Does Venting Anger Feed or Extinguish the Flame? Catharsis, Rumination, Distraction, Anger and Aggressive Responding



Does Venting Anger Feed or Extinguish the Flame? Catharsis, Rumination, Distraction, Anger, and Aggressive Responding

Introduction to Article

The belief in Catharsis theory and venting anger is apparent in our culture as not only do movies and magazines encourage people to vent their anger, but the same is apparent on billboards where venting anger is considered as a positive and valid approach to extinguish their anger. The study “Does Venting Anger Feed or Extinguish the Flame: Catharsis, Rumination, Distraction, Anger, and Aggressive Responding” was conducted by Bushman in the year 2002 and was intended to check the validity and relevance of catharsis theory which states that venting anger will have positive consequences on the psychological state of an individual.

Summary of the Article

The current study was intended to check the validity of Catharsis theory. 600 participants (300 women and 300 men) were asked to write an essay on a sensitive topic and that their work will be evaluated by a peer. In reality however, the experimenter had evaluated the essay and gave negative feedback to anger them. The participants were then randomly grouped into rumination, distraction, and control groups. Rumination group participants hit the punching bag for as hard and as long as they could while thinking about the fellow who had criticized their essay and were also given a visual aid by showing id photo of the same sex peer. The ones in distraction group were shown a photo of same sex athlete and were asked to think about becoming physically fit while hitting the punching bag. Participants from control group sat quietly for some time as the experimenter was supposedly working on computer of the other participant. A mood form was used to measure anger while aggression was measured by allowing participants to blast provocateur with long and loud noises in 25 trials. The results indicated that the control group showed least anger and aggression while rumination group showed highest level of anger.

Primary Goal of Study

The pop psychologists hold a significant view in favor of venting and rumination of anger and therefore different psychologists are observed to be proposing different techniques to control anger with the help of catharsis. The books and views of various pop psychologists are aligned to the perception that “venting” works best to extinguish anger (Bushman, 2002). The author indicated that there was lack of relevant empirical evidence in support of venting anger and therefore, the study focused on the empirical evidence for venting and rumination. The major purpose of the study hence, was to check the relevance of Catharsis theory.

The author indicated that Catharsis theory is widely considered to be valid while there is still need for relevant and appropriate empirical evidence. Therefore, the study intended to find empirical evidence in support of the Catharsis Theory. The study was also intended to evaluate if there were any practical implications of catharsis and if catharsis really worked if people approve ...