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How to Regulate Anger? Using Expression, Problem Solving, and Distraction Strategies

Year 2023, Volume: 15 Issue: Supplement 1, 283 - 297, 29.12.2023
https://doi.org/10.18863/pgy.1350188

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of anger regulation on emotion regulation strategies applied through writing tasks. In this respect, a scenario that would trigger the anger was created. Levels of anger regulation were then evaluated by examining the effects of expression, problem-solving, and distraction strategies applied through writing tasks. The change in anger regulation was evaluated in terms of positive affect, negative affect, valence, and arousal values of emotion. In addition, the levels of effectiveness of these emotion regulation strategies were compared with each other. The sample of the study consisted of 152 female university students (for age; M =19.71, SD = 1.38). The Positive and Negative Affect Scale, Emotion and Arousal Assessment, and Emotional Valence Assessment Form were used as data collection tools. It was found that all three emotion regulation strategies had significant effects on negative affect and arousal. The most effective strategy for negative affect was distraction (M =14.44, SD = 4.83), while the least effective was expression (M =27.38, SD = 8.01). Finally, the most effective strategies for arousal were distraction and expression with problem-solving, and there was no significant difference between the effectiveness of these two strategies (M =3.40, SD = 0.80; M =3.54, SD = 1.09, respectively), while the least effective strategy was expression (M =4.11, SD = 1.07).

