A cluster analysis of responses from more than 1500 college students to 53 potentially angering driving-related situations yielded a 33-item driving anger scale (alpha reliability = .90) with six reliable subscales involving hostile gestures, illegal driving, police presence, slow driving, discourtesy, and traffic obstructions. Subscales all correlated positively, suggesting a general dimension of driving anger as well as anger related to specific driving-related situations. Men were more angered by police presence and slow driving whereas women were more angered by illegal behavior and traffic obstructions, but differences compensated so there were no gender differences on total score. A 14-item short form (alpha reliability = .80) was developed from scores more highly correlated (r = .95) with scores on the long form. Driving anger may have potential value for research on accident prevention and health psychology.

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Eight studies present support for state-trait anger theory. In Studies 1-3, high-anger participants reported (a) greater anger in many different provocations, in their most angering ongoing situations, and in daily life, (b) greater anger-related physiological arousal, (c) greater state anger and dysfunctional coping in response to a visualized provocation, and (d) greater use of suppression and outward negative expression of anger. Only heart rate in the visualized provocation did not support predictions. In Studies 4-5, high-anger individuals suffered more frequent and intense anger consequences. In Studies 6-8, trait anger had higher correlations with dimensions of anger than with other emotions, cognitions, and behaviors. Few gender differences were found across studies. Results were discussed in terms of state-trait theory, convergent and discriminant validity for the Trait Anger Scale, anger expression, gender, and the implications for counseling.

Study 1 had three goals. First, it provided descriptive information about potentially important emotional and behav-This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

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