Effect of Trait Anger on Cognitive Processing of Emotional Stimuli

In the present experiment, the authors examined whether trait anger was associated with cognitive biases for anger-related semantic stimuli. Fifty-two undergraduate students completed the Trait Anger Scale (TAS; C. D. Spielberger, G. Jacobs, S. Russell, & R. Crane, 1983), and those reporting TAS...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of general psychology 2005-01, Vol.132 (1), p.67-80
Main Authors: Parrott, Dominic J., Zeichner, Amos, Evces, Mark
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Affect
Affectivity. Emotion
Anger
Anxiety
Bias
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition
Cognition & reasoning
cognitive processing
Effects
emotional stimuli
Emotions
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Hypotheses
lexical decision task
Male
Personality
Personality. Affectivity
Physiology
Post traumatic stress disorder
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Recognition (Psychology)
Responses
Semantics
Surveys and Questionnaires
trait anger
Vocabulary
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Summary:In the present experiment, the authors examined whether trait anger was associated with cognitive biases for anger-related semantic stimuli. Fifty-two undergraduate students completed the Trait Anger Scale (TAS; C. D. Spielberger, G. Jacobs, S. Russell, & R. Crane, 1983), and those reporting TAS scores in the upper (n = 17) or lower (n = 13) quartiles of the sample were assigned to high- and low-anger groups, respectively. The 30 participants then engaged in a lexical decision task that presented various emotion words, neutral words, and nonwords. Results indicated that individuals who reported high levels of trait anger displayed facilitative biases in the processing of semantic anger-related stimuli. This predisposition to more readily process anger-related information may underlie their propensity to experience intense feelings of anger when provoked.
ISSN:0022-1309
1940-0888
DOI:10.3200/GENP.132.1.67-80