The validation of the Anger Implicit Association Test

Abstract

The present study investigated the Anger IAT as a valid measure of anger. In order to answer this question the relationship between the Anger IAT and traditional measures of anger, anxiety, and self esteem were examined for convergent and divergent validity. It was hypothesized that the Anger IAT measure would be moderately to highly correlated with the State Trait Anger Expression Inventory- 2 (STAXI-2), correlated less with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and correlated least with the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (RSES). Additionally, to demonstrate that the Anger IAT measure reduces a person??s ability to fake good, social desirability is hypothesized to have a moderating effect between the Anger IAT and the STAXI-2. A total of 60 subjects participated in this investigation, 42 of which were female and 18 were males. Furthermore, there were 20 Caucasian, 34 Hispanic, and 6 African American participants. It was found that the Anger IAT was correlated with several scales of the STAXI-2. The Anger IAT correlated less with the STAI and least with the RSES. Furthermore, it was found that the Anger IAT measure reduced the participant??s ability to fake good.