Catharsis of Aggression

Definition

According to catharsis theory, acting aggressively or even viewing aggression is an effective way to reduce angry feelings and aggressive impulses. The word catharsis comes from the Greek word katharsis, which, literally translated, means “a cleansing or purging.” The first recorded mention of catharsis occurred in Aristotle's Poetics. Aristotle taught that viewing tragic plays gave people emotional release (katharsis) from negative feelings such as pity and fear. In Greek drama, the tragic hero didn't just grow old and retire—he often suffered a violent demise. By watching the characters in the play experience tragic events, the viewer's own negative feelings were presumably purged and cleansed. This emotional cleansing was believed to benefit both the individual and society.

Catharsis also played an important role in ancient religious and magical healing rituals. By venting their emotions, people presumably called forth and expelled the demons and evil spirits that possessed their bodies.

The ancient notion of catharsis was revived by Sigmund Freud, who believed that repressed negative emotions could build up inside an individual and cause psychological symptoms, such as hysteria (nervous outbursts). Freud believed that expressing hostility was much better than bottling it up inside.

Freud's therapeutic ideas on emotional catharsis form the basis of the so-called hydraulic model of anger, based on the idea of water pressure (hydraulic means “water-related”). The hydraulic model suggests that frustrations lead to anger and that anger, in turn, builds up inside an individual, like hydraulic pressure inside a closed environment, until it is released in some way. If you don't let your anger out but try to keep it bottled up inside, it will eventually cause you to explode in an aggressive rage. The modern theories of catharsis are based on this hydraulic model.

The entry on Media Violence and Aggression discusses whether viewing violence increases aggression. This entry will therefore focus on whether acting aggressively (e.g., screaming, yelling, hitting, kicking) increases aggression.

Belief in Catharsis is Widespread

The belief in the value of venting is widespread around the world. For example, for over 20 years Tokyo residents have been venting their frustrations at an annual screaming contest. The use of a concept in the popular press is a sign of how widespread it is. Catharsis messages frequently appear in plays, films, television programs, radio programs, magazines, and newspapers.

You can even buy products to vent your anger. For example, the “Tension Shooter” is a wood gun that shoots up to six rubber bands per round at targets that can be personally labeled (e.g., Boss, Mother-in-Law). Another product is “Wham-It,” an inflatable punching bag. Products such as these are based on the hydraulic model of anger. The companies that make them count on customers who believe that venting anger against inanimate objects is safe, healthy, and effective. If there were no such customers, such products would not exist.

The concept of catharsis even infiltrates everyday language. In the English language, a pressure cooker is often used as a metaphor for anger. (A pressure cooker [Page 136]is a pot used to cook food under pressure, which reduces cooking time. The pot has a locking lid and valve that can be used to reduce pressure.) People are like pressure cookers, and their anger is like the fluid inside the cooker. As the anger increases, the fluid rises. People talk about anger “welling up inside” a person. If people are very angry, their “blood boils” or they reach the “boiling point.” If the anger becomes too intense, people “explode,” or “blow up.” To prevent the explosion, people are encouraged to “vent their anger,” “blow off steam,” “let it out,” and “get it off their chest.”

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