Got something to get off your chest? You’re better off keeping it to yourself.
That’s according to new research that says venting or “blowing off steam” may not actually help you reduce your anger — and it could just make it worse.
“I think it’s really important to bust the myth that if you’re angry you should blow off steam — get it off your chest,” the study’s senior author Brad Bushman, a professor of communication, said in a press release. “Venting anger might sound like a good idea, but there’s not a shred of scientific evidence to support catharsis theory.”
Researchers at the Ohio State University looked at 154 studies involving 10,189 participants and found that many activities that increase physiological arousal — things that raise your blood pressure or heart rate — often had no effect on anger. And some activities, like jogging for example, simply fueled the flames, making the anger worse.
“Despite what popular wisdom may suggest, even going for a run is not an effective strategy because it increases arousal levels and ends up being counterproductive,” Bushman said in the release.
The group looked at several physical activities, however, and did find that playing ball sports might be the one exception — helping to cool the fire. Playing a game, the researchers suggest, could also be a way to decrease negative feelings.
So, what should you do the next time you feel ready to blow your lid?
Take a deep breath. Try some meditation. In fact, the researchers noted, just about any type of “arousal-decreasing” practice — an action meant to calm you down — will work. That includes breathwork and meditation, but also slow flow yoga, mindfulness, progressive muscle relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing.
If that list sounds familiar, that’s because it is.
“Obviously in today’s society, we’re all dealing with a lot of stress, and we need ways of coping with that, too,” study author and postdoctoral fellow Sophie Kjærvik said in a release. “Showing that the same strategies that work for stress actually also work for anger is beneficial.”
She went on to say that the research was partially inspired by the popularity of so-called “rage rooms” where people can work out their anger by smashing objects with a bat or throwing things against a wall.
“I wanted to debunk the whole theory of expressing anger as a way of coping with it,” Kjærvik said in the release. “We wanted to show that reducing arousal, and actually the physiological aspect of it, is really important.”
Bushman, who has done previous research that showed the same thing, agreed, adding that, according to his research, “any good feeling we get from venting, actually reinforces aggression.”
Countless previous studies have shown that regularly practicing meditation, yoga or mindfulness can help alleviate stress, improve sleep and may generally lead to other healthy lifestyle practices.
