Anger and sports participation.

This study investigated differences between 19 varsity and 20 intramural male football players in trait anger, anger expression, and sports orientation. While varsity athletes reported comparable levels of trait anger, they described significantly less internalized (anger in) and externalized anger (anger out) than intramural athletes. Also, the varsity athletes reported significantly less anger control. Significant differences were also found for competitiveness and goal orientation, but not win orientation, such that the varsity athletes were more competitive and goal-oriented than the intramural athletes. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of several alternative hypotheses.