Imagine sharing a room with four people, one of them is angry while the other three keep calm. Who do you think can reason more logically and rationally?
Well, a surprising study suggests that angry people can actually think much more rationally and make better decisions. No doubt this is a different perspective than trying to understand anger, so the experiment is worth knowing.
The study was conducted with a total of 97 people. The first step was to ask some participants to write about a fact in their life that deeply upset them and made them feel angry and angry. Another group was asked to write about any sad event and finally, a third group was asked to write about whatever they wanted.
Afterwards everyone had to read the introduction to a debate on whether to allow the hands-free kit for cell phones, which helps make driving safer. The interesting thing is that these people were chosen to participate in the experiment because through a previous questionnaire they had stated that this solution could improve road safety.
Now comes the interesting part: each was presented with the summaries of eight different articles, half in favor and the other against using the speakerphone. Everyone had to choose five articles and read them completely.
Who has read the most articles against their position? And most importantly: who changed their mind after reading the articles?
Everyone who wrote about when they were angry!
The implications of anger on a subconscious level
What happened? This is not the first such experiment conducted in psychology. Previous studies have shown that when we feel angry and upset, we tend to rebel by moving to the opposite extreme (no matter if the opinion is ours or someone else's).
Thus, anger triggers this mechanism by which one always tends to look for arguments in favor of one's beliefs. Obviously, this is a positive effect because it allows us to open our minds and take into consideration positions that are contrary or simply different from ours.
However, it is also obvious that anger is not one of the best feelings one can experience and should be avoided. Therefore, you now know the secret of "rationality of anger", and you can apply it without getting angry.
