Bump what ya heard, throwing a tantrum can do wonders for your mood. In fact, research suggests that getting angry may prove more vital in your pursuit of happiness.
According to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, while pain and stress isn’t ideal, “All emotions can be positive in some contexts and negative in others, regardless of whether they are pleasant or unpleasant,” says lead researcher Maya Tamir, PhD, a psychology professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
To study the impact of different emotions on overall happiness, defined as a state of well-being and contentment, Tamir and her team interviewed 2,324 university students in eight countries, including the United States. Participants were asked to state feelings they’ve experienced in their daily lives as well as those they wish to have. In addition, interviewees answered questions about depressive symptoms and life satisfaction.
“None of the previous research tested whether feeling “right” predicts life satisfaction and depressive symptoms above and beyond feeling “good.” The current research assessed the desirability of distinct emotions, including both pleasant (e.g., love and compassion) and unpleasant (e.g., anger and hatred) emotions, and tested the Aristotelian prediction across cultures,” the study reads.
As for the results, you may be surprised.
“On average, people desired more pleasant (i.e., self-transcending, opening, and conserving emotions) and less unpleasant (i.e., negative self-enhancing) emotions than they experienced. However, there was substantial variation in discrepancy scores,” according to findings. Those variations being that “many individuals desired more pleasant emotions than they experienced, but some desired less. For instance, 11% of our sample wanted to feel less self-transcending emotions, such as love and empathy, than they actually felt.”
On the flipside, others “desired less unpleasant emotions than they experienced, but some desired more. For example, 10% of our sample wanted to feel more negative self-enhancing emotions, such as anger and hatred, than they actually felt.”
So, what are ways you can channel your distress in the right direction?
First, allow yourself to work through your emotions.
Anger is physiological, meaning it involves chemical reactions in your brain. Your amygdala, the center for emotional processing, sends a distress signal to your hypothalamus. Your hypothalamus then sends epinephrine along your autonomic nervous system through the path of the sympathetic nervous system to the adrenal glands, which starts pumping epinephrine (adrenaline) throughout your body. Your body is then ready to handle a threat, increasing your heart rate and sharpening your senses.
Stay motivated.
Once you’ve worked through your emotions, use that anger to motivate change. For example, work towards replacing the anger which initially motivated you to action with another emotion, like passion. You may be working a dead-end job. The constant let down may be motivation enough to put in the extra work to search for a new job or even go back to school to work on that dream job.
Get physical.
Exercise is a great way to reduce both acute and persistent anger. Because physical activity doesn’t have to take place in the gym, a quick walk during your lunch break, even cleaning the house can help you work towards emotional health.
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