We’ve all heard the adage “don’t hold your anger in, let it out!” But, in fact, that’s only part of the story. While it’s true that holding anger in can lead to emotional and physical illness, releasing anger inappropriately – whether outward-facing towards others or inward-facing against oneself – can be very harmful.
Queendom, a subsidiary of PsychTests AIM Inc. that offers a range of scientifically-validated psychological assessments, recently released the results of its Anger Management study (press release here):
- On a scale from 0 to 100, the average score for feelings of anger was 56 (a moderate degree of anger).
- Women experienced slightly more anger than men and were slightly more likely to dwell on upsetting situations.
- Younger age groups experienced higher levels of anger than older age groups (average of 60 for those under 18 year of age, 55 for those older than 25).
- Test-takers who experienced higher levels of anger and who were more likely to dwell on anger-inducing situations were also less satisfied with their job and had poorer performance reviews.
According to Dr. Ilona Jerabek, president of Queendom.com, “the issue lies in how we release [anger]…. Anger needs to be expressed, but it needs to be done calmly, assertively and it needs to incorporate constructive solutions for the problem.”
Are you interested in learning more about your own anger management style? Take the Anger Management Test – the results may surprise you.