Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1995 Women and anger: the roles of gender, sex role, and feminist identity in women's anger expression and experience Susan Renee Stock-Ward Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Clinical Psychology Commons, Personality and Social Contexts Commons, Psychiatry and Psychology Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Stock-Ward, Susan Renee, "Women and anger: the roles of gender, sex role, and feminist identity in women's anger expression and experience " (1995). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 11089. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/11089 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. 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Mi 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Women and anger: The roles of gender, sex role, and feminist identity in women's anger expression and experience by Susan Renee Stock-Ward A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department: Psychology Major: Psychology Approved: Signature was redacted for privacy. Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Major Department Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Graduate College Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1995 UHI Number: 9610990 DMI Microform 9610990 Copyright 1996, by UHI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 II TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 3 The Psychology of Women 3 Sex and Gender Roles 12 Feminist Identity 20 Women and Anger 27 Anger and Depression 34 Men and Anger 36 Kopper's Work on Women and Anger 38 SUMMARY AND STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 42 METHOD 45 Participants 45 Materials 50 Demographic Questionnaire 51 State-Trait Anger Scale 51 Anger Expression Scale 55 Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory 56 Beck Depression Inventory 57 Bem Sex-Role Inventory 58 iii Feminist Identity Development Scale 61 Interpersonal Behavior Survey 62 Procedure 64 Analyses 66 RESULTS 67 Analyses of Variance 68 Cluster Analyses 99 Preliminary Analyses 99 Cluster Analysis 107 Validation of Clusters 112 DISCUSSION 121 Summary of Results 121 The Five Research Hypotheses 121 Anger and Mental Health 125 Replication of Cluster Analysis 127 Extension of Kopper (1988) 132 Limitations 132 Implications 134 REFERENCES 143 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 156 APPENDIX A: RESEARCH PROCEDURE INSTRUCTIONS 159 iv APPENDIX B: INFORMED CONSENT FORM 163 APPENDIX C: RESEARCH PACKET 165 APPENDIX D: DEBRIEFING PROCEDURES 195 APPENDIX E; HUMAN SUBJECTS PROPOSAL 198 APPENDIX F: ADDITIONAL TABLES 208 1 1 INTRODUCTION The manner in which women express and experience their anger has been a topic of interest for decades. In the popular press, women have been instructed to express their anger in a variety of ways: ignore it, appropriately manage it, protect their husbands from it, and/or voice it (Cancian & Gordon, 1988). More recently, the study of women and anger has been undertaken by professional researchers and theoreticians (e.g., Lemer, 1985; Kopper & Epperson, 1991; Biaggio, 1989; Thomas, 1989). These and other authors have hypothesized that women's expression and experience of anger is affected in significant ways by cultural mores regarding anger. For instance, traditional socialization and taboos against women expressing anger have led to a culture where women are rewarded for hiding their anger, or for expressing it indirectly. However, current theoretical work indicates that suppression or indirect expression of anger may lead to a variety of mental health problems such as depression, guilt, and unhealthy relationships. Little research has been done to test these hypotheses. In fact, when Lerner began her research for The Dance of Anaer (1985), she was surprised to find little on the topic in the Menninger Clinic library, leading her to conclude that women's anger is a somewhat taboo topic. Lerner's Dance of Anaer is well known in many clinical settings, but the empirical relationships have just begun to be 2 tested. The small amount of existing empirical literature is also somewhat contradictory. Gender differences, sex-role differences, depression, etc., can all be found as correlates to women's anger in the literature-and lack of support for these factors can be just as easily found. It will be important for a line of research to be developed that will examine similar variables across populations and time. In this way, systematic research questions can be investigated and hopefully begin to be answered. This research attempted to replicate and extend the work of Kopper and Epperson (1991) on women and anger. Specifically, this study Investigated women's experience and expression of anger, as well as the relationships between aspects of anger and feminist identity, gender, and sex-role classification. Also, correlations of anger with various indices of mental health were examined. 3 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE This study focused on several components of anger: mode of expression (or suppression), situational and trait-related anger, control of anger, proneness to anger, and anger intensity. These anger variables were first investigated as they relate to aspects of mental health, such as depression, dependency, resentment, and guilt. Secondly, relationships between anger variables and gender, sex role, and level of feminist identity were examined. Relevant literature is highlighted in the following review to provide a context for this research. This review will cover the following content areas: the psychology of women, sex and gender roles, feminist identity, and women and anger. The Psychology of Women The psychology of women is an important starting point for examining the connections between and among anger, gender roles, and developmental identity issues. More specifically, the psychology of gender, or the study of the effects of being a woman in a gendered society, will lend insight into Individuals' anger experience and expression. No discussion of the psychology of women is complete without mention of the impact of the work of Sigmund Freud. Although Freud's writings seem 4 incredibly misogynist today, it is important to remember that in many ways Freud was the originator of the psychology of women movement. Freud pioneered the idea that women might have a different psychology than men. In addition, Freud gave feminist psychologists a multitude of material against which to react-sparking new theories and further study. Embracing traditional Freudian theory often necessitates the adoption of a view of women as pathological, secondary, and as "other" than the norm (de Beauvoir, 1953). For instance, Freud described normal female sexuality as featuring incestuous rape fantasies (1919), a tendency to be dependent and submissive (1905), initial fixation of the "incorrect" sexual organ and love object (1931), and the constant self-punishment of the castration complex (1925). With assertions such as "Neurosis always has a feminine character" (In E. Freud, 1960, p. 203) and "Shame, which is considered a feminine characteristic par excellence...It seems that women have made few contributions to the discoveries and inventions in the history of civilization..." (1933, p. 119), Freud placed himself firmly in the misogynist hall of fame. However, in his later years, Freud did begin to consider the environmental influences of human behavior. His last work, published posthumously, indicates a recognition of sex as a fact of biology, but the mental experience of one's sex as a psychological phenomenon (1938). In other words, it is the psychological significance of an individual's biological