Angry? Do this one simple thing, advise scientists
Anger management has been an issue for thousands of years. The ancient Greeks and Romans understood the value of controlling anger. So next time you find yourself having anger issues, don’t snap at someone, scream loudly or throw things around. A research team at Nagoya University in Japan has come up with a more nuanced hack to get rid of anger: paper and pen. According to findings published in the journal ‘Scientific Reports’(opens in new window), writing down on a piece of paper your reaction to something negative that occurred and then disposing of it may help reduce anger.
The power of the written word
“We expected that our method would suppress anger to some extent,” lead researcher Nobuyuki Kawai explained in a news release(opens in new window). “However, we were amazed that anger was eliminated almost entirely.” Writing down feelings of anger and throwing the paper away is an effective strategy. This method resembles a Japanese tradition called hakidashisara involving negative thoughts being written on a plate before it’s broken. The researchers asked student volunteers to write down their opinions on major social issues. The participants were told a doctoral student at the university would assess their thoughts. However, this evaluator was fake. All students were given low scores for wit, interest, friendliness, logic and rationality, irrespective of what they wrote. In addition, they received the same insulting comment: “I cannot believe an educated person would think like this. I hope this person learns something while at the university”. The volunteers were then asked to write about how they felt. Half were instructed to dispose of the paper in either a bin or a shredder. The other half were told to keep it in a file on the desk. All had to rate their anger after throwing away or keeping what they had jotted down. Results showed that the first half felt little anger, while the second had high levels of anger.
Seeing red
Kawai believes the study can also help in a stressful work environment. “This technique could be applied in the moment by writing down the source of anger as if taking a memo and then throwing it away when one feels angry in a business situation.” “This study presents a new and convenient method for eliminating subjective anger,” the authors concluded in the paper. “This method offers a cost-effective way to eliminate anger in various situations, including business meetings, childcare, and clinical applications. The building blocks of this method (e.g. applying it to a digital device or creating a specific application) could be useful in various daily situations as well as behavioural therapies. In particular, for someone who has difficulty suppressing their anger in their homes.”