References

  • Akan S, Barıskın E (2018) Conditions and scenarios eliciting emotions of disgust, anger, shame, sadness, and happiness. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 33:15-19.
  • Almeida DM (2005) Resilience and vulnerability to daily stressors assessed via diary methods. Curr Dir Psychol Sci, 14:64-68.
  • Barlow MA, Wrosch C, Gouin JP, Kunzmann U (2019) Is anger, but not sadness, associated with chronic inflammation and illness in older adulthood? Psychol Aging, 34:330-340.
  • Berkowitz L, Harmon-Jones E (2004). Toward an understanding of the determinants of anger. Emotion, 4:107-130.
  • Cameron LD, Jago L (2008) Emotion regulation interventions: A common-sense model approach. Br J Health Psychol, 13:215-221.
  • Campbell JM (2004) Statistical comparison of four effect sizes for single-subject designs. Behav Modif, 28:234-246.
  • Castro WP, Sánchez MJR, González CTP, Bethencourt JM, de la Fuente Portero JA, Marco RG (2014) Cognitive-behavioral treatment and anti-depressants combined with virtual reality exposure for patients with chronic agoraphobia. Int J Clin Health Psychol, 14:9-17.
  • Charles ST (2010) Strength and vulnerability integration: A model of emotional well-being across adulthood. Psychol Bull, 136:1068-1091.
  • Celik M (2019) The impact of enabling women's lifestyle and gender stereotypes on blaming the raped woman and moral outrage (Doctoral thesis). Ankara, Social Sciences University of Ankara.
  • Del Vecchio T, O’Leary KD (2004) Effectiveness of anger treatments for specific anger problems: A meta-analytic review. Clin Psychol Rev, 24:15-34.
  • Dougall AL, Baum A (2001) Stress, Health, and Illness. In Handbook of Health Psychology. (Eds A Baum, TA Revenson, JE Singer):321-337. Mahwah, NJ, Erlbaum.
  • Drake JE, Winner E (2013) How children use drawing to regulate their emotions. Cogn Emot, 27:512-520.
  • Drake JE, Winner E (2012) Confronting sadness through art-making: Distraction is more beneficial than venting. Psychol Aesthet Creat Arts, 6:255-261.
  • Feldman-Barrett L, Russell JA (1998) Independence and bipolarity in the structure of current affect. J Pers Soc Psychol, 74:967-984.
  • Förster K, Kurtz M, Konrad A, Kanske P (2022) Emotional reactivity, emotion regulation, and social emotions in affective disorders. Z Klin Psychol Psychother, 51:11-25.
  • Gencoz T (2000) Positive and negative affect schedule: A study of validity and reliability. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 15:27-28.
  • Genuth A, Drake JE (2021) The benefits of drawing to regulate sadness and anger: Distraction versus expression. Psychol Aesthet Creat Arts, 15:91-99.
  • George WH, Martínez LJ (2002) Victim blaming in rape: Effects of victim and perpetrator race, type of rape, and participant racism. Psychol Women Q, 26:110-119.
  • Gross JJ, John OP (2003) Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. J Pers Soc Psychol, 85:348-362.
  • Gulec H, Kose S, Gulec YM, Citak S, Evren C, Borckardt J et al. (2009) Reliability and factorial validity of the Turkish version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Klin Psikofarmakol Bulteni, 19:214-220.
  • Harris R (2006) Embracing your demons: An overview of acceptance and commitment therapy. Psychotherapy in Australia, 12:70-76.
  • Hemenover SH, Augustine AA, Shulman T, Tran TQ, Barlett CP (2008) Individual differences in negative affect repair. Emotion, 8:468-478.
  • James C, Drake JE, Winner E (2018) Expression versus distraction: An investigation of contrasting emotion regulation strategies when drawing, writing, talking, and thinking. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 36:162-179.
  • Karaca S, Barlas GU, Ongun E, Oz YC, Korkmaz G (2017) Examining the news of violence against women in newspapers. JAREN, 3:137-144.
  • Krantz G, Garcia-Moreno C (2005) Violence against women. J Epidemiol Community Health, 59:818-821.
  • Kraynak TE, Marsland AL, Gianaros PJ (2018) Neural mechanisms linking emotion with cardiovascular disease. Curr Cardiol Rep, 20:128-138.
  • Lulofs RS, Cahn DD (2000) Conflict: From Theory to Action, 2nd ed. Boston, USA, Allyn and Bacon.
  • Martin RC, Dahlen ER (2007) Anger response styles and reaction to provocation. Pers Individ Dif, 43:2083-2094.
  • McLay R, Ram V, Murphy J, Spira J, Wood DP, Wiederhold MD et al. (2014) Effect of virtual reality PTSD treatment on mood and neurocognitive outcomes. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw, 17:439-446.
  • Morriss R (2009) Psychological models of mood disorders. Psychiatry, 8:82-86.
  • Nicholson RA, Gramling SE, Ong JC, Buenevar L (2003) Differences in anger expression between individuals with and without headache after controlling for depression and anxiety. Headache, 43:651-663.
  • Ozturk E (2012) Control management and causes of anger in trainers who work in primary school (Uzmanlık tezi). Elazığ, Firat University.
  • Parker JD, Michael Bagby R, Taylor GJ, Endler NS, Schmitz P (1993) Factorial validity of the 20‐item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Eur J Pers, 7:221-232.
  • Pennebaker JW (1997) Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process. Psychol Sci, 8:162-166.
  • Pizarro J (2004) The efficacy of art and writing therapy: Increasing positive mental health outcomes and participant retention after exposure to traumatic experience. Art Ther, 21:5-12.
  • Power M, Dalgleish T (2007) Cognition and Emotion: From Order to Disorder, 2nd ed. London, Psychology Press.
  • Rook KS, Luong G, Sorkin DH, Newsom JT, Krause N (2012) Ambivalent versus problematic social ties: Implications for psychological health, functional health, and interpersonal coping. Psychol Aging, 27:912-923.
  • Rothschild B, Rand M (2006) Help for the Helper, Self-Care Strategies for Managing Burnout and Stress: The Psychophysiology of Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma. New York, NY, WW Norton.
  • Russell JA, Weiss A, Mendelsohn GA (1989) Affect grid: A single-item scale of pleasure and arousal. J Pers Soc Psychol, 57:493-502.
  • Rusting CL, Nolen-Hoeksema S (1998) Regulating responses to anger: Effects of rumination and distraction on angry mood. J Pers Soc Psychol, 74:790-803.
  • Samson AC, Gross JJ (2012) Humour as emotion regulation: The differential consequences of negative versus positive humour. Cogn Emot, 26:375-384.
  • Sargunaraj M, Kashyap H, Chandra PS (2021) Writing your way through feelings: Therapeutic writing for emotion regulation. J Psychosoc Rehabil Ment Health, 8:73-79.
  • Sarp N, Tosun A (2011) Emotion and autobiographical memory. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar, 3:446-445.
  • Sheppes G, Scheibe S, Suri G, Gross JJ (2011) Emotion-regulation choice. Psychol Sci, 22:1391-1396.
  • Sifneos PE (1972) Short-term Psychotherapy and Emotional Crisis. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
  • Skinner AL, Stevenson MC, Camillus JC (2015) Ambivalent sexism in context: Hostile and benevolent sexism moderate bias against female drivers. Basic Appl Soc Psych, 37:56-67.
  • Sleed M, Durrheim K, Kriel A, Solomon V, Baxter V (2002) The effectiveness of the vignette methodology: A comparison of written and video vignettes in eliciting responses about date rape. S Afr J Psychol, 32:21-28.
  • Smyth JM, Pennebaker JW (2001) What Are the Health Effects of Disclosure? In Handbook of Health Psychology, (Eds A Baum, TA Revenson, JE Singer):339-348. Hillsdale, NJ, Erlbaum.
  • Stimmel DT, Rayburg J, Waring W, Raffeld PM (2005) The relation of internalized and trait anger to psychopathology. Counseling & Clinical Psychology Journal, 2:112-123.
  • Suinn RM (2001) The terrible twos - anger and anxiety: Hazardous to your health. Am Psychol, 56:27-36.
  • Suls J, Bunde J (2005) Anger, anxiety, and depression as risk factors for cardiovascular disease: The problems and implications of overlapping affective dispositions. Psychol Bull, 131:260-300.
  • Tabachnic BG, Fidell LS (2014) Using Multivariate Statistics, 6th ed. Boston, Pearson Education.
  • Tahlier M, Miron AM, Rauscher FH (2013) Music choice as a sadness regulation for resolved versus unresolved sad events. Psychol Music, 41:729-748.
  • Taylor GJ (2000) Recent developments in alexithymia theory and research. Can J Psychiatry, 45:134-142.
  • Van Avermaet E (2001). Social Influence in Small Groups. In Introduction to Social Psychology, 3rd ed. (Eds M Hewstone, W Stroebe):403-443. Oxford, UK, Basil Blackwell.
  • Watson D, Clark LA, Tellegen A (1988) Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. J Pers Soc Psychol, 54:1063-1070.
  • Zackheim L (2007) Alexithymia: The expanding realm of research. J Psychosom Res, 63:345-347.

