6 Minutes
You feel the heat rise. You want to shout, smash, or run it off. It feels sensible. But the comforting metaphor of steam escaping a pressure cooker is misleading when it comes to human anger.
The research that punctures the catharsis myth
In 2024, a meta-analytic review pooled 154 studies and more than 10,000 participants to test the idea that venting reduces anger. The short version: it usually does not. In many settings, attempts to blow off steam either had no effect on feelings of anger or made those feelings worse.
That conclusion challenges a long-standing intuition and popular practices, from punching pillows to 'rage rooms' where people pay to smash objects. The senior author on the review, communication scientist Brad Bushman, has argued that the supposed catharsis effect lacks empirical support. The review found a consistent signal: when people tried to reduce anger by increasing physiological arousal, they rarely felt calmer afterward.
Why venting often backfires
Anger is not just a thought. It is a physiological state and a cognitive interpretation rolled into one. The Schachter-Singer two-factor model, which guided the review's framework, describes emotions as arising from arousal plus meaning. You may be breathing fast, your heart pounding, muscles tense; you then label that state as anger and act on it.
Venting—speaking angrily, replaying a grievance, or exerting intense physical effort to 'shake it off'—tends to prolong physiological arousal or add rewards to aggressive responses. Short-term relief, if any, can reinforce aggressive behavior. In other words, you might feel momentarily justified or energized, and your brain learns that an aggressive outburst is an effective strategy to handle dispute or stress.
Across the studies the reviewers examined, activities that raised arousal—jogging, intense boxing drills, or other strenuous workouts—did not reliably lower anger. Jogging, in particular, was associated with an increased likelihood of sustained irritation. The researchers explain that increasing the bodily intensity of anger rarely helps unless the activity simultaneously reduces the emotion's physiological fuel.
What actually helps: turn down the heat
Reducing arousal appears to be the reliable pathway out of anger. Calm-focused practices—slow-flow yoga, diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, mindfulness, and short timeouts—showed consistent decreases in reported anger across lab and field studies. These techniques work by altering the bodily signal that the mind interprets as anger.
Some findings surprised the authors. Progressive muscle relaxation and simple relaxation routines often performed as well as more popular tools like meditation. Yoga landed in the middle: certain forms can be mildly activating, yet the focus on breath and posture frequently lowers overall arousal and so reduces anger.
There is nuance. Physical activities that feel playful, such as ball sports or recreational games, lowered arousal in some studies, suggesting exertion coupled with enjoyment and social connection may be protective. That contrasts with solitary workouts aimed at discharge, which tend to amplify arousal and can prolong upset.
In short, the goal is not catharsis through escalation but dysphoria through downshifting—reducing heart rate, slowing breath, relaxing muscles. Techniques that target those physiological levers are the most effective short-term strategies.
Practical takeaways for moments of fury
When anger spikes, a few simple moves often help. Pause and breathe. Count, take a timeout, or switch focus to a calming activity. Apps and guided videos can teach diaphragmatic breathing and progressive muscle relaxation in minutes. For recurrent or intense anger, cognitive-behavioral approaches that reframe interpretations of events remain useful, but they are not the only route—physiological downshifts offer an alternate and accessible entry point.
The review also highlights limitations in one-size-fits-all prescriptions. Standard cognitive therapies work well for many but not all brain types. Likewise, a vigorous run may improve cardiovascular health yet fail to soothe immediate anger—or worse, intensify it if used as an outlet for fury.
Broader implications and future research
The findings matter for clinicians, educators, and anyone trying to design healthier responses to conflict. If arousal is the common currency of stress and anger, then interventions that lower body activation will likely help both. That overlap could simplify public-health messaging: the same strategies that reduce chronic stress symptoms also blunt the physiological edge of anger.
Researchers caution that more work is needed to map out which calming practices work best for which people, in which contexts, and over what timeframes. Individual differences, cultural norms around expression, and the social consequences of venting all shape real-world outcomes.
Expert Insight
Dr. Lena Morales, a clinical psychologist specializing in emotion regulation, offers a practical frame: 'People want an immediate fix when they're angry. But the fastest route to feeling less angry is not to add fuel. It's to interrupt the feedback loop between your body and your interpretation of the situation. Slow breathing, gentle stretching, or a short break give your physiology time to reset, and that reset makes calmer choices possible.' Her view echoes the review's central message: change the body, and the mind will follow.
The myth of catharsis persists because it feels intuitively right and because aggressive release sometimes produces brief satisfaction. The science, however, points elsewhere: to lower arousal, shift attention, and employ accessible calming tools. Try it next time the temperature rises—your nervous system will thank you.
Source: sciencealert
Comments
Tomas
Is this even true for everyone? Jogging made me more annoyed, but was I just replaying the fight while running... curious about cultural differences and long term effects tho
atomwave
wow, didn't expect that… punching pillows feel worse now lol. breathing, timeouts, calm stuff actually sounds more plausible. gonna try
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