How a Piece of Paper Could Help with Anger Management
We have all felt angry before. It’s certainly not a pleasant feeling, and it is common for us to try to find ways to vent it out. At its worst, anger can result in various physical problems and manifest itself in unhealthy forms, like directing it towards other people and our relationships. If we fail to relieve ourselves of anger, it could potentially build up within us over time and lead to poor overall emotional control and behavior. With so many reasons and things in life to provoke us, anger is undoubtedly an extremely frequent emotion. Therefore, it is important to regularly take efforts in managing anger for the sake of our mental and physical health.
In a study from Nagoya University in Japan, researchers showed how anger management can actually be quite a simple task. In the experiment, a group of participants were instructed to write about their opinions on various social issues and then were subsequently given a handwritten insult about their writing in order to provoke them. Then, two scenarios were run in which the participants wrote about their thoughts on a piece of paper after being provoked. One scenario had half of the participants dispose of the paper in a trash can, while the other scenario involved half of the individuals putting the paper in a shredder. The other half in each scenario simply put their piece of paper in a folder on a desk. Their subjective anger levels were self-reported and recorded both before the provocation and following the experiment.
In a study from Nagoya University in Japan, researchers showed how anger management can actually be quite a simple task. In the experiment, a group of participants were instructed to write about their opinions on various social issues and then were subsequently given a handwritten insult about their writing in order to provoke them. Then, two scenarios were run in which the participants wrote about their thoughts on a piece of paper after being provoked. One scenario had half of the participants dispose of the paper in a trash can, while the other scenario involved half of the individuals putting the paper in a shredder. The other half in each scenario simply put their piece of paper in a folder on a desk. Their subjective anger levels were self-reported and recorded both before the provocation and following the experiment.
Disposing of paper with written thoughts was shown to lead to decreased anger outcomes.
Image Source: Steve Johnson
The most notable result from this study was how post-experiment anger levels differed between the groups who threw away or shredded their piece of paper versus those who placed it in a folder. Both groups in each experiment started with similar subjective anger levels. However, after provocation, those who actively disposed of their paper were found to have lower subjective anger levels than the group that did not.
This study shows how managing anger can be accomplished in a relatively easy and harmless way. Throughout the day, one may find themselves frequently burdened by the regular stress and frustrations of life. Anger can easily accumulate over time, and as such, it is important to find healthy ways to deal with such anger. While it may seem very simple, maintaining a habit such as writing on pages in a diary and subsequently throwing them away could improve one’s own anger levels and overall mental well being.
This study shows how managing anger can be accomplished in a relatively easy and harmless way. Throughout the day, one may find themselves frequently burdened by the regular stress and frustrations of life. Anger can easily accumulate over time, and as such, it is important to find healthy ways to deal with such anger. While it may seem very simple, maintaining a habit such as writing on pages in a diary and subsequently throwing them away could improve one’s own anger levels and overall mental well being.
Featured Image Source: Mikhail Nilov
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