Posted on 11/21/2024 3:13:02 PM PST by beaversmom
Venting when angry seems sensible. Conventional wisdom suggests expressing anger can help us quell it, like releasing steam from a pressure cooker.
But this common metaphor is misleading, according to a recent meta-analytic review. Researchers at Ohio State University analyzed 154 studies on anger, finding little evidence that venting helps. In some cases, it could increase anger.
"I think it's really important to bust the myth that if you're angry you should blow off steam – get it off your chest," said senior author and communication scientist Brad Bushman when the results were published in April.
"Venting anger might sound like a good idea, but there's not a shred of scientific evidence to support catharsis theory."
That doesn't mean anger should be ignored. Reflection can help us understand why we get mad and address underlying problems. It can also aid emotional validation, an important first step towards healthily processing emotions.
Venting, however, often goes beyond reflection into rumination. The study suggests that many people also try to exorcize anger with physical exertion, which can offer health benefits but may not lighten the mood in the moment.
The studies reviewed included a total of 10,189 participants, representing a variety of ages, genders, cultures, and ethnicities. The findings show the key to curbing anger is reducing physiological arousal, the authors say, from anger itself or from the otherwise beneficial physical activity it might inspire.
"To reduce anger, it is better to engage in activities that decrease arousal levels," Bushman said. "Despite what popular wisdom may suggest, even going for a run is not an effective strategy because it increases arousal levels and ends up being counterproductive."
The research was inspired partly by the popularity of 'rage rooms', where people pay to smash objects in hopes of releasing anger, said first author Sophie Kjærvik, a communication scientist at Virginia Commonwealth University.
"I wanted to debunk the whole theory of expressing anger as a way of coping with it," explained Kjærvik. "We wanted to show that reducing arousal, and actually the physiological aspect of it, is really important."
The team designed the review based on the Schachter-Singer two-factor theory, which describes anger (and all other emotions) as a two-part phenomenon, each comprising a physiological and a cognitive component.
Previous research has often focused on the cognitive angle, according to Kjærvik and Bushman, like examining how cognitive behavioral therapy can help people adjust the mental meanings underpinning their anger.
Research shows that can work, they say, but the review also sheds important light on an alternate pathway for defusing fury. What's more, standard cognitive behavioral therapies are not effective for all brain types.
Their study examined both arousal-increasing and arousal-reducing activities, from boxing, cycling, and jogging to deep breathing, meditating, and yoga.
Calming activities reduced anger in the lab and the field, they found, and across other variables like methods of instruction or participant demographics. Effective arousal-reducing activities included slow-flow yoga, mindfulness, progressive muscle relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing, and taking a timeout.
"It was really interesting to see that progressive muscle relaxation and just relaxation in general might be as effective as approaches such as mindfulness and meditation," Kjærvik said.
"And yoga, which can be more arousing than meditation and mindfulness, is still a way of calming and focusing on your breath that has the similar effect in reducing anger."
Rather than trying to vent anger, the researchers recommend undermining it by turning down the heat. Calming tactics already proven to ease stress may also rob anger of physiological fuel.
"Obviously in today's society, we're all dealing with a lot of stress, and we need ways of coping with that, too," Kjærvik said. "Showing that the same strategies that work for stress actually also work for anger is beneficial."
The review found that most arousal-boosting activities didn't reduce anger, and some increased it, with jogging most likely to do that.
Ball sports and other physical activities involving play seemed to reduce physiological arousal, suggesting exertion might be more useful for reducing anger if it's fun.
"Certain physical activities that increase arousal may be good for your heart, but they're definitely not the best way to reduce anger," said Bushman. "It's really a battle because angry people want to vent, but our research shows that any good feeling we get from venting actually reinforces aggression."
More research is needed to clarify these findings, but for now, the researchers say calming techniques – even just taking a timeout or counting to 10 – offer the best options for taming a temper.
"You don't need to necessarily book an appointment with a cognitive behavioral therapist to deal with anger. You can download an app for free on your phone, or you can find a YouTube video if you need guidance," Kjærvik said.
The study was published in Clinical Psychology Review.
An earlier version of this article was published in April 2024.
Make-up sex. It’s the greatest.
I vented once with my right foot into a Lazy Boy, Lazy Boy won, broke my foot. Should have smoke a joint. 😝
Killed six from the front porch since Wednesday and I plan to stay out through Saturday.
*Only killed one this evening. There is always the next dawn for more targets.
How many billions of taxpayers dollars were used for this “study?”
Even the most violent places on earth, prisons, know giving inmates physical, musical, artistic, employment etc... outlets calms anger.
These “studies” have been in literature for thousands of years.
Some years back, I got hammered and angry, smacked a brick wall with my fist, broke my hand, had a nurse in civilian clothes in the bar reduce the shattered bone manually, splint it with a half a ballpoint pen and electric tape, and had to drive 20 hours straight to go home. Went to the ER the next morning, then had surgery to insert pins in my hand.
One of the most heinously stupid things I have done in my entire life. Just lost my temper.
Slept that night in a sleeping bag in a sub-zero temperature cabin with no heat in Indiana in February, but that drive home sucked. Every time I turned the wheel, my broken hand would hit the directional stalk each time, and I would have brilliant flashes of pain pass up my entire arm.
I would nearly whimper every time I did it, and gritting my teeth, vowed that I wouldn’t make that mistake again when turning the wheel, but...I did. Many times.
Well. I have had to learn a lot of things the hard way in life, and controlling my anger was one of them. I still struggle with it, but...it is one of the good things about old age, at least for me. It is far easier at nearly 70 to control my anger than it was at 20, but it has been a hard road to get here.
I learned a lot of lessons from that one unfortunate and stupid experience.
Don’t jog, play with your ball while she empties your assets.
That’d will do it boy....
Vote Kamalas
We live and learn, usually the hard way. 😓
To some people, many things come easily, and I envy that. For me, I just felt like I pulled teeth most of my life to get reasonable at things. School was always difficult, I didn’t feel like I learned easily. And I just did a lot of ill advised things, and didn’t cloak myself in glory.
Sometimes I feel I just lacked common sense. Again, getting older it has been better, but man. When I was younger, I think I made my road bumpier than it needed to be.
Most anger is really directed at oneself. Accepting that you are angry with yourself, begins the healing.
I have a family member who gets angry when she doesn’t understand things. It’s a sign of early onset Dementia. It usually involves a loss of analytical skills.
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