Anger Test (How angry can you get?)

by Elia Strange

We all can become a little aggravated now and then. Life is full of frustrations and there never seems to be a lack of events that irritate us.

But do you take it all 'philosophically' and get on with your life or do you get angry and respond aggressively to many of those irritating and frustrating situations in your life?

Take this 'Anger Test' and find out whether you are a laid back dude (or chick) or a volcano awaiting to erupt.




For this test you will need a pen and paper to write down your answers. Or print this page out and put your answers next to the questions below.

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1. You are late for a meeting but the car in front of you is being driven by an old lady doing 20 MPH. There is no way to get past her safely. Do you:

A. Take a deep breath and wait patiently for her to turn off. After all, we will all be an old lady (or man) one day.

B. Flash your lights, honk your horn, and wave like a maniac at her to move over and let you pass.

C. Use your cell phone to call the police. You report a bank robbery and give them a description of the old lady’s vehicle as the getaway car.




2. You take your family for a meal. The waitress is hopeless. She not only mixed up your order but makes it quite clear she could not care less. Do you:

A. Say nothing. When you get home you write a strong letter of complaint to their head office.

B. Call the manager over and complain about the poor quality of service.

C. Say loudly to the waitress, “I’m sorry to have inconvenienced you, I mistook this place for a restaurant!’ Then demand a full refund.




3. Your boss keeps picking on you for little silly faults that he (or she) overlooks in your co-workers. Do you:

A. Say nothing and make a big effort to improve your performance.

B. Sue the company on the grounds that you are being bullied.

C. Phone your boss’s wife and tell her about the intimate late nights that he has been having with his secretary.




4. You have been pulled over by a cop because you were driving slightly over the speed limit. Do you:

A. Apologise and accept the citation without any argument.

B. Make a note of the officer’s number and threaten to make an official complaint.

C. Shout and scream. Tell him that the Chief of Police is a personal friend of yours and that he had better wave goodbye to his career.




5. You have spent hours at the grocery store. You are tired and want to get home as quickly as possible. As you arrive at the checkout someone pushes in front of you. Do you:

A. Ignore him. He is obviously too ignorant to have good manners.

B. Tap him on the shoulder and tell him just how rude and thoughtless you think he is. (It’s OK to do this as he is smaller than you).

C. Follow him to the parking lot and while he is busy loading the car you let the air out of his tires.




6. Your son comes home from school with a terrible report card. Do you:

A. Explain the need for hard work and point out that people who don’t study when they are young will only qualify for menial jobs when they finish school.

B. Yell a lot and then ground him for a couple of weeks.

C. Decide that the school is too laid back. Send him to military school.




7. You take your car to be serviced. When you get it back it’s clear that several important jobs have not been done properly. Do you:

A. Decide never to use that garage again.

B. Phone the manager and demand that he repair all the faults.

C. Park your car outside the garage bearing a large placard denouncing the company as a bunch of incompetents.




8. You are at a football game and your team gets slaughtered. Do you:

A. Have a beer and forget about it. Every team has its bad days.

B. Shout abuse at everyone including the team, the coach, and the referee. What is wrong with these people?

C. Take out an ad in your local paper announcing that you are switching your allegiance to another team who might actually have a chance of winning occasionally.

9. Your neighbour’s kids play loud rock music at all hours of the day and night. Do you:

A. Take no notice. After all, we were all kids once.

B. Phone your neighbour and threaten legal action unless they stop the noise.

C. Dig up the cable to their house and cut off their electricity.




10. Your firm goes bust and you lose your job. Do you:

A. Move on and start looking for a new job.

B. Tell the boss angrily that it is his incompetence that has caused the problem.

C. Load your computer, and any other equipment you can get hold of, into your car before you leave. These people owe you big time and you are going to get what you can out of them.

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'Anger Test' Answers:

Mostly A’s: You are too reasonable for your own good. Being calm is an excellent thing but you have to be careful that people do not take advantage of your quiet nature and walk all over you. A little anger now and again can be therapeutic and you should really give it a try. At the moment you look like the guy who gets sand kicked in his face at the beach. Is that really what you want?


Mostly B’s: You do get the balance between being calm or angry right most of the time. You can be assertive when the situation demands and you know the best way to deal with others who are making your life difficult. Occasionally you get really angry but then so do most people. Your moderate approach is the right one. People know that there is a point beyond which it is dangerous to push you and they are careful not to reach that point. On the other hand, they also know that you will be calm and reasonable as long as they play the game.


Mostly C’s: Down tiger! This is everyday life. It is not supposed to be a warm-up for World War III. Try to chill a little or you will end up spontaneously combusting through sheer rage. It is OK to get angry sometimes but you approach life with a permanently hostile attitude. Do you always look like you want to spend so much of your life involved in senseless conflicts? If the answer to that question is “Yes”, then perhaps you need a course in anger management.

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Other articles you might be interested in:

Stop your irrational thinking in 6 easy steps (Article)

How do we choose our partners and friends (Article)

Stress Test

What personality do you have? (Test)

How optimistic are you? (Test)

How to solve a problem quickly

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'Anger Test' References:
Allen, R. (2004). Me, Myself, and I: Discover yourself with 50 revealing personality quizzes. London: Collins & Brown.

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