“Angry Me”: How to Scientifically Deal with Your Own Anger

Tear it up and throw it away

“When you’re angry, shut your mouth.” A popular saying shows how dangerous it is to give in to emotions. Psychologists consider anger the most destructive personality state. In a rage, a person harms not only others, but also himself, undermining his health and reputation.

There are many ways to deal with immediate anger. The most effective is to count to ten, and only then answer the offender. Another technique that works is to imagine that the interlocutor is wearing a stupid clown hat and making funny faces instead of offensive words.

But what to do if the angry state does not go away for a long time?

There is a well-known method for this case: write all the tormenting grievances on a piece of paper and violently destroy it. The more expressive, the better. The list can be burned, trampled, torn into small pieces and thrown into the toilet.

Scientists from Japan decided to test how it works.

For two series of the experiment, 57 and 48 students from a local university were invited. To begin with, psychologists decided to make them angry. Students were asked to write an essay on a free topic. They promised that they would evaluate him according to the highest criteria. As a result, participants received low scores and insulting reviews. For example, “it’s hard to believe that an educated person could write this.” Or “what nonsense! Are you sure you study at university?

Next, the subjects were asked to describe the feelings that gripped them on paper. The first group should destroy this sheet in a shredder, the second should put it in a folder and leave it on the table.

After this action, the subjects were asked to re-describe their condition. To assess it, we used the PANAS method, a psychometric scale for comparing positive and negative human emotions.

Psychologists were amazed. In the first group, negative emotions disappeared completely, while in the second, their level only decreased.

“It’s amazing how effective the paper shredding technique was in helping to cope with anger.” This technique can be useful for businessmen who, due to their line of work, often find themselves in stressful situations. The method will help workers in creative professions. As you know, stress unsettles them for a long time, said psychologist Nobuyuki Kawai.