Group-Assertive Training in Treatment of Expression of Inappropriate Anger

Male volunteers reporting a history of expressing anger in an inappropriate or antisocial manner were assigned to an assertive training group or to a placebo group. Assertive training, conducted over a total of 8 hr., consisted primarily of behavior rehearsal, i.e., role-playing anger-inducing situations. On objective measures of assertion and comfort, 7 Ss in the assertive condition showed significantly greater improvement than the 6 controls. Subjective measures of discomfort and anger showed significantly greater improvement for assertive Ss than for the controls, although a significant treatment effect was not observed for self-rated confidence. Results for a global assertive inventory, while in the predicted direction, were not significant. A measure relating to internal versus external control did not yield a treatment effect. Thus, consistent with previous findings, the effects of assertive training were highly situation-specific. These results support the value of group-assertive training. They also suggest that assertive training may provide an effective means for dealing with anger which typically leads to anti-social aggression.