Why you shouldn't vent anger (according to science and philosophy)

We may all be familiar with the irritation arising  when something doesn’t go as we wish. We feel our heartbeat increasing and our muscles tensing. Our  frustrations build up to the point of physical shaking, and we feel we’re about to explode.

And  so, when the dams of our self-constraint breach, our anger unleashes as floodwaters, out to  destroy everything in its way. We feel relieved after that. After all, we’ve expressed our anger,  which is considered the best way to manage it, right?

Although we may experience solace after  releasing anger, science shows this method isn’t a good way to deal with it. Moreover,  venting anger may even make matters worse, as it can lead to behavior we may regret later. We celebrate and even glamorize anger as a society.

We just have to look at movies and  television series where the protagonists resort to anger as something heroic. Strong  women and masculine men respond with anger, and violence is the means of dealing with the  enemy. Anger has even become a sign of virtue, as current outrage culture portrays: angrily  yelling “How dare you!

” into a microphone is what improving the world looks like. We see anger as a sign of strength, a transformational force to get what we  want, and a legitimate and effective way of expressing discontent. We often regard  the expression of anger as therapeutic, as if, by “letting it out,” we’re blowing  off steam from a steam engine.

And so, we often indulge in venting anger in various  ways as we celebrate and value anger for its utility. But should we believe the hype? This video shows why we shouldn’t vent anger and why we’re better off preventing  and reducing this emotion altogether.

Once upon a time, a demon visited a Buddhist  temple. It was a frightening creature rampaging around in the meditation hall. The monks were  terrified and reacted with fear and anger, trying to chase away the demon by shouting and scolding  it.

However, each time the monks displayed hostility and aggression, the demon grew larger  and more frightening. When the head monk returned from a trip and saw the demon, he took a different  approach. Instead of reacting with fear or anger, he greeted the uninvited guest with calmness and  compassion.

The other monks were surprised when the demon began to shrink, as the head monk  overwhelmed it with kindness. Eventually, it shrunk so much that it completely disappeared. The Buddhist approach to dealing with anger may seem unusual from a cultural view that considers  the appropriate response to anger to be ‘more anger.

’ But from the Buddhist viewpoint, we  only throw more oil on the fire by answering anger with anger. The Buddhists consider anger a  hindrance to attaining enlightenment, categorized as a form of ‘ill will. ’ The Buddha disapproved  of anger for a reason: it’s a destructive emotion that leads to suffering.

When angry, we often do  things that we later regret, as the severity of this emotion clouds our judgment. It distorts  reality. So, we act, often destructively and with a warped view.

Hence, the Buddha regarded  anger as a “great stain” on the personality. The Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger  voiced similar views in his book Of Anger. He considered anger “temporary madness” that  could lead to harmful action, and we’re much better off preventing its arousal.

He criticized  Aristotle’s idea of useful anger. Seneca believed anger is never useful: there’s no scenario in  which using anger can lead to better outcomes than using reason. Even on the battlefield, anger does  more harm than good.

From a Stoic viewpoint, anger is not rooted in reason, as a reasonable  person understands there’s nothing to be angry about. Therefore, a practiced Stoic  rarely gets to the point of arousing anger, as that would mean he has betrayed reason. All in all, an angry outburst may cause irreparable damage.

Hence, we notice that when  we often throw temper tantrums, we begin losing friends, our significant others may not be so  happy with us anymore, and people generally start to avoid us. Venting, therefore, may give us  a sense of relief, but it also comes with a price. But still, suppose we don’t pay the cost  of hurting other people and destroying relationships.

Is venting anger still a good  idea? Perhaps in a controlled environment, as a therapeutic act to eliminate negative  emotions and repressed aggression? Didn’t the Buddha see that a good, angry outburst  is cathartic and makes us feel better?

The Buddhist monk Ajahn Sona states that anger is  a form of unwise attention to the fault. The root of this emotion is aversion. We simply don’t like  our situation.

We want to push it away. We want it to disappear or even destroy it. Anger always  arises with an unpleasant, negative feeling.

Ajahn Sona emphasizes that venting anger, even with  the intention of release, is also anger. I quote: “Some people think: ‘When I shout and scream  and hit pillows and stuff like this, I get the anger out. ’ No, you don’t.

No, actually,  you’re experiencing anger all that time, and it’s so unpleasant that it makes you want  to scream and hit things. That’s the connection between anger and those activities.  Perhaps the anger subsides afterward, but what you’ve just done is  set yourself up for more anger.

” End quote. Sona also argues that we feel relief after an angry outburst because the unpleasantness  of anger simply isn’t there anymore, not because we’ve “let it out,” so to speak. But why should we believe these philosophers and religious figures?

Well, it turns out that  scientific research aligns with their claims. At first sight, it would make logical sense that  an angry outburst works as a catharsis. After all, releasing anger seems a practical solution  after it’s been building up inside.

