Anger: Measurement

Randall S. Jorgensen

A linkage of emotional factors to psychological and physical health was posited in the pre-Cartesian writings of philosophers and physicians. With theoretical and methodological advances in physiology, psychology, medicine, and sociology, prescientific speculations evolved to a rigorous examination of the scientific basis of the role of the experience, management, and expression of emotion in the etiology and pathophysiology of disease. Although inconsistent findings are reported, a body of evidence is consistent with the notion that the connection between stressors and disease can be mediated by such psychosocial factors as hostility, and the experience and expression of anger. Because of the major impact of cardiovascular disorders on morbidity and mortality and the fact that traditional risk factors (e.g., cholesterol, smoking, obesity) cannot account for all incidences of these diseases, a large body of empirical evidence has accumulated across decades attempting to link anger and hostility to the development of heart disease ...

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