Three aspects of the 1992, General Strain Theory (GST) have drawn attention in the research on delinquency and crime: (1) exposure to strain increases delinquent behavior; (2) various factors condition the impact of strain on delinquency; and (3) when exposure to strain gives rise to angry emotional states, delinquent responses increase. In order to further clarify relationships between exposure to strain, developing angry emotional states in response to strain, and embracing deviant or criminal adaptations, this study explored the relationships between trait anger, strain, situational anger, and behavioral intentions to deviate with data collected from 338 university students. The study examined whether different conclusions were reached when measures of trait anger and situational anger were used in regression models, whether persons with angry temperaments were more likely to experience situational anger, and whether trait anger was predictive of behavioral intentions to deviate independent of the effects of situational anger. The students were presented with two brief scenarios describing common situations that college students may experience or have experienced. The two scenarios included fighting and shoplifting. The overwhelming majority of the students reported that the scenarios reflected realistic situations. The study included two independent variables: situational anger and trait anger, and four control variables: respondent’s prior behavior, respondent’s moral beliefs, respondent’s peer criminal activities, and sex. Two separate analyses were used to assess the role of anger in GST. The results of the study highlight the importance of situational anger as a critical influence in predicting varied forms of deviant behavior as suggested by GST. This reinforces the assertion that anger is a critical influence in the explanation of crime and deviance. The results also indicate that the measurement of anger represents a critically important issue for empirical research on GST. However, the findings suggest that models relying on trait-based indicators of anger to index situational anger may only be telling a partial story suggesting further research. References