Advancing the Assessment of Anger in Sports: Gender Differences and STAXI-2 Normative Data for College Athletes

Abstract

The State Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2) is one of the most widely used anger assessments in the clinical psychology literature. It describes multiple facets of anger including: state/trait anger levels, experience of anger, anger expression, and anger control. Prior to this study, normative data was lacking for college athletes. Without normative data established, it was difficult to accurately compare the scores of college athletes to a relevant comparison group, and thus, difficult to effectively assess athletes presenting with anger issues. This study provides normative data for college athletes (N = 534), as well as an examination of anger differences between gender and compared with a “non-specfic adult” population. Male college athletes scores indicated higher anger levels on several scales, demonstrating scores indicative of being more likely to express anger and less likely to manage feeling angry and expressing anger than both the normal population and female college athletes.