A comparison of trait anger and depression on several variables: *Attribution style, dominance, submissiveness, 'need for power', efficacy and dependenc

Anger has not been in the forefront of research and theory development during the past century. In fact, anger has been coined "the forgotten emotion," mostly due to overlap and confusion with other constructs such as hostility, aggression and violence. Trait anger, a relatively new construct that describes someone with high proneness and frequency of angry experience, has emerged as a distinct entity, as researchers have attempted to measure it. Although many trait anger individuals are diagnosed with depression, the two pathologies may operate very differently in individuals. This study compared sample groups high in depression with sample groups high in trait anger using a cross-sectional study. A 2 (high-low anger) x 2 (high-low depression) design examined several variables: attribution style, dependency, dominance, submissiveness and "personalized need for power." In addition, a mixed design examined whether participants in these four cells responded to state measures assessing anger, sadness, dominance, "need for power," and attribution-style differentially over time following a Velten mood induction for anger. From an initial sample of 306 participants recruited from undergraduate college psychology classes, 136 participants met criteria for high-low anger and high-low depression. Results of cross-sectional analyses showed both similarities and differences among the dependent measures. High trait anger groups scored higher on measures of dominance and "need for power" than low trait anger groups. High depression groups scored higher than low depression groups on measures of internal attribution and dependency. Both high trait and high depression groups scored lower than others on measures of efficacy. Other findings demonstrated unexpected similarities among trait anger and depression. As found in the high depression group, the high trait anger group demonstrated an internal attribution style rather than an external attribution style. Like comparisons of high vs. low depression groups, the high trait anger group scored higher on measures of dependency and submissiveness than the low trait anger group. The high depression group scored higher on a measure of "need for power" than the low depression group. Results comparing state pre-test to post-test measures following a Velten anger induction indicated that all participants reported increased anger and sadness across time following the anger induction. Participants showed an increase in dominance across time following the anger induction, and an interaction effect showed that the low anger group increased in dominance at a higher rate across time when compared to the high anger group. Results did not support the notion that anger would induce external attribution style states simulating a blaming attitude.