Just Breathe: Ohio State researchers find that decreasing arousal is best for dealing with anger

Jacy Shilot
Thu, 04 Apr 2024 23:31:17 +0000
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A recent study by Brad Bushman, a professor of communication at Ohio State and Ph.D. student Sophie Kjaervik found that the best way to decrease anger is to lower physiological arousal. Credit: Courtesy of Brad Bushman

When people are feeling angry, they are typically encouraged to go “blow off steam.” However, according to Ohio State researchers, this may have the opposite effect.

The study, written by Sophie Kjaervik, a Ph.D. student in communication, and Brad Bushman, professor of communication at Ohio State, analyzed over 150 research papers with more than 10,000 participants to find the best techniques for reducing anger. They found that activities that lower physiological arousal—in other words, slow down heart rates and brain activity—are better at decreasing rage than common venting methods like yelling and hitting.

“Some people think that when you get angry, it’s a good idea to get it off your chest, blow off steam and hit a punching bag,” Bushman said. “That’s not true. Or that you should go for a run. That’s not true either because those activities increase arousal, and the goal when you’re angry is to decrease arousal.”

People who are experiencing rage should instead use meditation, yoga or deep breathing techniques because they reduce anger along with stress, according to the study.

Although many physical activities increase aggression, some forms of exercise — mostly sports involving a ball — can decrease the anger felt by participants despite the increased physiological arousal, Bushman said.?

“Things that involve play reduced anger and aggression, whereas more monotonous, tedious tasks increased it,” Bushman said.

According to Bushman, the most surprising revelation in this study was how universal the findings were.

“We were absolutely shocked that it didn’t matter whether you did them online or offline, in groups or individual sessions or age, gender, race or what country you’re from,” Bushman said. “Across the board, these findings are very robust.”

Bushman described venting as part of a feedback loop to anger, causing people to be more aggressive while thinking otherwise.

“When you vent your anger, you’re just practicing how to behave more aggressively,” Bushman said. “You hit, you kick, scream and shout, and practice makes perfect regardless of the behavior.”

Raymond DiGiuseppe, a professor of psychology at St. John’s University who has dedicated his career to anger research, said that the myth of venting has persisted despite all the research debunking it.

“We probably have over 70 years of research showing that venting isn’t good for people,” DiGiuseppe said. “There’s lots of studies, but it’s a hard idea to kill.”

According to DiGiuseppe, Sigmund Freud, the famous psychotherapist, popularized the idea by claiming venting relieved internal pressure and bottled emotions, comparing it to a lever removing water from a pipe before it bursts.

The other reason that people believe venting helps is because of the short-term satisfaction that they feel, according to DiGuiseppe.

“It feels good to jump up and down and hit things,” DiGuiseppe said. “You feel powerful. People don’t really pay attention to the long-term consequences.”

DiGuiseppe agreed with Bushman’s conclusions, saying that any activities that lower arousal are better than a form of venting.

“If you’re angry at your romantic partner, go give them a hug,” DiGiuseppe said. “Do something that is humorous, make a joke out of your anger, relax yourself, do anything, but don’t do anything that’s going to arouse you, raise your blood pressure, get your heart to beat quicker or anything like that because that’s what venting will do — arouse your anger and get you to more likely be aggressive.”