Self-test
6. “We can decrease our anger by hitting something safe, like a pillow” is false?
This statement is false. At one time, many educators thought this was true. If a child was angry, they might encourage him to hit a doll, for example. We now know that the emotion of anger is never diminished by aggressive acts.
The common belief that an angry person needs to "blow off steam" is incorrect. In fact, encouraging aggression, even against some impersonal object carries two risks. First, the aggressive act can actually increase the intensity of the anger. Second, this encourages someone to act aggressively when he or she is angry. We want to avoid this association.