Is catharsis beneficial or harmful? The psychological intervention effect and potential harm of catharsis

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1042.2020.00022

Abstract

Abstract:

The theory of catharsis believes that venting can effectively alleviate anger and aggressive impulses. However, a large number of experimental studies about the effects of direct catharsis, indirect catharsis and target catharsis on aggression have revealed the potential harm of catharsis on aggression and its functional mechanism, the catharsis can’t reduce anger but increase aggression through factors such as cognitive processing. Even so, the public still favors this seemingly convenient way of regulating emotion, for example catharsis equipment has become the standard equipment of psychological counseling institutions. This not only suggests people's unilateral cognition of psychological catharsis, but also reflects the lack of scientific and standardized construction of our social psychological service system. Future research should focused on the potential problems and its possible solutions in the current widespread application of catharsis equipment that used as a mean of modern psychological intervention.

Key words: catharsis, emotion regulation, anger, aggression

CLC Number:

R395

ZHAN Jun, XU Hongfei, REN Jun, LUO Jing. Is catharsis beneficial or harmful? The psychological intervention effect and potential harm of catharsis[J]. Advances in Psychological Science, 2020, 28(1): 22-32.

Figures/Tables 1

References 72

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