Öfkeyi Nasıl Düzenleriz? İfade Etme, Problem Çözme ve Dikkat Dağıtma Stratejilerinin Kullanımı

Year 2023, Volume: 15 Issue: Supplement 1, 283 - 297, 29.12.2023
https://doi.org/10.18863/pgy.1350188

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın temel amacı yazı yazma aracılığıyla kullanılan duygu düzenleme stratejilerinin öfke duygusunu düzenleme üzerindeki etkisinin incelenmesidir. Bu doğrultuda öncelikle, deney aşamasında kullanılmak üzere öfke duygusunu tetikleyecek bir senaryo içeriği oluşturulmuştur. Ardından, yazı yazma aracılığıyla uygulanan ifade etme, ifade etmeyle beraber problem çözme ve dikkat dağıtma stratejilerinin pozitif duygulanım, negatif duygulanım ve duygunun şiddeti ve hoşnutluk derecesi üzerindeki etkisi incelenerek öfke duygusunun düzenlenmesi değerlendirilmiştir. Ek olarak duygu düzenleme stratejilerinin etkililiği birbiriyle karşılaştırılmıştır. Araştırmanın örneklemini üniversite öğrencisi olan 152 kadın katılımcı (yaş için X̅ =19.71, SS =1.38) oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmada veri toplama araçları olarak Pozitif ve Negatif Duygulanım Ölçeği, Duygusal Değerlik Formu ve Duygusal Uyarılma Formu kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın bulgularına göre her üç duygu düzenleme stratejisinin de negatif duygulanım ve duygunun şiddeti üzerinde anlamlı bir etkisinin olduğu görülmüştür. Negatif duygulanım için en etkili strateji dikkat dağıtma (X̅ =14.44, SS = 4.83) iken en az etkili olan strateji ifade etme olarak bulunmuştur (X̅ =27.38, SS = 8.01). Son olarak, duygunun şiddeti için en etkili stratejiler dikkat dağıtma ve ifade etmeyle beraber problem çözme iken (sırasıyla; X̅ =3.40, SS = 0.80; X̅ =3.54, SS = 1.09) en az etkili olan stratejinin ise ifade etme stratejisi (X̅ =4.11, SS = 1.07) olduğu görülmüştür.