Often, people report feeling relieved after a  fit of rage, as if they’ve returned to a pleasant state of equilibrium after getting  the poison out. It’s like going to the toilet: the only way to eliminate the pressure  of built-up excretion. There’s a term for this view on anger: ‘the catharsis theory.

’ The word catharsis comes from the Greek word ‘katharsis,’ which means ‘cleaning’ or ‘purging. ’  In this context, it refers to purging pent-up anger and aggression from our bodies by acting  aggressively, such as smashing tableware against a wall in a rage room, which would lead to relief  or purification. The origins of the catharsis theory lead back to the work of Sigmund Freud, who  believed that expressing repressed emotions could alleviate psychological distress.

In contrast,  unexpressed negative emotions could build up inside and lead to neuroses or psychological  disorders. Freud’s ideas led to the hydraulic model of anger, which suggests that anger builds  up inside us like pressure inside a hydraulic system until it’s released. Hence, the only  way to reduce anger is by letting it out.

The catharsis theory sounds logical, but is it true? Scientific research suggests anger doesn’t work this way. Venting anger doesn’t reduce  it; it can even make it worse.

The Hornberger experiments conducted in the fifties were the  first scientific attempt to test the catharsis theory. During the experiments, the participants  received insulting remarks. After the remarks, one group engaged in pounding nails for ten  minutes.

The other group didn’t. Afterward, both groups got the chance to criticize the  insulter. As it turned out, the participants who pounded nails were more hostile and aggressive  than those who didn’t.

Later research led to the same conclusion: venting anger doesn’t reduce it.  If anything, it makes people even more aggressive. A recent study from Ohio State University  analyzed over 150 studies involving more than 10000 participants.

The study, led by Sophie  Kjærvik, distinguished arousal-increasing and arousal-decreasing activities. Arousal-increasing  activities include vigorous exercise, smashing things in a rage room, hitting a bag, and cycling.  These are forms of ‘blowing off steam,’ which we often turn to when angry.

Arousal-decreasing  activities include mindfulness, deep breathing, meditation, yoga, and, perhaps surprisingly,  some types of physical activity that include play. These are forms of ‘turning down  the heat. ’ The studies indicate that arousal-increasing activities overall  had no effect on anger.

Some activities, particularly jogging, even made it worse. Senior author Brad Bushman, professor of communication at Ohio State University, spent  years researching this topic. He stated: “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. 

Venting anger might sound like a good idea, but there’s not a shred of scientific  evidence to support catharsis theory. ” End quote. Professor Bushman also stated that even though  people “want to vent” when angry, research shows that any good feeling  we get from it reinforces aggression.

In an earlier research paper, Bushman points  out that venting to reduce anger is like using gasoline to extinguish a fire. It only feeds  the flames. Therefore, pounding nails, hitting a punching bag, and screaming into a pillow after  being provoked likely makes the anger worse.

The worst medicine for such anger is imagining your  enemy’s face on a pillow or a punching bag and hitting it. “Yet this is precisely what many pop  psychologists advise people to do. If followed, such advice will only make people angrier  and more aggressive,” wrote Bushman.

So, Bushman’s findings back up the  claims of Buddhist monk Ajahn Sona. By what we call “letting anger out,” we don’t  reduce anger. We only exacerbate it.

So, we could say that venting the anger is the anger  we mistake for its cure. Quite ironic, isn’t it? According to the research we previously explored, the arousal-decreasing activities do the job. 

And I think the Buddhists and Stoics will wholeheartedly agree on this. In contrast, it’s  better to avoid arousal-increasing activities. As mentioned in this video,  mindfulness, meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, and playful, fun  physical activities can reduce anger.

Such activities calm us down and diminish  our anger rather than fuel it. So, instead of visiting a rage room, how about joining the  meditation class around the corner? Instead of threatening to use nuclear weapons, how about  doing some Russian Systema Breathing exercises?

Researcher Sophie Kjærvik observed that  progressive muscle relaxation (and relaxation in general) might be just as effective as  mindfulness and meditation. She argues that most arousal-decreasing interventions are free  or inexpensive and easy to access. “You don’t need to necessarily book an appointment  with a cognitive behavioral therapist to deal with anger.

You can download an app for  free on your phone, or you can find a YouTube video if you need guidance,” Kjærvik said. Venting anger is alluring. “People want to vent,” as Bushman stated.

When frustrations build  up, the desire to explode increases. Our body’s response to irritating emotions is to move. It’s  like exposing ourselves to an ice-cold shower: it’s so unpleasant that we want to escape it. 

So, it takes self-restraint (and often practice) not to give in to anger. But it’s worth it. Considering the destructive consequences of venting anger, that it doesn’t help reduce it  (quite the opposite), and that it may only add fuel to the fire, we might want to be wary  of the methods suggested by popular culture.

Thank you for watching.