News Release

Thinking straight while seeing red?

Research published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin from SAGE

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SAGE

Angeles, London, New Delhi, and Singapore - Anger is that powerful internal force that blows out the light of reason. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Anger is appropriately blamed for flawed thinking since it tends to alter perception of risk, increase prejudice, and trigger aggression. But is anger always destructive" Three recent experiments published in the latest issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, an official publication of The Society for Personality and Social Psychology suggest it’s not. Anger can actually prompt more careful and rational analysis of another person’s reasoning.

The article, written by Wesley G. Moons and Diane M. Mackie of the University of California, Santa Barbara and published in the May 2007 issue, looks at research investigating anger’s impact on thinking and decision-making. In the studies, college students were exposed to arguments attempting to persuade them to unpopular viewpoints. Beforehand, some were asked to write about an experience that had angered them. The research found that, surprisingly, anger made participants more, rather than less, rational and analytical in their reactions.

The current research, conclude the authors, suggests that angry people can and do process information analytically but are often influenced by more mental shortcuts. Although it is not always the case, anger-induced action is sometimes the result of quite clear-minded and deliberative processing.

###

The article, “Thinking straight while seeing red: The influence of anger on information processing,” published by SAGE in the May issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, is available at no charge for a limited time at http://pspb.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/33/5/706

About Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

For over 30 years, the official monthly journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (PSPB) has provided an international forum for the rapid dissemination of original empirical papers in all areas of personality and social psychology. SPSP counts more than 4,500 researchers, educators, and students in its membership worldwide. To contact the Executive Officer of SPSP, please phone David Dunning at (607) 255-6391, or email at: spsp@cornell.edu

http://pspb.sagepub.com
www.spsp.org

About SAGE

SAGE Publications is a leading international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets. Since 1965, SAGE has helped inform and educate a global community of scholars, practitioners, researchers, and students spanning a wide range of subject areas including business, humanities, social sciences, and science, technology and medicine. A privately owned corporation, SAGE has principal offices in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, and Singapore. http://www.sagepublications.com


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.