psychology
Anger often has a negative connotation, but sometimes the feeling can be helpful. According to a new study, being angry can make you better at certain tasks. This shows that negative emotions also have their place, even if people prefer to be happy.
October 31, 2023 August 8
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According to psychological theories, feelings such as happiness, sadness or anger help you react appropriately to external circumstances and situations: when you are sad, for example, you seek help, while anger helps you take action, according to a press release in the specialized magazine Study published in the “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology”. To better understand the function of anger, researchers led by Heather Lench of Texas A&M University conducted a series of experiments with a total of more than 1,000 participants, and survey data were also evaluated.
For example, in one experiment, they were shown photos and short films that triggered emotions such as anger, as well as neutral images. Afterwards, the test subjects had to solve tasks – such as putting together puzzles or completing a computer skiing game as skillfully as possible.
Quick solution
In all experiments, it was shown that angry people were able to solve their tasks significantly better and often in less time. But: This was only visible for the objectives that were fundamentally more difficult to achieve. For the simplest tasks, there was no evidence that anger could actually help, the research team reports.
Furthermore, the strong desire to achieve a certain thing or the pleasure of doing so can be at least as motivating as anger. The researchers’ conclusion: it’s the mix that makes the difference. Negative feelings are also justified and can be helpful in dealing with problems.
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