Toddlers may be onto something : wipeout reallydoeshelp relieve feelings of anger in a meaningful way , a raw study print inScientific Reportsfinds . But before you book an fitting at your nearestrage room , some reflection is necessary .
People have been looking for healthy release for their angryfeelings for millennia . To test the cult - reducing effect of spell down one ’s cerebration and then confound them aside , researcher in Japan experiment with two unlike exercises . First , they had college students write a short essay about how to lick a plebeian social problem , such as smoking in public . They then distinguish the participant that their essays would be return to them graded . But instead of individualise the essay feedback , the researchers automatically throw every participant low rating in all of these categories : intelligence , involvement , friendliness , logic , respectability , and rationality .
To fret salt in the wound , they even publish the following on each paper : “ I can not believe an train person would think like this . I desire this person learns something while at the university . ”
Each participant was told to sit and silently take up their form for two minutes . Researchers then instructed them to spell down every thought they had about receiving the feedback , pay special attention to how it made them feel , with assurance that no one would show the paper .
Here come the interesting part : Some participant were assure to put their reflections through a shredder , some were told to bemuse them in the trash can , and some were told to keep them . researcher observed that those who tear up or threw aside the newspaper found it much wanton to get go of their ego - report feelings of anger . Those who were tell to hold onto their Federal Reserve note hold onto their anger as well ; the journaling exercise helped this radical , but not nearly as much . And there was no meaningful difference between throwing the newspaper aside and shredding it , either . The genial benefit seems to have get along from the person free themselves of the physical object embodying their feelings .
This impact seems to be a blow of the “ magical contagion ” or “ celebrity contagion ” result : the psychologicalbeliefthat “ objects contain some remnants of their premature possessor . ” Here , after the person imbues the newspaper with their emotion , the thought goes , destroying the paper has a inverse impingement by rid them of the emotion as well .
hoi polloi have used this method throughout account . The research worker in the studyreferencethe Japanese festival ofhakidashisaraat the Hiyoshi shrine in Kiyosu , where visitant smash small plate representing things that make them angry . And indite a letter just to glow it is a well - know Negro spiritual and therapeuticpracticefor letting go of complicated feelings .
The applications of these findings are straightaway seeming . After all , this is a trick that anyone can examine , and its encroachment goes beyond the someone . Equipping masses to sue their ire in a productive room canreduce guinea pig of violence [ PDF ] and improve the mental and physicalhealth — not to mention therelationships — of those who suffer from angriness management takings .
The cogitation has deduction for other emotions as well . It ’s not excessive to intend that other difficult tactual sensation like sadness , envy , loneliness , or anxiety may be alleviated through a similar exercise . At the very least , we sleep together that journaling [ PDF ] alone is usually a good first gradation . If you favor to vent digitally , it remains to be seen if using the virtual recycling bin has the same welfare .
