Anger and repression : a test of a model
Abstract
Anger or more specifically, repression, suppression or difficulties in coping with anger has achieved prominence in the literature of psychological medicine, as contributing or etiological factors in hypertension, coronary heart disease
and cancer. In past studies, 'repression', operationally defined by a pattern of high defensiveness and low trait anxiety, has been linked consistently with elevated
physiological arousal during stressful laboratory tasks, despite low self-reported disturbance. This model for operationalizing repression has also been used in studies
which demonstrate that repression is associated with restricted access to memories from childhood and that this
is particularly so for negative emotional experiences. The current research was designed to extend the previously
mentioned model of repression to anger, to test whether similar effects to those noted in research into repression of anxiety also exist in anger repression. Defensiveness
and trait anger were used to operationalize repression of anger and five groups of subjects participated in free-recall of angry, anxious and happy experiences from
childhood. Heart rate, skin conductance level and facial skin temperature were monitored throughout baseline and
recall, and subjective involvement during recall was assessed. Mixed-sex samples comprised eight 'repressors of
anger', 10 'true-low angry' and 10 'true-high angry' subjects, eight traditionally-defined 'repressors of anxiety', and six individuals who repressed both emotions;
the latter two groups being included to permit comparison of repressors of anger with repressors of anxiety and to allow
for evaluation of possible additivity of effects in repression. Results revealed no group differences in physiological, subjective arousal, or access to affective
memories. Explanations for the absence of effects similar to those in repression of anxiety were sought, both in terms
of methodology and conceptual issues examining differences between the emotions of anger and anxiety. The latter suggested that repression of these emotions may not operate in a similar manner.