Venting Anger is a Myth

I have chosen to write about the myth that venting reduces how aggressive or angry we feel. The popular belief that venting will help relieve anger is stated in many magazines. My friends have vented to me believing that venting reduces their anger.

Brad Bushman (2002) of Iowa State University conducted an experiment to test the myth on whether venting subdues anger or if it does the contrary and intensifies anger. Bushman based his study on two popular theories of venting: catharsis theory and cognitive neoassociation theory. Catharsis theory states that venting anger will produce a lower level of anger and aggression while cognitive neoassociation theory states the opposite, venting will lead to an increase in anger and aggression.

Bushman’s experiment was done with 600 college students enrolled in an introductory psychology course, where they were offered extra credit for participating in this test. Each participant was told to write an essay on his or her view on abortion, which was later given bad evaluations by another same-­‐sex “participant” or “partner,” who in reality was nonexistent. All the participants were asked to participate in the punching bag activity to