What if there was a surefire way to keep yourself from flying off the handle the next time something (or someone) made you mad—a secret weapon for crushing anger before it consumed you? According to Japanese scientists, that secret weapon might be as simple as a pen and paper. The researchers began by infuriating their subjects—intentionally. Mr.
Kawai and his graduate student, Yuta Kanaya, at the Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, asked participants to write down their opinions about social issues, like whether smoking should be permitted in public schools. Then, they were told a doctoral student from Nagoya University would evaluate their answers. However, the research team instructed the doctoral students doing the evaluations to score the responses low on intelligence, interest, friendliness, and logic—regardless of what the students wrote.
To add insult to injury, the doctoral students also wrote the same disparaging comment on each—“I cannot believe an educated person would think like this. I hope this person learns something while at the university.” Ouch.
Put it on their desk. Put it in a plastic box. Throw it away.
Put it through a shredder. A good example is in the workplace. Think of a time at work when you had a frustrating interaction with a colleague or manager.
Instead of trying to contain your anger to stop yourself from launching a stapler across the room, you could calmly excuse yourself, return to your desk, and detail your feeli.
