'Just Let It Out' Is Bad Advice for Relieving Anger

Work & Family Life - November 9, 2001

Pop psychology aside, smacking something like a pillow or even a punching bag is not a helpful method of venting anger, according to research reported in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Iowa State University psychologist Brad Bushman and his colleagues found that a group of subjects who were told to vent their anger by hitting a punching bag turned out to be more aggressive, later on, than another group of angry subjects who did not hit a punching bag.

Many self-help books recommend the "just let it out" approach to anger management, but Dr. Bushman suggests a better way of simmering down is to simply turn off the heat: count to 10 or to 100, if you need to.