Feel angry and want to let it all out?

Researcher say write those apoplectic thoughts on a piece of paper and toss it into a trash can or run it through a shredder. 

Voila! Kiss that rage goodbye.

A research group led by Nobuyuki Kawai, a professor of cognitive science at Nagoya University, has confirmed in experiments that the method is a simple and effective way to control anger at work and at home.

The results of the study were published in Scientific Reports, a science journal, on April 9.

The researchers said many bits of wisdom and methods have been proposed on suppressing rage, but few actually have any scientific basis.

Instead, the research group took inspiration from an ancient ritual in central Japan.

Hiyoshijinja shrine in Kiyosu, Aichi Prefecture, is associated with Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598), a powerful feudal warlord who unified Japan.

Hiyoshijinja has hosted an annual festival in November called "Hakidashi-matsuri," which is based on folklore that an entertainer visited the shrine to offer a sacred dance and purify worldly grudges and sufferings.

The festival provides an opportunity for people to discard their emotional ruts and attachments, such as sorrow and resentment, and to face others with a heart of forgiveness and healing, according to the shrine’s website.

One of the main events during the festival is called “Hakidashi-zara,” in which people purchase a plate and “seal” their thoughts and feelings that they want to discard in it. 

Then they break the plate.

The research group wondered if a similar method using paper would work.

The researchers conducted two experiments to see if writing down angry thoughts on a piece of paper and throwing it away would help people to suppress their rage. 

Firstly, the researchers asked 50 Nagoya University students, whose average age was 21.1 and 16 of whom were female, to write an essay on social problems such as “smoking in public.”

Then, a fictitious doctoral student rated each essay on six characteristics, such as intelligence and rationality, on a 9-point scale.

The feedback also included negative comments, such as, “I cannot believe an educated person would think like this. I hope this person learns something while at the university.”

After reading the ratings and feedback for two minutes, the students were asked to write on a piece of paper how they felt and why they felt that way.

Half the 50 students were then asked to turn the paper over and place it on the desk, while the other half were asked to roll up the paper, stand and toss it into a trash can.

Both groups were then asked to fill out a questionnaire and rate the degree of their feelings of anger on a scale of 1 to 6: (1) immediately after writing the essay, (2) immediately after receiving a low evaluation from a doctoral student, and (3) immediately after putting the paper on the desk or throwing it into a trash can.

The changes in these three stages were examined by the researchers.

As a result, in the group that placed the paper on the desk, anger changed from 1.78 points at the (1) stage to 3.45 points at the (2) stage, then to 2.64 points at the (3) stage.

In the group that threw the paper into the trash, the figures went from (1) 1.59 to (2) 3.34 to (3) 1.87.

There was little difference between the two groups at (1) and (2), but at (3), there was a clear difference between the two groups, with a significant decrease in anger in the group that threw the paper away, dropping to the same level as immediately after writing the essay.

To determine whether throwing away the paper might be the only way to relieve stress and calm their anger, the researchers tested another group of 46 people, which included students and young people.

The average age of the group was 26.4 and 23 of them were female.

The group went through the same procedure.

But at the end of the process, one group was asked to shred the paper by putting it into a shredder on their desk, while the other group was asked to put the paper into a transparent box on their desk.

As a result, in the “transparent box” group, the feelings of anger changed from (1) 1.64 points to (2) 3.24 points to (3) 2.75 points.

In the “shredder” group, the scores were (1) 1.57, (2) 3.14, and (3) 1.98. In this group, the feelings of anger decreased significantly from immediately after the low evaluation and dropped to the same level as immediately after writing the essay.

The transparent box group did not show a clear statistical drop.

In conclusion, the researchers believe that the act of throwing the paper with angry thoughts in the trash or shredding it may have created the feeling that their anger was disposed of, which had a calming effect. 

“When you are angry at home, you can suppress your anger considerably by writing down your thoughts like a diary, crumpling it up and throwing it away," Kawai said. "Or, when you are asked an unreasonable demand at work, you can say ‘yes’ and pretend to make a note of it, and then throw it away later. By doing so, we can expect to maintain smooth relationships without confrontations.”

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences at Nagoya University. All participants were informed on the aims of the experiment after all the work was completed, the research group said.

The paper can be read at: (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-57916-z)