There are numerous anger management techniques proposed by experts on the subject. Unfortunately, they all lack scientific validation - which makes you angry.
Or so it was until now.
In a new scientific study, a group of Japanese researchers found that writing our reaction to a negative incident on a piece of paper and then shredding or throwing it away reduces feelings of anger.
The results of the study were presented in an article published this Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports.
"We expected our method to suppress anger to a certain extent," explains the study's lead author, Nobuyuki Kawai. "However, we were surprised that anger was almost completely eliminated."
The study is the culmination of years of previous research into the association between the written word and the reduction of anger, and builds on work showing how interactions with physical objects can control a person's mood.
For their project, Kawai and his graduate student Yuta Kanaya, both from Nagoya University's Graduate School of Informatics, asked participants to write brief opinions on important social problems, such as whether smoking in public should be banned.
They were then told that a doctoral student from Nagoya University would evaluate their texts.
However, the doctoral students who carried out the evaluation simply didn't do real evaluations. Whatever the participants wrote in their opinions, they received low marks for intelligence, interest, friendliness, logic and rationality.
To stir things up even more, the PhD students also wrote the same insulting comment: "I can't believe that a person with an academic background could think like that. I hope this person learns something while at university".
After distributing these negative comments, the researchers asked the participants to write down their thoughts on the feedback they received, focusing on what triggered their emotions.
Finally, one group of participants was instructed to throw away the paper they had written in a garbage can or keep it in a file on their desk. A second group was told to destroy the document in a shredder or put it in a plastic box.
The students were then asked to rate their anger after the insult and after they had thrown the paper away or kept it. As expected, all participants reported a higher level of anger after receiving insulting comments.
However, the anger levels of the individuals who threw the paper in the garbage can or shredded it returned to their initial state after throwing it away. In contrast, the participants who kept a printed copy of the insult experienced only a small decrease in their overall anger.
Kawai believes that his research can be used in real stressful situations. "This technique can be applied on the spot by writing down the source of the anger we feel, as if it were a memo - and then throwing it away," explains the researcher, quoted by Sci Tech Daily.
In addition to the practical benefits, the study may shed light on the origins of the Japanese cultural tradition known as hakidashisara, an annual festival held at the Hiyoshi shrine in Nagoya, in which people smash small plates representing things that make them angry.
The feeling of relief that people report after taking part in hakidashisara was a mystery until now, and now it seems to have been explained: you have to throw away what makes you angry.
In the meantime, if you love the dishes in the house, don't forget that you can simply write your anger on a piece of paper and throw it away.
