventilation.
c. Appropriate temperature and comfortable seating space.

C. Instructions: The following instructions were given to the participant: “In

addition to this Item Booklet you should have a STAXI-2 Rating Sheet. Before
beginning, enter your name, gender, and age; today's date; years of education
completed, your marital status, and your occupation in the spaces provided at
the top of the STAXI-2 Rating Sheet. This booklet is divided into three Parts.
Each Part contains a number of statements that people use to describe their
feelings and behaviour. Please note that each Part has different directions.
Carefully read the directions for each Part before recording your responses on
the Rating Sheet. There are no right or wrong answers. In responding to each
statement, give the answer that describes you best. DO NOT ERASE! If you
need to change your answer, mark an "X" through the incorrect response and
then fill in the correct one.”
The following instructions were given to the participant for Part I of the test.
‘A number of statements that people used to describe themselves are given
below. Read each statement and blacken the appropriate circle on the rating
sheet to indicate how you feel right now. There are no right or wrong answers.
Do not spend too much time on any one statement. Mark the answer that best
describes your present feelings.’
The following instructions were given to the participant for part II of the test.
‘Read each of the following statements that people have used to describe
 themselves, and then blacken the appropriate circle to indicate how you
generally feel or react. There are no right or wrong answers. Do not spend too
much time on any one statement. Mark the answer that best describes how you
generally feel or react’.
The following instructions were given to the participant for part III of the test.
‘Everyone feels angry or furious from time to time, but people differ in the
ways that they react when they are angry. A number of statements are listed
below which people use to describe their reactions when they feel angry or
furious. Read each statement and then blacken the appropriate circle to indicate
how often you generally react or behave in the manner described when you are
feeling angry or furious. There is no right or wrong. Do not spend too much
time on any one statement. Answers’.

D. Actual carrying out: Material for administration was procured and the
participant was brought to the lab. The participant was seated comfortably. He
was Informed about her rights as a participant and the consent form was signed.
The instructions for the test were given and the test was administered. The
participant was debriefed and escorted out of the lab. Lastly Scoring and
Interpretation was done as per the manual and the graph was plotted.

E. Observations : The participant was very calm and composed during the entire
process of conduction of the test. He was rather quick with his responses and
very confident with his answers. Even while taking the Case History He was
open to share his experiences.

F. Retrospective Report: The participant quite enjoyed the test and specifically
mentioned that she would like to answer many such tests

Scoring

Scale Raw score Percentile Interpretation

State Anger

S-Ang 15 35 Normal

S-Ang/F 5 40 Normal

S-Ang/v 5 50 Normal

S-Ang/P 5 50 Normal
 Scale Raw score Percentile Interpretation

Trait Anger

T-Ang 16 35 Normal

T-Ang/T 5 30 Normal

T-Ang/R 9 55 Normal

Anger Expression and Anger Control

AX-O 16 65 Normal

AX-I 11 15 Low

AC-O 29 85 High

AC-I 31 80 High

AX Index 15 10 Low

Discussion
The aim of the investigation was to assess state anger, trait anger, and anger
expression using State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2) by Spielberger
(1999). For procedure, the materials for conduction of the test were procured and the
participant was brought to the lab. It was ensured that the participant was seated
conformably and informed about her rights as the participant. The consent form was
signed by the participant before the conduction of the test. Next, the instructions for
the test were given. The test was administered, and the participant was debriefed and
escorted out of the lab. The scoring and interpretation of the test was done according
to the norms mentioned in the manual and the profile was plotted.
State Anger measures the intensity of angry feeling and the extent to which a person
feels like expressing anger at a particular time. The participant’s raw score in state
anger was 15 and the percentile was 35 which falls in the normal range. The score for
the sub-domains in state anger are as follows - S-Ang/F is 5 with a percentile of 40,
S-Ang/v is 5 with a percentile of 50, and S-Ang/P is 5 with a percentile of 5; all
falling under the normal range The participant mentioned in the case study that she
was very calm and happy. She said that she does not feel angry at the current moment,
she is not irritated or furious. It had rather been a great day for her and hence she was
feeling good and not angry/ furious.
The Trait Anger measures how often angry feelings are experienced over time. The
participant’s raw score in trait anger was 16 and the percentile was 35 which falls in
the normal range. The raw score for the sub-domains of trait anger were as follows-
T-ang/T is 5 with a percentile of 30 and T-Ang/R is 9 with a percentile of 55; both
falling under the normal range.The participant mentioned in the case history that she
sometimes loses her temper suddenly when her efforts are unnoticed, she gets angry.
But she doesn't have a fiery temper or quick temper. The participant mentioned that
she feels angry and annoyed when she does something with a lot of hard work but still
does not get appreciation or when her efforts are unnoticed.
Anger Expression Index provides a general index of anger expression based on
responses to the AX-O, AX-I, AC-O and AC-I. the participant’s raw score for AX-O
is 16 with a percentile of 65, for AX-I is 11 with percentile of 15, for AC-O is 29 with
a percentile of 85 and for AC-I is 31 with a percentile of 80.The participants’ anger
expression index’s raw score is 15 and the percentile is 10.
Only the domains of Anger Control Outward and Inward lie in the above average
range. According to the manual, we can interpret that people with high AC-O scores
spend a great deal of energy in monitoring and preventing the outward experience and
expression of anger. While controlling outward or external manifestations of anger,
the participant mentioned that she sometimes withdraws from social situations when
she is angry. Similarly with the help of manuals we can interpret that people with high
AC-I scores expend a great deal of energy in calming down and reducing their anger
as soon as possible. The participant mentioned that whenever she gets angry, she tries
to calm down immediately, but this has led her to not put forth her opinions in front of
others, or in turn letting this go instead of trying to solve it.
The participant mentioned in the case history that she tries to control her anger, but the
anger gets piled up. She mentioned that she rarely talks about the things that make her
feel angry and does not express it. But when things pile up she does express it. She
generally withdraws from people. She mentioned that she believes in spirituality and
when she is angry she generally does some religious activities like praying in order to
calm herself down. But she has to give herself a lot of time in order to calm down.
The scores of the participant corroborate the case history.

Conclusion
The aim of the investigation is to assess state anger, trait anger, and anger expression
using State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2) by Spielberger (1999).
The test measures the aggression and hostility in the individual. It has a total of 57
items divided into 3 domains the first talks about state anger, the second talks about
trait anger and the third talks about anger expression index. The participant’s
percentile for the state anger is 35, for trait anger 35 and for the anger expression
index is 15 percentiles. This shows that the participant's anger expression is very low.
As mentioned in the case history, she has taken anger management classes. She also
mentioned that it's not like she never gets angry but rather she has created her own
ways to deal with anger. She has learnt to try to consider other’s perspective in any
argument, and not be stuck with horse’s view.

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