Although psychologists have been investigating locus of control for more than two decades, few studies have examined how locus of control interacts with affective variables. To investigate the function of locus of control on arousal patterns and expressions of anger, 120 college students (60 internals, 60 externals, as measured by Rotter's (1966) Internal External Scale) rated their degree of anger and indicated their preferred response to written descriptions of 12 potentially anger-arousing situations. An analysis of the results showed that internals and externals did not differ significantly in extent of anger arousal. However, internals were more apt to deal directly and flexibly with anger-producing situations, and externals were more prone to cope with their anger through internalizing or displacement mechanisms. Further analysis of the situations that produced the most anger in both internals and externals suggests that anger arousal may be more a situational than a dispositional variable. (Author/BL)