<p>I believe you're referring to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharsis" rel="nofollow">Catharsis</a>. According to Freud, expressing anger serves to relieve it. However, a few more recent researchers have argued that expressing anger serves to reinforce aggressive behavior.</p>

<p>@Chuck Take a look at <a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbushman/bbs99.pdf" rel="nofollow">this study</a> and <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=MOljg8xXI1oC&amp;pg=PA321&amp;lpg=PA321&amp;dq=%22Catharsis%3a%20does%20%22getting%20it%20out%20of%20one%27s%20system%22%20really%20help?%22.%20Human%20Aggression&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=o7o97KktSn&amp;sig=BgAJm6-mXytlpBYu6ecF6Pez4WE&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=j7vBUsjxHKS-sQS0m4KQDQ&amp;ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA" rel="nofollow">this book excerpt</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-30T17:44:51.250Z
Do you have any references for your second claim?  It sounds reasonable, it would just be nice to have something for people to cross-reference in the future.
Chuck Sherrington
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-31T00:54:42.430Z
Here's a similar conclusion from a [2002 study](http://psp.sagepub.com/content/28/6/724.short).
Keegan Keplinger
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-30T02:56:33.933Z
2013-12-30T18:32:38.557Z
2013-12-30T18:32:38.557Z
Justas
<p>It was (is?) widely believed that a good way to reduce aggression was to just get it out of your system by, for example, punching a pillow, screaming or watching somebody else behave aggressively on the athletic field, in the boxing ring, on TV or in a movie, and so forth. The idea is to blow off steam, to vent, which was termed catharsis by Freudian psychoanalysts. Catharsis was an idea adapted by Sigmund Freud and others, as a sort of hydraulic model in which emotional pressures build and build until finally you release them by behaving aggressively or by watching other people do it for you.</p>

<p>However, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bandura" rel="nofollow">Albert Bandura</a> and others after him have shown that contrary to the catharsis hypothesis, aggression begets aggression. This was shown in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_doll_experiment" rel="nofollow">Bobo Doll Experiment</a> (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zerCK0lRjp8" rel="nofollow">video</a>).The experiment was focused on social learning theory, and its results showed that observing aggression simply led to more aggression. While the experiment was focused on children, it has been replicated in different forms and carried out on different audiences, and the results have shown that the hypothesis is equally valid for adults. The hypothesis that aggression leads to more aggression directly contradicts the catharsis hypothesis and both schools of thought continue.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-02T16:55:33.910Z
2014-01-04T03:54:34.870Z
2014-01-04T03:54:34.870Z
asheeshr
<p>I've heard this several times. People breaks things to feel more relaxed, less depressed or is there some other reason? What do you call this effect?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-30T00:34:32.967Z
Committing a crime normally causes higher adrenaline release that makes you focus the current moment. I think this can temporarily distract people from problems.
danijar
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-06T00:48:34.283Z
@metacompactness: being in control helps relive symptoms, if you are breaking something you feel that you are in control of it.
Greg McNulty
<social-psychology><clinical-psychology>
Why is "breaking a car" considered a sort of therapy?
user5402
# Why is "breaking a car" considered a sort of therapy?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-29)

I've heard this several times. People breaks things to feel more relaxed, less depressed or is there some other reason? What do you call this effect?

**Tags:** social-psychology, clinical-psychology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Committing a crime normally causes higher adrenaline release that makes you focus the current moment. I think this can temporarily distract people from problems.  
> **username_2**: @metacompactness: being in control helps relive symptoms, if you are breaking something you feel that you are in control of it.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2013-12-30. Score: 5

I believe you're referring to [Catharsis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharsis). According to Freud, expressing anger serves to relieve it. However, a few more recent researchers have argued that expressing anger serves to reinforce aggressive behavior.

@Chuck Take a look at [this study](http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbushman/bbs99.pdf) and [this book excerpt](http://books.google.com/books?id=MOljg8xXI1oC&pg=PA321&lpg=PA321&dq=%22Catharsis%3a%20does%20%22getting%20it%20out%20of%20one%27s%20system%22%20really%20help?%22.%20Human%20Aggression&source=bl&ots=o7o97KktSn&sig=BgAJm6-mXytlpBYu6ecF6Pez4WE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=j7vBUsjxHKS-sQS0m4KQDQ&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA).

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Do you have any references for your second claim?  It sounds reasonable, it would just be nice to have something for people to cross-reference in the future.  
> **username_5**: Here's a similar conclusion from a [2002 study](http://psp.sagepub.com/content/28/6/724.short).  

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### Answer by username_6 on 2014-01-02. Score: 3

It was (is?) widely believed that a good way to reduce aggression was to just get it out of your system by, for example, punching a pillow, screaming or watching somebody else behave aggressively on the athletic field, in the boxing ring, on TV or in a movie, and so forth. The idea is to blow off steam, to vent, which was termed catharsis by Freudian psychoanalysts. Catharsis was an idea adapted by Sigmund Freud and others, as a sort of hydraulic model in which emotional pressures build and build until finally you release them by behaving aggressively or by watching other people do it for you.

However, [Albert Bandura](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bandura) and others after him have shown that contrary to the catharsis hypothesis, aggression begets aggression. This was shown in the [Bobo Doll Experiment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_doll_experiment) ([video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zerCK0lRjp8)).The experiment was focused on social learning theory, and its results showed that observing aggression simply led to more aggression. While the experiment was focused on children, it has been replicated in different forms and carried out on different audiences, and the results have shown that the hypothesis is equally valid for adults. The hypothesis that aggression leads to more aggression directly contradicts the catharsis hypothesis and both schools of thought continue.


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