Glossary // Glossary term Historical
Hydraulic model of emotion
The popular picture of emotions as pressure that builds up and must be released to avoid harm, inherited in part from the cathartic method of the late nineteenth century. It predicts that expressing an emotion, such as hitting a punching bag when angry, should reduce it. Controlled experiments on anger did not support this prediction, and current emotion regulation research does not use the model. A short history of the concept of catharsis from Aristotle's Poetics through Breuer and Freud's cathartic method to empirical research on emotional expression, with the working definition used by this project. Controlled experiments on venting anger found that it keeps anger active and increases aggression. This note reviews the evidence, its limits, and the regulation strategies that reduce anger instead. The works the definition rests on, with the level of evidence each was appraised at. (1895). Studien über Hysterie [Studies on hysteria]. Supports historical claims about the cathartic method and abreaction. Uncontrolled case reports cannot show whether the method was effective. (2002). Does venting anger feed or extinguish the flame? Catharsis, rumination, distraction, anger, and aggressive responding. doi:10.1177/0146167202289002 Supports the claim that hitting a punching bag while ruminating produced more anger and aggression than doing nothing. A single laboratory experiment with a noise-blast aggression measure.Where the site uses it
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