2 FORMS OF A STIMULUS-RESPONSE (S-R) INVENTORY OF HOSTILITY WERE GIVEN TO 4 MALE AND 4 FEMALE SAMPLES, WITH NO GROUP RECEIVING MORE THAN 1 FORM. THE PROPORTIONS OF VARIANCE FROM THE VARIOUS SOURCES WERE PARTITIONED FOR EACH SAMPLE SEPARATELY AND WERE COMPARED WITH THOSE DERIVED FROM THE S-R INVENTORIES OF ANXIOUSNESS. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES CONTRIBUTED MORE TO THE TOTAL VARIATION FOR HOSTILITY (15-20%) THAN FOR ANXIOUSNESS (4-5%), WHILE MODES OF RESPONSES CONTRIBUTED MORE FOR ANXIOUSNESS (25%) THAN FOR HOSTILITY (14-15%). FOR BOTH "TRAITS" THE SITUATIONS CONTRIBUTED ABOUT 4% FOR MEN AND 7-8% FOR WOMEN. NEARLY 30% OF THE TOTAL VARIANCE FOR BOTH "TRAITS" COMES FROM THE 3 SIMPLE INTERACTIONS. THESE VARIOUS PROPORTIONS WERE MORE STABLE ACROSS VARIOUS SAMPLES OF SS FOR ANXIOUSNESS THAN FOR HOSTILITY. BOTH INVENTORIES ARE HIGHLY RELIABLE, BUT THE LOW PROPORTION OF VARIANCE FROM INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES LIMITS THE VALIDITY COEFFICIENTS EXPECTED FROM OMNIBUS INVENTORIES OF ANXIOUSNESS (.25) AND OF HOSTILITY (.4-.45). SPECIFYING THE SITUATIONS CAN RAISE THESE LIMITS APPRECIABLY. (21 REF.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)