On days when you feel like snapping at someone or screaming into a pillow, try writing your feelings on paper and then shredding or throwing them away to calm down. A study in Japan has found that this is an effective way to get rid of anger. The study, conducted at Nagoya University and published in Scientific Reports on Nature, builds on research on the association between the written word and anger reduction as well as studies showing how interactions with physical objects can control a person's mood.
"We expected that our method would suppress anger to some extent," said Nobuyuki Kawai, lead researcher of the study at Nagoya University. "However, we were amazed that anger was eliminated almost entirely," Mr Kawai added, as per The Guardian.
For the research, around 100 students took part in an experiment where they were asked to write brief opinions on social issues, such as whether smoking in public should be outlawed. The researchers told them that a doctoral student would evaluate their writing. However, regardless of what the participants wrote, the evaluators scored them on low intelligence, interest, friendliness, logic and rationality. They also received insulting feedback.
The participants then wrote down their feelings, and half of them shredded the paper or threw it away, while the other half put it in a clear folder or a transparent box.
The study found that all students "showed an increased subjective rating of anger" after being insulted. But while the anger of the group which placed the paper in a clear folder or a box remained high, "the subjective anger for the disposal group decreased" to the point of being neutralised.
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Researchers concluded that "the meaning of disposal plays a critical role" in reducing anger. "This technique could be applied in the moment by writing down the source of anger as if taking a memo and then throwing it away," said Mr Kawai.
The researchers also said that their findings could be used as a form of ad-hoc anger management. "Controlling anger at home and in the workplace can reduce negative consequences in out jobs and personal lives," they said.
Moreover, researchers also believe that the shredder results may be related to the phenomenon of "backward magical contagion", which is a belief that actions taken on an object associated with a person can affect the individual themselves. In this case, getting rid of the paper with negative thoughts causes the original emotion to disappear.
