STAXI-2: An Inventory To Assess Anger

Despite being one of the basic emotions, common to all human beings, anger has been relegated in terms of the study of its components and its ways of coping. In this context, the STAXI-2 is a comprehensive assessment instrument that addresses anger in all its facets. And so it provides relevant information in different areas of psychology.

Anger, and its management, has been shown to be closely related to vascular diseases, hypertension, and type A behavior pattern. It was this fact that motivated the investigation of this concept and the construction of an instrument capable of measuring the variables involved.

Anger is also of great relevance in clinical psychology (as it is linked to various anxiety and mood disorders) and in other areas such as work or educational psychology.

In short, the presence of this emotion and the abilities of each person to relate to it, have an influence on their health, both physical and mental.

STAXI-2: what does it evaluate?

The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-2) performs a deep and thorough analysis of all the facets that make up this emotion. It consists of six scales that allow deepening the personal experience that each individual has of anger:

• State of Anger: this scale addresses the psychobiological emotional state that occurs at certain times. These subjective feelings are generated by perceiving an injustice, an inadequate treatment or a frustration to our plans. They can vary in intensity, from mild anger to intense rage, depending on the individual’s perception of the situation.

• Anger Trait: measures individual tendency to experience anger. That is, the predisposition to judge a wide variety of situations as frustrating and generating anger. People with high anger trait scores tend to experience states of anger more often.
• External expression of anger: evaluates the way in which the person expresses his anger, either through words or aggressive behavior. And analyze how often these expressions occur.
• Internal expression of Anger : this scale accounts for the times in which the individual experiences the emotion, but does not externalize it. That is, it suppresses it.
• External Anger Control: evaluates how often anger towards objects or people in the environment is avoided.
• Internal Anger Control : it deals with the ability of the subject to manage his emotion internally, through calm.

What information does it provide?

The information provided by this instrument allows us to infer the greater or lesser tendency to experience anger or to perceive situations as frustrating.

It informs us of the main strategies that the individual sets in motion when they come into contact with this emotion. It allows us to check if their actions are functional or constitute mismanagement, which can lead to health problems.

In addition to the scores corresponding to each of the scales, this test provides a general index of Expression of Anger. It is obtained through the responses provided by the subject to the last scales and allows a distinction to be made between normal or problematic personality.

STAXI-2 application

This instrument can be used in adults and adolescents from 16 years of age (as long as they meet minimum reading comprehension requirements).

To assess anger in younger populations, there is the STAXI-NA, a specially adapted test.

The STAXI-2 is a relatively quick and easy-to-apply inventory. Completing it usually takes approximately 10-15 minutes. For this, the individual is presented with a copy to be completed, with 49 items. You must respond to them, using a 4-point scale, depending on the frequency or intensity with which you experience and express anger.

The application can be done individually or collectively, depending on the area in which it is being used. As we mentioned before, this inventory can be useful, for example, to measure job burnout, stress in teachers or aggressive behaviors in students.

In short, it is a very complete instrument with extensive research work that supports its validity. Its usefulness goes beyond the area of ​​health for which it was designed and opens the doors to the evaluation of anger and its repercussions in other fields.