In their book Anger Kills (1998), Redford Williams and Virginia Williams summarize years of research and clinical studies that show that anger harms our physical and mental health. Convinced by evidence that anger is dangerous, the Williamses developed a test to measure how dangerous a person’s level of anger is.

Take the test, adapted from pages 5–11 of Anger Kills, to measure your anger level.

1. When I get stuck in a traffic jam,

a. I am usually not particularly upset.

b. I start to feel irritated and annoyed quickly.

2. When someone treats me unfairly,

a. I usually forget the incident fairly quickly.

b. I tend to keep thinking about the incident for hours.

3. When I am caught in a slow-moving line at the grocery store,

a. I seldom notice or mind the wait.

b. I fume at people who dawdle ahead of me.

4. When I hear or read about another terrorist attack,

a. I wonder why some people are so cruel to others.

b. I feel like lashing out.