Personality and individual differences in responses to aggression triggering events among prisoners and non-prisoners

•Students sensitive to frustration/provocation had higher Neuroticism and lower Agreeableness.•Students sensitive to provocation were lower on openness.•Among prisoners agreeableness was negatively linked to sensitivity to provocation.•Sex differences in both STAR scales were found in the student sample.

This paper examines the relationships between individual differences in situational triggers of aggressive behaviors (STAR) and the FFM personality traits. The investigation, conducted among Polish male and female offenders and students, revealed different relationships across samples. Among students, higher sensitivity to frustration and provocation was related to higher Neuroticism and lower Agreeableness and sensitivity to provoking situations to lower Openness to Experience. Among prisoners, however, lower Agreeableness was negatively linked to being more sensitive to provocation. Furthermore, the study found sex differences in STAR scales in the student sample but not the prisoners’ sample.