Prayer really can help people cope with their anger
March 22nd, 2011 - 12:58 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Mar 22 (ANI): Feeling angry? Say a prayer and see your wrath fade away!
New research suggests that saying a prayer could help many people feel less angry and behave less aggressively after someone has left them fuming.
A series of studies showed that people who were provoked by insulting comments from a stranger showed less anger and aggression soon afterwards if they prayed for another person in the meantime.
The benefits of prayer identified in this study don’t rely on divine intervention: they probably occur because the act of praying changed the way people think about a negative situation, said Brad Bushman, co-author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University.
“People often turn to prayer when they’re feeling negative emotions, including anger,” he said.
“We found that prayer really can help people cope with their anger, probably by helping them change how they view the events that angered them and helping them take it less personally.”
The power of prayer also didn’t rely on people being particularly religious, or attending church regularly, Bushman emphasized. Results showed prayer helped calm people regardless of their religious affiliation, or how often they attended church services or prayed in daily life.
Bushman noted that the studies didn’t examine whether prayer had any effect on the people who were prayed for. The research focused entirely on those who do the praying.
Bushman said these are the first experimental studies to examine the effects of prayer on anger and aggression. He conducted the research with Ryan Bremner of the University of Michigan and Sander Koole of VU University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The project involved three separate studies.
The research appears online in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin and will be published in a future print edition. (ANI)
- Angry? Say a prayer - Mar 22, 2011
- Research says that praying when angry helps to manage anger - Mar 31, 2011
- Self-distancing can help you quell anger - Jul 03, 2012
- Winning spurs an aggressive streak - Mar 01, 2012
- Counting to 10 could make you angrier still - Jul 05, 2012
- A spoonful of sugar may be enough to cool a hot temper - Dec 02, 2010
- Anger at God 'common during difficult times' - Jan 03, 2011
- More people turn to god in societies under stress - Aug 09, 2011
- Irresponsibility turns drinkers into bullies - Dec 20, 2011
- Young Folks Crave Self-Esteem Even More Than Sexual Activities, As Per A New Psychological Study - Jan 12, 2011
- Violent video games increase aggression for as long as 24hrs after playing - Sep 21, 2010
- Douse that anger with spoonful of sugar - Dec 02, 2010
- Violent video games may raise aggression in some - Jun 08, 2010
- Atheists, agnostics kinder than religious people - May 01, 2012
- Praying really can help you deal with hard times - Dec 15, 2010
Tags: amsterdam the netherlands, anger and aggression, attending church, brad bushman, bremner, co author, divine intervention, experimental studies, future print, insulting comments, koole, negative emotions, negative situation, ohio state university, personality and social psychology bulletin, power of prayer, religious affiliation, social psychology bulletin, university of michigan, wrath