Japanese researchers advise those feeling angry not to vent their frustrations on colleagues or loved ones, but instead to express their rage through writing down their unhappy thoughts and then throwing the paper in the trash or into a shredder. Professor Nobuyuki Kawai from Nagoya University (central Japan), who is in charge of the study published this week in the British journal "Scientific Reports," stated, "We expected our method to somewhat reduce anger." Kawai added that the researchers were surprised that this emotional management technique nearly "eliminated anger entirely."
The researchers explained that "this study showed that the physical act of throwing away a piece of paper containing negative written thoughts about a frustrating incident helps soothe that anger, while simply keeping the paper does not produce this effect." About 100 students participated in an experiment where they were asked to express their opinions in writing on societal issues such as smoking bans in public places.
Graduate students reviewed the responses but paid them little regard, deliberately assigning low scores related to intelligence assessment, writing quality, logic, and reasoning, sometimes accompanied by very harsh comments. After receiving their graded assignments, participants were asked to write their feelings on a piece of paper, and half of them were told to tear it up and throw it away, while the other half kept their paper.
Researchers were unsurprised that "personal anger increased among all participants after seeing the insulting comments," but the officials noted that "the personal anger of the group that threw away their papers nearly fully decreased," while the anger of the group that kept their papers remained high. Nagoya University considered "this study important because the ability to control anger in home or work environments can reduce negative consequences in work or personal life" for individuals.
