MEASURE FOR MEASURE - MALE RETALIATION COMMENSURATE WITH ANGER DEPENDS ON PROVOCATEUR GENDER AND AGGRESSION COVERTNESS

Two experiments examined the relation between anger and two different forms of aggression, as a function of target gender. Because social no rms discourage aggression toward women, men should restrain overt aggr ession toward women despite their anger. However, because covert aggre ssion minimizes the risk of accountability and social condemnation, co vert aggression and anger should be directly related irrespective of t arget gender In both experiments, male undergraduates were provoked or treated neutrally by an alleged male or female interaction partner. T he first experiment measured covert aggression. The second experiment included both covert and overt measures of aggression. Anger and cover t aggression were related directly regardless of the target's gender, but anger and overt aggression were related directly for male targets but not female targets. Implications for covert and overt aggression i n more naturalistic settings are discussed.