The Anger Expression (AX) Scale: Correlations with the State-Trait Personality Inventory and Subscale Intercorrelations

Abstract

Undergraduate students (N = 502) completed the State-Trait Personality Inventory (STPI; Spielberger et al., 1979), and the Anger Expression Scale (AX; Spielberger et al., 1986), composed of three subscales, Anger Out (AX/Out), Anger In (AX/In), and Anger Control (AX/Con), and a total score of Anger Experienced (AX/EX). Correlations between each of the scales and subscales of the personality inventories were calculated and were compared with one another. As predicted, correlations between AX/EX and STPI subscales related to anger and anxiety were significantly higher than that between AX/EX and the STPI Curiosity subscale. Furthermore, the STPI Trait Anger Temperament subscale was more highly correlated with AX/Out than were any of the other personality subscales except STPI Trait Anger. Correlations between subscales of the AX were compared with those obtained by Spielberger et al. (1985) Whereas Spielberger et al. (1985) made a case for the independence of AX/Out and AX/In by presenting correlations of essentially zero for both male and female subjects, the present study showed a significant positive correlation between the two subscales for men, casting some doubt on the independence of the subscales.