Abstract
Expression of anger among Thais: Some preliminary findings
H.W. Gardiner
An investigation was carried out to classify-in terms of frequency and acceptability and non-acceptability-the various methods by which Thais reportedly deal with problems of hostility and aggression, In addition, to obtaining responses to a thirty items scale from 120 subjects (60 males and 60 females), verbal and written accounts of specific anger situations and the resulting behaviors were secured. There was more agreement between males and females as to what were acceptable forms of expression than those that were considered to be unacceptable. The two most acceptable methods for both groups were "facial expression" and "keeping calm". Popular among females (ranked third), but not reported among males, was "crying" behavior. Males considered "slapping" and "gambling" to be the most unacceptable forms of behavior while females selected "drinking" and "injure self". Significant differences were found between the two groups with regard to the dimension of acceptability-non-acceptability for only three forms of expression-crying, shooting, and fighting. In each instance the difference was significant at the .01 level. Implications of these results were discussed within the context of Thai culture and a number of further studies were suggested.