Psychometric Analysis of the Russian Version of “The Displaced Aggression Questionnaire”

Background. Displaced aggression is currently a common occurrence when a person is not able to respond directly to the offender, loosing temper at other uninvolved people. The Displaced Aggression Questionnaire was introduced as the first technique to assess differences in the severity of displaced aggression. Objective. The study is aimed at adapting a questionnaire designed to measure the tendency towards displaced aggression. Study Participants. The study involved 364 respondents aged from 18 to 69 years (Mage = 22; SD = 12.2; 243 women). Methods. Three questionaries were used: the “Displaced Aggression Questionnaire” being adapted, the “BPAQ-24” questionnaire, which allows to measure three traits (anger, hostility, and physical aggression), and the “Vengeance and Forgiveness Questionnaire” intended to measure characteristics of vengeance and forgiveness. For the psychometric properties of the adapted questionnaire, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, Cronbach's α coefficient, and Student's t-test are used. Results. The Russian version of the Displaced Aggression Questionnaire includes three subscales. The scales “angry rumination” (Cronbach’s α = 0.884) and “displaced aggression” (Cronbach’s α = 0.909) have a structure, similar to the original structure of the questionnaire and include 10 items each. The “revenge planning” scale has a modified structure, including 6 items (Cronbach's α = 0.876). Correlation analysis revealed significant positive relationships of displaced aggression with anger and hostility. Gender differences were revealed: women are more prone to angry rumination and displaced aggression, while men are more prone to revenge planning. Conclusions. Psychometric analysis supports the reliability-consistency and validity of the Russian version of the “Displaced Aggression Questionnaire”. The instrument is recommended for application as a diagnostic tool for displaced aggression, angry rumination and revenge planning.