Patterns of Anger Expression among Middle-aged Korean Women: Q methodology

Yong Mi Lee; Geun Myun Kim

doi:10.4040/jkan.2012.42.7.1001

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Lee and Kim: Patterns of Anger Expression among Middle-aged Korean Women: Q methodology

Original Article

J Korean Acad Nurs 2012;42(7):1001-1008.

Published online: 12 December 2012

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2012.42.7.1001

Patterns of Anger Expression among Middle-aged Korean Women: Q methodology

Yong Mi Lee¹, Geun Myun Kim²

¹Department of Nursing, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea

²Seoul Women’s College of Nursing, Seoul, Korea

Address reprint requests to : Kim, Geun Myun Seoul Women’s College of Nursing, 287-89 Hongje-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-742, Korea Tel : +82-2-2287-1725 Fax: +82-2-2287-1701 E-mail : hellena71@hanmail.net

Received 18 May 2012 Revised 28 May 2012 Accepted 19 November 2012

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of anger expression in middle-aged Korean women by categorizing their patterns of expression while considering the complexity and multidimensionality of anger, and by investigating the characteristics relative to the patterns.

Methods

The research design was a descriptive design using Q methodology, which is a method of measuring subjectivity. A convenience sample of 42 participants aged 40–60 years and living in the community in Korea was recruited. The PC-QUANL software program (a factor analysis program for the Q technique) was used to analyze the Q-sort data.

Results

Four factors were extracted that described different expressions of anger among middle-aged Korean women; these factors explained 50.1% of the total variance. The frames of reference of the four factors were a) direct diversion, b) silent masking with remaining anger, c) self digestion, and d) controlling anger with objectification.

Conclusion

In this study has identified patterns and characteristics of anger expression among middle-aged Korean women were identified, which will aid the development of effective anger-management programs for controlling anger in this population. In future studies, it would be helpful to investigate how the patterns of anger expression established herein are associated with specific health problems such as cardiovascular disorder and cancer.

Keywords: Anger, Middle aged, Women

References

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Table 1.

Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics of the Participants (N=42)

Characteristics	n (%)	Mean
Age (year)		49.81
Duration of marriage (year)		22.48
Marital status
Married	42 (100.0)
Religion
None	7 (16.7)
Buddhist	19 (45.2)
Roman Catholic	12 (28.6)
Protestant	4 (9.5)
Education
Middle school	6 (14.3)
High school	23 (54.8)
College or university	13 (30.9)
Financial Status
High	2 (4.8)
Medium	29 (69.1)
Low	6 (14.3)
Occupation
Housewife	17 (40.5)
Full-time worker	25 (59.5)
Perceived health status
Very poor	0 (0.0)
Poor	0 (0.0)
Normal	23 (54.8)
Good	17 (40.5)
Menstrual status
Regular	19 (45.2)
Irregula	7 (16.7)
Menopause	15 (35.7)

Table 2.

Distribution of Q Samples (N=35)

	Strongly disagree			Neutral			Strongly agree
Frequency	–4	–3	–2	–1	0	+1	+2	+3	+4
Number of cards	2	3	4	5	7	5	4	3	2
Score	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Table 3.

Correlations among the Factors affecting Anger Expression in Korean Women

Variables	Factor II	Factor III	Factor IV
Factor I	.32	.46	.56
Factor II	1.00	.31	.30
Factor III		1.00	.63
Factor IV			1.00

Table 4.

Item Z-scores in the Q sample

No.	Statement	Factor I	Factor II	Factor III	Factor IV
1	I fight with the other person by breaking and throwing things.	–1.38	–0.52	–2.07	–1.81
2	I get so disgusted with the other person that their presence makes me want to kill him/her.	–1.70	0.47	–2.26	–1.40
3	Anger drives me crazy if I don’t release it, so I yell at the person.	0.71	0.15	0.10	–1.33
4	I'm too weak to hurt the person directly, so I just roar at him/her.	–0.08	1.33	–0.42	–0.54
5	I try to make the person angry also by using provoking words.	0.92	0.77	–0.29	–1.07
6	I bear my anger as much as I can I do my best to suppress my anger.	0.66	0.96	0.90	1.05
7	I express my anger toward the person immediately at the scene without thinking about the consequences.	0.37	–0.52	–1.16	–1.15
8	I stay alone so that I do not make mistakes.	0.77	0.10	0.51	0.07
9	Because I know that the problems would not be solved even if I express anger, I tend to avoid the situation.	1.00	0.91	0.27	0.90
10	I try to take my mind off my anger by watching TV alone, because I get angrier if others provoke me.	0.64	0.73	1.18	0.34
11	I try to get over it by drinking alcohol.	–0.49	–1.33	–0.50	–1.46
12	I try to verbalize indirectly without letting the other person notice my anger.	0.05	0.62	–0.15	0.97
13	I try to think positively because anger does more harm to me.	0.53	1.09	1.42	1.64
14	I try to express my anger indirectly by muttering to myself to conceal my anger toward others.	–0.47	0.13	1.44	0.21
15	I express my anger indirectly by slamming the door or the phone.	0.38	0.76	1.76	–0.56
16	Despite my efforts to conceal my anger, it appears in my face.	1.03	1.26	1.49	1.05
17	I feel like retaliating against him or her.	–0.29	1.12	–1.77	–1.34
18	I try to explain why I was angry after I have calmed down.	1.16	–0.30	0.27	1.42
19	I express my anger to people I am close to, who can understand me, but not to the person who is not close to me.	0.05	–0.81	–1.17	–0.66
20	I provoke a quarrel about other problems instead of expressing my anger to the person I'm angry with.	–1.08	–2.07	–1.31	–0.36
21	I take it out on those who are close to me under the pretense of other things.	0.03	–0.15	–0.93	0.10
22	I talk about my anger to my friends in an attempt to calm down.	0.90	1.09	0.62	1.72
23	I feel like fainting if I suppress my anger too much or for too long.	–0.85	–0.82	–0.18	0.05
24	I feel like harming myself or even committing suicide because nobody understands me.	–1.54	–1.32	–1.32	–1.74
25	I blame myself because I think it is entirely my fault.	–1.63	–1.03	0.21	0.00
26	I get depressed from frequent incidents that make me mad.	–1.63	–0.40	0.19	–0.48
27	I try to forget the person (or the thing) but it still remains in my mind as a grudge.	–1.29	1.92	–0.16	0.28
28	I cut off the relationship in order to ignore the person.	–1.11	0.58	0.39	0.52
29	I try not to obsess about the incident.	0.68	–0.54	–0.42	1.13
30	I just give myself time and then my anger melts away.	0.90	1.20	0.72	0.57
31	I try to be in peace with nature by taking a walk in a park or outside.	1.39	–0.06	0.43	1.42
32	I use shopping as a diversion.	1.31	–1.33	0.34	0.58
33	I try to get over it by exercising or doing something that I can concentrate on.	1.71	0.34	0.72	0.80
34	I calm down my anger by imagining that I express anger to the person.	–0.33	–1.98	0.36	–0.29
35	I cry in vexation.	–1.27	–1.14	0.77	–0.61

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