Cognitive Therapy and Research

, Volume 41, Issue 4, pp 654–661 | Cite as

The Effects of Anger Rumination and Cognitive Reappraisal on Anger-In and Anger-Control

Original Article
First Online:

Abstract

Many studies have suggested that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is efficacious for anger expression problems. However, it is still unclear which emotion regulation strategies are most effective for anger-in (a tendency to suppress anger) and anger-control (a tendency to calm angry feelings). In the present study, anger rumination and cognitive reappraisal were manipulated, and their effects on anger-in and anger-control were investigated with a within-subjects design. Participants were 46 Japanese undergraduates assigned to the three conditions; free recall (no regulation strategy), anger rumination, and cognitive reappraisal. Results indicated that, compared to free recall and anger rumination, cognitive reappraisal, taking a third-person perspective and thinking about positive aspects of an anger-related event, induced fewer angry feelings, alleviated anger-in, and facilitated anger-control. Given that CBT has been efficacious for anger expression, CBT might facilitate taking a third-person perspective and thinking about the event more flexibly in clients.

Keywords

Anger-in Anger-control Anger rumination Cognitive reappraisal 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Kana Hashimoto, Yosuke Maeda, Yuri Matsuoka, Kimika Suzuki, Erika Toyama, and Sumire Yoshihara for help with data collection.

Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP16J02752.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Conflict of Interest

Masaya Takebe, Fumito Takahashi, and Hiroshi Sato declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Animal Rights

No animal studies were carried out by the authors for this article.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • Masaya Takebe
    • 1
    • 2
  • Fumito Takahashi
    • 3
  • Hiroshi Sato
    • 4
  1. 1.Graduate School of PsychologyKansai UniversityOsakaJapan
  2. 2.Research Fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of ScienceTokyoJapan
  3. 3.Institute of EducationShinshu UniversityNaganoJapan
  4. 4.School of HumanitiesKwansei Gakuin UniversityNishinomiyaJapan

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