How Do You Reduce Anger or Aggression?
Do you believe that the best response to anger is to vent verbally or physically; to shout, scream, or kick? Do you think that you need to release all the aggression with activities such as kickboxing, punching a bag, breaking objects in a rage room, or shooting a paintball gun? Or perhaps you believe that you can burn all of the anger and adrenaline by cycling, jumping rope, jogging, or running.
These are myths – venting does not reduce anger or aggression, according to a huge review involving more than 10,000 participants.
The Evidence Against Venting To Reduce Anger
A recent meta-analytic review by researchers at Ohio State University challenges this common belief that venting anger helps to alleviate it. Analyzing 154 studies on anger, the researchers found little evidence to support the idea that expressing anger reduces it. In fact, venting may sometimes increase anger and lead to rumination!
The Importance of Reflection and Emotional Validation To Reduce Anger
Senior author Brad Bushman from Ohio State University emphasizes that there is no scientific evidence to support the catharsis theory, which suggests that venting helps to release anger and provides relief from it. The review highlights the importance of reflection and emotional validation as means to address anger; it suggests that these practices can help understand and resolve underlying issues. Meanwhile, the researchers reveal that venting often leads to rumination, which can exacerbate anger. Physical exertion, while beneficial for health, does not necessarily improve mood in the moment and may increase arousal, which in turn, counterproductively intensifies anger.
Calming Activities Are More Effective Than Venting Anger
The researchers examined a variety of activities that increase or reduce arousal among 10,189 participants of different ages, genders, cultures, and ethnicities. They found that activities that decrease arousal, such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga, and progressive muscle relaxation, are more effective at reducing anger than those that increase arousal, like running or boxing.
“The results indicated that arousal-decreasing activities decreased anger and aggression (g = −0.63, [−0.82, −0.43]), and the results were robust. Effects were stable over time for participants of different genders, races, ages, and cultures. Arousal-decreasing activities were effective in students and non-students, in criminal offenders and non-offenders, and in individuals with and without intellectual disabilities.”
– A meta-analytic review of anger management activities that increase or decrease arousal: What fuels or douses rage?
Sophie L. Kjærvik, Brad J. Bushman – Ohio State University, USA
Debunking the Rage Room Myth To Reduce Anger
Inspired by the rise of ‘rage rooms’, the study aimed to debunk the myth that expressing anger through physical destruction helps manage it. The researchers, using the Schachter-Singer two-factor theory (i.e. anger comprises a physiological and a cognitive component), discovered that calming activities are more effective in reducing physiological arousal and, consequently, anger. This finding applies to various methods of instruction and participant demographics.
“Anger is an emotional response to a real or imagined threat or provocation” (Baumeister & Bushman, 2021, p. 201). I define anger as the emotional response to feeling hurt, injured, or wronged, or, not getting what you want.
Conclusion: Embrace Calming Techniques To Reduce Anger
The review concludes that calming techniques, already proven to ease stress, are also effective for anger management. The authors recommend activities like slow-flow yoga, mindfulness, and diaphragmatic breathing over venting or high-arousal exercises. The study suggests that simple, accessible practices can help manage anger, providing an alternative to conventional wisdom and promoting healthier emotional regulation.
“Anger is an emotional response to a real or imagined threat or provocation” (Baumeister & Bushman, 2021, p. 201). I define anger as the emotional response to feeling hurt, injured, or wronged, or, not getting what you want.
Understanding Anger
Generally, anger is a negative emotion that causes high levels of arousal and a call to action versus avoidance or withdrawal. “Thus, anger makes people feel stronger and more prepared to attack, fight, or assault the cause of the anger.”
“Anger is an emotional response to a real or imagined threat or provocation” (Baumeister & Bushman, 2021, p. 201). I define anger as the emotional response to feeling hurt, injured, or wronged, or, not getting what you want.
Reducing Anger with Emotional Validation
Anger also needs to be addressed with emotional validation and the discovery of the root cause. Emotional validation involves you or someone else supporting your right to feel the anger or stating to you that you are justified to feel slighted. Validation of anger does not, though, automatically involve acting upon the anger by means such as violence, revenge, or retribution. For some people, who are often perceived to be constantly angry, it becomes critical to uncover the root cause of this trait of anger. For example, many years ago, I helped a client who suffered from rage by uncovering the root cause of his anger: He would explode with anger because the root cause was feelings of helplessness as a child to protect his mother from his father’s violence, and he was subconsciously angry at his father and so he took it out on the world! Do you need help to overcome anger and its root cause? Book a session with me now!
Anointed “The Woman Expert” by WGN Chicago, Patrick Wanis PhD is a renowned Celebrity Life Coach, Human Behavior & Relationship Expert who developed SRTT therapy (Subconscious Rapid Transformation Technique) and is teaching it to other practitioners. Wanis’ clientele ranges from celebrities and CEOs to housewives and teenagers. CNN, BBC, FOX News, MSNBC & major news outlets worldwide consult Wanis for his expert insights and analysis on sexuality, human behavior and women’s issues. Wanis is the first person ever to do hypnotherapy on national TV – on the Montel Williams show.