For hundreds of years, it was said that instead of keeping anger bottled up inside, it was important to let it out. We called it, ‘blowing off your steam!” However, recent studies challenge the common belief that blowing off your steam or venting when you are angry can help release strong emotions. Researchers at Ohio State University have discovered that venting does not reduce anger and may even increase it.

These conclusions were published in Clinical Psychology Review, after analysing 154 studies on anger. “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,” said Brad Bushman, senior author and communication scientist after the results were published in April, according to Science Alert, “Venting anger might sound like a good idea, but there’s not a shred of scientific evidence to support catharsis theory.”

“To reduce anger, it is better to engage in activities that decrease arousal levels,” Bushman said. “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.”

Inspired by the “rage rooms” to pursue this study, first author Sophie Kjærvik, a communication scientist at Virginia Commonwealth University, wanted to debunk the theory of expressing anger to cope with it. “We wanted to show that reducing arousal, and actually the physiological aspect of it, is really important,” explained Kjærvik.

Interesting, isn’t it?

In the book of Proverbs, we hear ‘a soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.’ This means that if you speak kindly and softly, angry people will feel calmer. If you speak rudely or shout at them, they will just get angrier.

However, what is interesting with recent studies is that not only does a soft answer make the hearer reduce his anger, but it reduces the anger of the person who says it.

How do we bring this about? How do we make ourselves give soft answers when every part of us wants to yell, shout and retaliate?

I believe that it lies much before the response period. It lies in the ‘reflective time’ or the period when we hear something bad, or see something violent happening.

We need to understand the reason behind that action or those harsh words.

“Forgive them for they know not what to do!” were the words from a beaten, thrashed and dying man. How?

Because he understood that the people who were behind the violent action were not doing it because they were evil, but simply because they felt they were right.

Are you a threat to someone who has grown up abused? Does the intelligence you are blessed with make others feel inadequate?

Then realise why they hit out and deal with them with understanding.

That’s a far more effective method than blowing off your steam..!

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