Michelle Augustin and Greg Futral both graduated with their doctorates in Counseling Psychology this month. They were valuable members of the lab, and their contributions will be missed even as we wish them the best moving ahead with their careers.

Michelle's dissertation, "A Psychometric Investigation of the Young Adult Social Behavior Scale (YASB)," was a confirmatory factor analysis and validation of a self-report measure of relational aggression suitable for college students. Greg's dissertation, "Increasing Readiness to Change Anger: A Motivational Group Intervention," involved a treatment study in which a brief motivational enhancement group was compared with a no-treatment control.

Tags: relational aggression, motivation, alumni

Although the scientific study of anger has received less attention than other emotional problems (e.g., anxiety or depression), there is evidence that some anger management programs are effective in reducing unhealthy anger and improving adaptive coping skills. Unfortunately, the quality of anger management programs is variable. Some are based on solid scientific research; others have not been subjected to study and may rely on unproven or even potentially harmful methods.

Anger Management

The best anger management programs are based on a cognitive-behavioral framework. Briefly, cognitive-behavioral theories tell us that our emotional reactions are often influenced by how we interpret events, rather than the events themselves. For example, when I become angry because the car in front of me is going too slow, the anger I experience is more closely tied to my beliefs about how others should drive (i.e., as quickly as I want them to) than it is to the situation itself.

Cognitive-behavioral anger management programs tend to focus on teaching individuals how to reduce their emotional and physiological arousal, think in less anger-provoking ways, and/or express their anger in more productive ways. Such programs often emphasize the development of self-control strategies.

Tips for Selecting an Anger Management Program

When selecting an anger management program, here are some things to consider:

• Cognitive-behavioral programs tend to have the most research support and are both brief and cost effective. Many of these programs can be completed in as few as 8-12 counseling sessions.
• Some practitioners still use methods that have been discredited and may cause harm. Programs that involve the uncontrolled, aggressive expression of anger (e.g., punching pillows or using foam bats to strike objects) may provide short-term relief but tend to increase the likelihood of future problems, including aggressive behavior.
• Just because some anger management programs have research support does not mean that all practitioners will use them skillfully. It is important to be comfortable with the treatment provider you select.
• Anger management is not designed to eliminate one's angry feelings or control others' behavior. Instead, it is aimed at helping the client reduce the intensity and frequency of their angry feelings and learn to express anger in more positive ways.

Tags: anger management

Despite the beneficial aspects of mild to moderate anger, most of us are well aware that anger can sometimes get out of control, fueling aggression and leading to problems with one’s health, relationships, occupational performance, and overall quality of life. This is what we mean by unhealthy, maladaptive, or dysfunctional anger.

In determining whether someone is experiencing the sort of anger that might lead to these problems, psychologists often assess the intensity, frequency, and duration of angry episodes relative to others (i.e., trait anger), how someone expresses and manages his or her anger (i.e., anger expression and control), and the type of consequences angry episodes have produced. Such an evaluation can be very helpful in planning an effective course of treatment.

Some people who have problems with anger already realize it. They may feel out of control or act in ways that seem uncontrolled or frightening to others. They may experience negative effects of their anger in important relationships, work, or other roles. And they have often had others express concerns about their anger. For them, the initial challenge is likely to involve determining how best to help them reduce their level of anger arousal and learn effective anger control strategies.

Other people who have problems with anger are not aware that their anger is excessive or that their reactions differ from those of others. In many cases, they blame others for their anger (e.g., “If others would just do what I wanted, I wouldn’t be angry all the time.”). It may also be that they are simply unaware of how their behavior affects those around them. Their initial challenge may be one of recognizing that they have a problem and developing the motivation to change.

Tags: anger management

Dr. Ryan Martin, a previous doctoral student of mine who is now a Professor of Psychology and an Associate Dean for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay, has put together a new blog. Titled All the Rage, Dr. Martin's blog deals with the science of anger. He plans to use it as a vehicle for disseminating information to the public about the scientific study of anger.

Misinformation about anger is so widespread that I think this could be a great resource for anyone interesting in learning more about it.

Tags: alumni

Michael Moore, a doctoral student from the Anger and Traffic Psychology Lab who is now completing his predoctoral internship at the Memphis VA Medical Center, successfully defended his dissertation last week, "Further Validation of the Larson Driver Stress Profile." Congratulations soon-to-be-Dr. Moore!

The Driver Stress Profile (DSP; Larson, 1996) is a 40-item self-report measure of four constructs thought to be relevant to aggressive driving: competitiveness, anger, impatience, and punishing other drivers. Michael's dissertation provided initial evidence of the construct validity of a version of this measure after refining it through exploratory factor analysis. Although additional work is needed before this modified version of the DSP can be considered complete, initial results are promising. The revised DSP was found to predict motor vehicle accidents, aggressive driving, risky driving, and driving anger expression. In fact, the DSP was able to explain an additional 20% of the variance in aggressive driving even after accounting for gender, miles driven/week, driving anger, and sensation seeking.

Tags: aggressive driving, instrument development, sensation seeking, driving anger

Anger is a common emotion experienced by everyone. Surveys of college students and community adults show that most people feel at least mildly angry several times a week and that approximately 33% experience daily anger. Thus, anger is something with which we all have considerable experience.

Although the prevention and treatment of dysfunctional anger are important topics and areas of interest for the lab, it is important to recognize that not all anger is maladaptive or should be targeted for reduction. In fact, mild to moderate anger can have a number of positive effects. For example, anger often energizes individuals to address injustices, assert themselves, and solve problems in their relationships with others. These positive effects remind us that the goal of anger management programs should not be the elimination of one's angry feelings. Without the ability to experience and express anger, one would be poorly equipped to meet many basic needs.

For more information about healthy anger and why it is so important, check out The Upside of Anger, a TEDx Talk by Dr. Ryan Martin, an alumnus of the Anger and Traffic Psychology Lab who is now the Chair of the Psychology Department at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay.

Tags: anger management

I was just informed by Elsevier that a 2005 article we published in Accident Analysis and Prevention was one of the top 20 most cited articles from this journal published between 2005 and 2010. The citation of the article is:

Dahlen, E. R., Martin, R. C., Ragan, K., & Kuhlman, M. M. (2005). Driving anger, sensation seeking, impulsiveness, and boredom proneness in the prediction of unsafe driving. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 37(2), 341-348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2004.10.006

The study examined the role of impulsivity, sensation seeking, boredom proneness, and driving anger as predictors of aggressive and risky driving in a college student sample. In addition to providing further support for the utility of the Driving Anger Scale (DAS; Deffenbacher et al., 1994) in the assessment of unsafe driving behavior, we found that sensation seeking, boredom proneness, and impulsivity resulted in incremental improvements to the predictive model over and above driving anger. Overall, this helps to strengthen the case for using multiple predictors to understand risky and aggressive driving.

It is great to know that others have found this paper useful in their research.

Tags: driving anger, sensation seeking, impulsivity, boredom proneness