References

  • Akan S, Barıskın E (2018) Conditions and scenarios eliciting emotions of disgust, anger, shame, sadness, and happiness. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 33:15-19.
  • Almeida DM (2005) Resilience and vulnerability to daily stressors assessed via diary methods. Curr Dir Psychol Sci, 14:64-68.
  • Barlow MA, Wrosch C, Gouin JP, Kunzmann U (2019) Is anger, but not sadness, associated with chronic inflammation and illness in older adulthood? Psychol Aging, 34:330-340.
  • Berkowitz L, Harmon-Jones E (2004). Toward an understanding of the determinants of anger. Emotion, 4:107-130.
  • Cameron LD, Jago L (2008) Emotion regulation interventions: A common-sense model approach. Br J Health Psychol, 13:215-221.
  • Campbell JM (2004) Statistical comparison of four effect sizes for single-subject designs. Behav Modif, 28:234-246.
  • Castro WP, Sánchez MJR, González CTP, Bethencourt JM, de la Fuente Portero JA, Marco RG (2014) Cognitive-behavioral treatment and anti-depressants combined with virtual reality exposure for patients with chronic agoraphobia. Int J Clin Health Psychol, 14:9-17.
  • Charles ST (2010) Strength and vulnerability integration: A model of emotional well-being across adulthood. Psychol Bull, 136:1068-1091.
  • Celik M (2019) The impact of enabling women's lifestyle and gender stereotypes on blaming the raped woman and moral outrage (Doctoral thesis). Ankara, Social Sciences University of Ankara.
  • Del Vecchio T, O’Leary KD (2004) Effectiveness of anger treatments for specific anger problems: A meta-analytic review. Clin Psychol Rev, 24:15-34.
  • Dougall AL, Baum A (2001) Stress, Health, and Illness. In Handbook of Health Psychology. (Eds A Baum, TA Revenson, JE Singer):321-337. Mahwah, NJ, Erlbaum.
  • Drake JE, Winner E (2013) How children use drawing to regulate their emotions. Cogn Emot, 27:512-520.
  • Drake JE, Winner E (2012) Confronting sadness through art-making: Distraction is more beneficial than venting. Psychol Aesthet Creat Arts, 6:255-261.
  • Feldman-Barrett L, Russell JA (1998) Independence and bipolarity in the structure of current affect. J Pers Soc Psychol, 74:967-984.
  • Förster K, Kurtz M, Konrad A, Kanske P (2022) Emotional reactivity, emotion regulation, and social emotions in affective disorders. Z Klin Psychol Psychother, 51:11-25.
  • Gencoz T (2000) Positive and negative affect schedule: A study of validity and reliability. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 15:27-28.
  • Genuth A, Drake JE (2021) The benefits of drawing to regulate sadness and anger: Distraction versus expression. Psychol Aesthet Creat Arts, 15:91-99.
  • George WH, Martínez LJ (2002) Victim blaming in rape: Effects of victim and perpetrator race, type of rape, and participant racism. Psychol Women Q, 26:110-119.
  • Gross JJ, John OP (2003) Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. J Pers Soc Psychol, 85:348-362.
  • Gulec H, Kose S, Gulec YM, Citak S, Evren C, Borckardt J et al. (2009) Reliability and factorial validity of the Turkish version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Klin Psikofarmakol Bulteni, 19:214-220.
  • Harris R (2006) Embracing your demons: An overview of acceptance and commitment therapy. Psychotherapy in Australia, 12:70-76.
  • Hemenover SH, Augustine AA, Shulman T, Tran TQ, Barlett CP (2008) Individual differences in negative affect repair. Emotion, 8:468-478.
  • James C, Drake JE, Winner E (2018) Expression versus distraction: An investigation of contrasting emotion regulation strategies when drawing, writing, talking, and thinking. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 36:162-179.
  • Karaca S, Barlas GU, Ongun E, Oz YC, Korkmaz G (2017) Examining the news of violence against women in newspapers. JAREN, 3:137-144.
  • Krantz G, Garcia-Moreno C (2005) Violence against women. J Epidemiol Community Health, 59:818-821.
  • Kraynak TE, Marsland AL, Gianaros PJ (2018) Neural mechanisms linking emotion with cardiovascular disease. Curr Cardiol Rep, 20:128-138.
  • Lulofs RS, Cahn DD (2000) Conflict: From Theory to Action, 2nd ed. Boston, USA, Allyn and Bacon.
  • Martin RC, Dahlen ER (2007) Anger response styles and reaction to provocation. Pers Individ Dif, 43:2083-2094.
  • McLay R, Ram V, Murphy J, Spira J, Wood DP, Wiederhold MD et al. (2014) Effect of virtual reality PTSD treatment on mood and neurocognitive outcomes. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw, 17:439-446.
  • Morriss R (2009) Psychological models of mood disorders. Psychiatry, 8:82-86.
  • Nicholson RA, Gramling SE, Ong JC, Buenevar L (2003) Differences in anger expression between individuals with and without headache after controlling for depression and anxiety. Headache, 43:651-663.
