Provoking anger and gaining compliance with assertive versus aggressive responses

The hypothesis that assertive responses provoke less anger and elicit more compliance than aggressive responses was investigated by having subjects respond to audio-taped interpersonal conflict situations. Two of the situations involved confederate statements constructed to conform with two models of appropriate assertive content. Two of the situations involved confederate statements constructed so as to be aggressive in nature. One behavioral and three self-report measures indicated that assertive responses elicited greater compliance and provoked less anger than aggressive statements.