These Studies are Really Pissing Me Off

There's a study that claims to reveal who the angriest Americans are. Here's the article by Andrea Thompson, senior writer at LiveScience.com.

Anger is more likely among the young, those with children at home, and the less educated, a new study finds.

My immediate thoughts...

Young people have raging hormones, less immediate control over their lives (as in, less money and experience), and less experience in dealing with their emotions. Maybe they haven't had time to get to a professional yet who can prescribe emotion-quelling meds to them.

Those with children at home have less sleep, more battles with someone living under the same roof, and more of a stake in the future, and thus are more likely to get angry (and let others know about it) about things that will cause the childless to shrug.

The less educated may be upset about having fewer options.

A national survey of 1,800 Americans aged 18 and older questioned participants on how and when they feel angry in order to build "a broader social portrait of anger in the United States," said study researcher Scott Schieman, now at the University of Toronto.

I'd be interested in a larger sampling.

While anger is a normal human emotion, it could be detrimental if you hold on to it too long. And those who express their anger might actually live longer than those who keep it bottled in, one study found.

The important thing is to find a healthy outlet, as well as to appropriately express anger at things that deserve it.

For one, people under 30 experienced anger of all forms or intensities more frequently than did older adults. This was mainly due to the fact that young people are more likely to be affected by three core stressors that can trigger angry feelings, Schieman said:

* Time pressures
* Economic hardship
* Interpersonal conflict at the workplace

Yup.

Schieman's findings will be detailed in a chapter of the forthcoming International Handbook of Anger, to be released in January 2010.

Now that should be an interesting read. When you buy your copy, try not to throw it at the bookstore clerk.

I'm glad this article doesn't try to say that all anger is bad, because it isn't. In some cases, people who are angry should be asking those who aren't, "Why aren't you angry?" Followers of Christ should note that Jesus demonstrated righteous and appropriate anger, as recorded in the Bible.