The Construct of Machiavellianism: Twenty Years Later

In endeavoring to refine and clarify the nature of anger as a psychological construct, Spielberger, Jacobs, Russell, and Crane (1983) adapted and applied Trait–State Anxiety Theory (Spielberger, 1966, 1972) to the concept of anger and developed scales for measuring state and trait anger (Spielberger, 1988) and anger expression (Spielberger, Krasner, & Solomon, 1988). State anger (S-Anger) refers to a transitory emotional–physiological condition consisting of subjective feelings of anger and activation of the autonomic nervous system, either at a particular moment or over a short period of time. S-Anger can vary in intensity, from little or no anger to mild or moderate emotional states (e.g., annoyed, irritated, frustrated), to intense levels of affective arousal (e.g., furious, enraged); and from minimal physiological arousal to marked levels of sympathetic activation, increased skeletal and facial muscle tone, and release of adrenal hormones. S-Anger may also fluctuate over time as a function of perceived affronts, injustice, insults, and–or frustration.