MEASURES REVIEWED IN DETAIL
Buss/C0Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI)
(Buss & Durkee, 1957 ).
Variable
Historically, anger/hostility has been viewed as a multidimensional construct as reflected, for example, in the
eight dimensional BDHI measure.
Description
The BDHI is a 75-item self-report inventory (60 direct items; 15 reverse worded items) intended to measure
aspects of anger/hostility and aggression. The BDHI comprises ‘subscales labeled Assault (10 items), Indirect
[hostility] (9 items), Irritability (11 items), Negativism (5 items), Resentment (8 items), Suspicion (10 items), Guilt
(9 items), and Verbal [hostility] (13 items). So many factor-analyses of the inventory have been published that a
meta-analysis of the factor-analyses has appeared ( Bushman, Cooper, & Lemke, 1991 ), (Leenaars & Lester, 2011 ,
p. 66). Buss and Durkee (1992) reported that, ‘The correlation between social desirability and probability of
endorsing the items was .87’ (p. 345). Even after curtailment of the range of social desirability responding, the
correlation was still .74, suggesting that the early BDHI items were unduly influenced by social desirability
responding. However, after rewriting several of the items the correlation with social desirability decreased to
.27 (males) and .30 (females), respectively. Responses are on a 6-point rating scale. The BDHI has now been
translated into several different languages.
Sample
The initial factor analytic sample comprised 173 undergraduates (85 males; 88 females), item analyses were
based on 159 (85 male; 74 female) and 120 (62 male; 58 female) undergraduates, and social desirability
responding was investigated using 120 undergraduate ‘judges’ (85 male; 35 female) and 120 undergraduate
respondents (62 male; 58 female), respectively. Buss and Durkee (1957) provided norms for 173 undergraduates
(85 males; 88 females). More recently, a Dutch adaptation of the BDHI was based on a sample of 463 undergradu-
ates ( Lange et al., 1995 ), and a Spanish adaptation of the BDHI has also been constructed ( Oquendo et al., 2001 ).
Reliability
Internal Consistency
Items selected for inclusion in the 75-item BDHI satisfied ‘internal consistency criteria’. KR-20 coefficients were
reported for the two higher-order factors as follows: Covert anger/hostility (.76) and Overt aggression (.72) (see
Pittsburgh Mind Body Center (PMBC) website /C0Retrieved January 16, 2014). http://pmbcii.psy.cmu.edu/core_c/
Buss-Durkee_Hostility_Inventory.html .
Similarly, a Dutch adaptation (BDHI-D) exhibited Cronbach alpha coefficients for the two components they
had extracted of 0.77 (Overt Aggression) and 0.79 (Covert Aggression) /C0(Lange et al., 1995 ).
Test/C0Retest
Stability coefficients over a two-week test /C0retest interval were reported by Biaggio, Supplee, and Curtis (1981)
based on a sample of 60 undergraduate students as follows: Assault (.78), Indirect Hostility (.68), Irritability (.64),
Negativism (.64), Resentment (.66), Suspicion (.68), Verbal Hostility (.77), Guilt (.72), and BDHI Total (.82).
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
As evidence of convergent/concurrent validity, in a Dutch validation study ( Lange et al.,1995 ) positive correla-
tions ( N538) were found between the BDHI-D Covert Aggression component and the SCL-90 psychopathology
subscales ( Derogatis, 1977 ) as follows: Anxiety (.58), Agoraphobia (.45), Depression (.52), Somatization (.38),
Insufficiency (.56), Sensitivity (.55), Hostility (.47), Sleeplessness (.34) and Psychoneuroticism (.64), with the VIR
(Interpersonal Relations Questionnaire; Vertommen & Rochette, 1979 ) subscales Hostility (.24), and Bitterness
(.54), and with the MMPI subscale Negativism (.29). In addition, the Overt Aggression component correlated76 4. ANGER/HOSTILITY MEASURES
II. EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONS