Article Anger in families: Individual and dyadic contributions Amy G. Halberstadt 1 , Karen S. Beale 2 , Adam W. Meade 1 , Ashley B. Craig 3 , and Alison E. Parker 4 Abstract We addressed three questions about anger in the family, including the derivation of anger, the presence of anger contagion, and the degree to which family members share perceptions about anger in the family. Seventh-grade children, mothers, and fathers independently reported on the frequency and intensity of anger in six family relationships (child to mother, mother to child, child to father, father to child, mother to father, and father to mother). Analyses based on the social relations model revealed that family members share the belief that anger in the family is the result of individuals’ own styles of anger and, to a lesser degree, is created within unique relationships. Family members also recognized emotion contagion effects across all familial relationships. Overall, children, mothers, and fathers seemed to share perceptions about anger in the family with one exception. Implications for fur- ther research and family relationships are discussed. Keywords Anger, emotion contagion, families, family conflict, marital conflict, parent–child relations, social relations model 1 North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA 2 Maryville College, Maryville, TN, USA 3 3C Institute for Social Development, Cary, NC, USA 4 Innovation Research & Training, Durham, NC, USA Corresponding author: Amy G. Halberstadt, Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA. Email: amy_halberstadt@ncsu.edu. J S P R Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 2015, Vol. 32(6) 810–828 ª The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0265407514552617 spr.sagepub.com at DEAKIN UNIV LIBRARY on November 7, 2016 spr.sagepub.com Downloaded from