  • Ozturk E (2012) Control management and causes of anger in trainers who work in primary school (Uzmanlık tezi). Elazığ, Firat University.
  • Parker JD, Michael Bagby R, Taylor GJ, Endler NS, Schmitz P (1993) Factorial validity of the 20‐item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Eur J Pers, 7:221-232.
  • Pennebaker JW (1997) Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process. Psychol Sci, 8:162-166.
  • Pizarro J (2004) The efficacy of art and writing therapy: Increasing positive mental health outcomes and participant retention after exposure to traumatic experience. Art Ther, 21:5-12.
  • Power M, Dalgleish T (2007) Cognition and Emotion: From Order to Disorder, 2nd ed. London, Psychology Press.
  • Rook KS, Luong G, Sorkin DH, Newsom JT, Krause N (2012) Ambivalent versus problematic social ties: Implications for psychological health, functional health, and interpersonal coping. Psychol Aging, 27:912-923.
  • Rothschild B, Rand M (2006) Help for the Helper, Self-Care Strategies for Managing Burnout and Stress: The Psychophysiology of Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma. New York, NY, WW Norton.
  • Russell JA, Weiss A, Mendelsohn GA (1989) Affect grid: A single-item scale of pleasure and arousal. J Pers Soc Psychol, 57:493-502.
  • Rusting CL, Nolen-Hoeksema S (1998) Regulating responses to anger: Effects of rumination and distraction on angry mood. J Pers Soc Psychol, 74:790-803.
  • Samson AC, Gross JJ (2012) Humour as emotion regulation: The differential consequences of negative versus positive humour. Cogn Emot, 26:375-384.
  • Sargunaraj M, Kashyap H, Chandra PS (2021) Writing your way through feelings: Therapeutic writing for emotion regulation. J Psychosoc Rehabil Ment Health, 8:73-79.
  • Sarp N, Tosun A (2011) Emotion and autobiographical memory. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar, 3:446-445.
  • Sheppes G, Scheibe S, Suri G, Gross JJ (2011) Emotion-regulation choice. Psychol Sci, 22:1391-1396.
  • Sifneos PE (1972) Short-term Psychotherapy and Emotional Crisis. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
  • Skinner AL, Stevenson MC, Camillus JC (2015) Ambivalent sexism in context: Hostile and benevolent sexism moderate bias against female drivers. Basic Appl Soc Psych, 37:56-67.
  • Sleed M, Durrheim K, Kriel A, Solomon V, Baxter V (2002) The effectiveness of the vignette methodology: A comparison of written and video vignettes in eliciting responses about date rape. S Afr J Psychol, 32:21-28.
  • Smyth JM, Pennebaker JW (2001) What Are the Health Effects of Disclosure? In Handbook of Health Psychology, (Eds A Baum, TA Revenson, JE Singer):339-348. Hillsdale, NJ, Erlbaum.
  • Stimmel DT, Rayburg J, Waring W, Raffeld PM (2005) The relation of internalized and trait anger to psychopathology. Counseling & Clinical Psychology Journal, 2:112-123.
  • Suinn RM (2001) The terrible twos - anger and anxiety: Hazardous to your health. Am Psychol, 56:27-36.
  • Suls J, Bunde J (2005) Anger, anxiety, and depression as risk factors for cardiovascular disease: The problems and implications of overlapping affective dispositions. Psychol Bull, 131:260-300.
  • Tabachnic BG, Fidell LS (2014) Using Multivariate Statistics, 6th ed. Boston, Pearson Education.
  • Tahlier M, Miron AM, Rauscher FH (2013) Music choice as a sadness regulation for resolved versus unresolved sad events. Psychol Music, 41:729-748.
  • Taylor GJ (2000) Recent developments in alexithymia theory and research. Can J Psychiatry, 45:134-142.
  • Van Avermaet E (2001). Social Influence in Small Groups. In Introduction to Social Psychology, 3rd ed. (Eds M Hewstone, W Stroebe):403-443. Oxford, UK, Basil Blackwell.
  • Watson D, Clark LA, Tellegen A (1988) Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. J Pers Soc Psychol, 54:1063-1070.
  • Zackheim L (2007) Alexithymia: The expanding realm of research. J Psychosom Res, 63:345-347.
There are 57 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy Practise and Research
Journal Section Research
Authors

İrem Şahin This is me 0000-0002-3495-3403

Burçin Akın Sarı 0000-0001-5605-1243

Early Pub Date October 12, 2023
Publication Date December 29, 2023
Acceptance Date October 12, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Volume: 15 Issue: Supplement 1

Cite

AMA Şahin İ, Akın Sarı B. How to Regulate Anger? Using Expression, Problem Solving, and Distraction Strategies. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry. December 2023;15(Supplement 1):283-297. doi:10.18863/pgy.1350188

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