Discrimination moderates associations between momentary anger coping and subsequent interpersonal interaction quality

Bibliographic Data

ID2929640
AuthorsBrandon Dial (0009-0001-6781-6237, St. John's University, corresponding author), Matthew Zawadzki (0000-0001-6968-084X, University of California, Merced), Jennifer E Graham-Engeland (0000-0002-9940-2856, The Pennsylvania State University, USA), Dakota D Witzel (0000-0001-6920-8801, The Pennsylvania State University, USA), Jonathan N Tobin (0000-0003-4722-539X, Clinical Directors Network), Andrea Cassells (0000-0001-5579-0298, Clinical Directors Network), Elizabeth Brondolo (0000-0002-7110-956X, St. John's University)
Year2025
Volume42
Issue10
Pages3034-3055
Publication date2025-07-07
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Social and Personal Relationships (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0265-4075 • E-ISSN: 1460-3608
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/02654075251358123
OpenAlexW4412079722
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited46

The interpersonal consequences of anger coping (i.e., anger-in, anger-out, anger-control) in everyday life are unclear. This ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study tested whether momentary variations in anger coping style were associated with the perceived quality of subsequent interpersonal interactions throughout the day. Lifetime discrimination and race were tested as moderators of these associations. A sample of 518 Black and Latinx participants (age range = 23-65, M = 38.9; 50.4% men, 49.6% women) completed surveys measuring demographics and perceived discrimination, and EMAs of anger coping and perceptions of interpersonal interaction quality every 20 minutes during waking hours. At a between-person level, those who reported more frequent use of either anger-in or anger-out also reported more negative interactions throughout the day. At the within-person level, observations during which people reported using anger-in (vs. anger-out or anger-control) were negatively associated with the quality of the interpersonal interaction on the subsequent observation 20 minutes later. Discrimination moderated the effects of anger coping. For individuals who reported experiencing higher levels discrimination, observations in which they held anger-in (vs. did not) were associated with worse subsequent interpersonal interaction quality. In contrast, for those who reported experiencing lower levels of discrimination, observations in which they expressed anger-outwardly (vs. did not) were associated with worse subsequent interpersonal interaction quality. This study provides evidence of person by context interactions in the interpersonal consequences of anger expression and may inform the development of culturally sensitive interventions to mitigate the effects of discrimination

Anger · Coping (psychology · Interpersonal communication · Interpersonal interaction · Interpersonal relationship · Quality (philosophy · Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Mental Health Research Topics · Psychology · Social Psychology

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