Beliefs about how to reduce anger.

To learn more about people's beliefs about how to reduce anger, 416 college students were asked what they thought would be the effects of various responses to feeling angry. In general, they thought that behaving aggressively would make them feel worse and that distracting themselves and doing something nice for another would make them feel better. However, males, younger subjects, and those who had behaved more aggressively in the past were more likely to feel that behaving aggressively would elevate their mood. These observations are consistent with theories emphasizing the importance of cognitive variables in the experiences of anger and aggression.