Anger is an unpleasant emotion that most people want to get rid of. Of all the unpleasant emotions, anger is the most difficult to regulate. Many people are advised to “blow off steam” to get rid of anger because it is supposedly cathartic. This belief in catharsis gives rise to the popularity of activities such as “rage rooms” where people break things while wearing protective gear. Most anger management techniques and activities either increase arousal (e.g., venting, jogging) or decrease arousal (e.g., relaxation, meditation). This meta-analytic review tests which type of activity is most effective. A total of 112 independent studies, with a combined sample of 6,266 participants, were included. The results indicate that activities that decrease arousal also decrease anger (g = -0.52, [-0.70, -0.34]), whereas activities that increase arousal also increase anger (g = 0.22, [0.02, 0.42]).
Schachter and Singer’s (1962) emotion theory proposes that both heightened arousal and negative cognitive labels can contribute to the experience of anger. The results suggest that arousal-decreasing activities are linked to a decrease in anger, regardless of whether they focus solely on arousal (g = -0.32, [-0.63, -0.01]) or a combination of arousal and cognition (g = -0.58, [-0.80, -0.36]). Arousal-increasing activities failed to yield significant effects.
The observed effects were stable across the years examined (1982 to 2022) for participants of various genders, races, ages, and cultures. Arousal-decreasing activities were associated with consistently decreased anger in student and non-student populations, in criminal offenders and non-offenders, and in individuals with and without intellectual disabilities. Moreover, these activities influenced the effect when delivered through digital platforms, by trained instructors, research staff or therapists, in group or individual sessions, and in field or laboratory settings. Activities that extended over a longer duration of time were more effective, although the number and length of sessions did not significantly affect the results. Importantly, activities with random assignment were associated with a larger decrease in anger (g = -0.55, [-0.75, -0.35]) than activities without random assignment (g = -0.17, [-0.65, 0.30]).
Arousal-increasing activities significantly increase anger, particularly when induced through jogging (g = 0.78 [0.11, 1.54], k = 16). Laboratory activities produced larger effects (g = 0.58, [0.14, 1.06]) than field activities (g = -0.04, [-0.21, 0.14]). Effects were also larger for college student samples (g = 0.51, [0.14, 0.91]) than for non-student samples (g = -0.05, [- 0.67, -0.25]). Effects were stable over time and did not depend on the number of sessions, the length of sessions, or the duration of activities.
Sensitivity analyses raise concerns about potential publication bias and outliers in studies that used arousal-increasing activities but not in studies that used arousal-decreasing activities.
Theoretically, these findings contradict catharsis theory — venting anger and blowing off steam increases rather than decreases anger. These results suggest that “turning down the heat” or calming down by engaging in activities that decrease arousal (e.g., meditation, mindfulness, relaxation) is a much more effective approach for getting rid of anger.