Given the established divergence between reflective self-reports and automatic attitudes in emotional contexts, the study investigated the relationship between explicit and implicit anger attitudes. Explicit anger was multidimensionally assessed via the ANG-TS5, encompassing ‘State Anger,’ ‘Trait Anger,’ ‘Anger Sensitivity,’ and ‘Anger Attribution,’ while implicit anger was evaluated by using the Anger Implicit Association Test (AIAT). Preliminary bivariate analyses indicated a non-significant relationship between the two measures. However, a supplementary analysis of task performance revealed that age significantly distorted reaction latencies, particularly under incompatible conditions. After statistically isolating this confounding influence of age, the analysis revealed a significant inverse relationship between explicit and implicit anger. This association was primarily driven by Anger Sensitivity, suggesting that individuals with heightened awareness of anger’s detrimental consequences possess a more robust automatic pairing of anger with negative valence. The findings of this study provide a profound understanding of anger and offer critical implications for future research concerning the persistence, evaluation, and therapeutic intervention of anger-related constructs.
Han et al. (2026) studied this question.