Abstract
Do people aggress to make themselves feel better? We adapted a procedure used by G. K. Manucia, D. J. Baumann, and R. B. Cialdini (1984), in which some participants are given a bogus mood-freezing pill that makes affect regulation efforts ineffective. In Study 1, people who had been induced to believe in the value of catharsis and venting anger responded more aggressively than did control participants to insulting criticism, but this aggression was eliminated by the mood-freezing pill. Study 2 showed similar results among people with high anger-out (i.e., expressing and venting anger) tendencies. Studies 3 and 4 provided questionnaire data consistent with these interpretations, and Study 5 replicated the findings of Studies 1 and 2 using measures more directly concerned with affect regulation. Taken together, these results suggest that many people may engage in aggression to regulate (improve) their own affective states.
Keywords
CatharsisAngerPsychologyAffect (linguistics)AggressionMoodHostilitySocial psychologyClinical psychology
Affiliated Institutions
Related Publications
Problem Behavior and Psychosocial Development: A Longitudinal Study of Youth
This study is the 2nd phase of a long-term program of research on problem behavior. The approach to theory testing involves a longitudinal design. The study plots trajectories...
Amazon's Mechanical Turk
Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is a relatively new website that contains the major elements required to conduct research: an integrated participant compensation system; a larg...
The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information.
First, the span of absolute judgment and the span of immediate memory impose severe limitations on the amount of information that we are able to receive, process, and remember. ...
The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information.
First, the span of absolute judgment and the span of immediate memory impose severe limitations on the amount of information that we are able to receive, process, and remember. ...
A Tool for Reviewers
Peer review lies at the core of science and academic life. In one of its most pervasive forms, peer review for the scientific literature is the main mechanism that research jour...
Publication Info
- Year
- 2001
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 81
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 17-32
- Citations
- 576
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Social Impact
Altmetric
PlumX Metrics
Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions
Citation Metrics
576
OpenAlex
Cite This
Brad J. Bushman,
Roy F. Baumeister,
Collen M. Phillips
(2001).
Do people aggress to improve their mood? Catharsis beliefs, affect regulation opportunity, and aggressive responding..
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
, 81
(1)
, 17-32.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.1.17
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1037/0022-3514.81.1.17