I don't always take the lane. If the road is wide enough, has a clear shoulder or bike lane, I ride off to the side or in the bike lane.
On the downtown, city streets, I take the lane without concern.
I have one stretch of roadway where I now take the lane. This is learned behavior. The only time I've been brushed (contact) was on this stretch of road when I was trying to keep right. I had my mirror hit twice. Since taking the lane, I've been yelled at twice, honked at three or four times but not hit and not threatened by the close pass (on coming traffic prevents passing).
The crazy part: In the afternoons, which is when all of the incidents mentioned have happened; I'm only on this portion of road for thirty seconds - literally thirty seconds then I make a turn into a neighborhood. I've timed it on three different occasions in my car, it takes 15-19 seconds to travel the same route in a car at the typical motorized speed.