When you hit “red”avoid lashing out at colleagues or family and instead write your explosive thoughts on a sheet of paper and then throw it away in the trash or shredder! It is more effective, according to Japanese researchers.

“We expected that our method would reduce anger to some extent,” explains Professor Nobuyuki Kawai of Nagoya University in central Japan, who led the research, the results of which were published this week in the British journal Scientific Reports. ».

“But we were surprised to find that the anger had almost completely disappeared” through this emotion management technique, Kawai adds in a statement.

“This study shows that the act of physically discarding a sheet of paper, which contains the (negative) thoughts about the causes of a triggering event, neutralizes anger, whereas simply storing the paper does not have this effect,” the researchers found.

About 100 students took part in a test in which they had to write down their opinion on social issues, such as banning smoking in public places.

PhD students then evaluated the papers. However, without taking into account the work done by the former, the PhD students deliberately gave them poor marks for their intelligence, interest, quality of writing, logic and rationality, sometimes making very harsh comments.

After receiving their graded assignments, students were required to write their feelings on a sheet of paper. Half of them then had to tear the sheet and throw it away, while the other half were to keep and store it.

As expected, “all participants saw their anger increase after receiving the offensive comments.” However, “the anger of the group that threw the paper decreased” almost completely, while that of the group that kept the card remained high, the researchers revealed.

“This study is important because being able to control one’s anger in a family or professional environment can reduce negative consequences at work or in our personal lives,” the Nagoya University researchers estimate.