Examining the effect of impossible problem solving on state anger: Comparing in-person and MTurk participants

Abstract

This research comprises of two studies examining the effect of impossible problem solving on state anger. For the first study, using 155 participants on Amazon’s MTurk, a significant difference was observed on state anger from baseline to post-intervention (p = .04). Due to the well documented concerns about using MTurk participants, a second study involving 111 participants from a small liberal arts college was conducted. Using the same design, no significant effect of time on state anger was observed (p > .05). Post-hoc analyses indicated a significant difference between MTurk and in-person participants on trait anger (p < .05), pre-test state anger (p < .05), and post-test state anger (p < .05). Implications are discussed.

Keywords

• mturk
• anger
• königsberg bridge
• state anger
• trait anger