Explaining a Feeling like Anger Alters Heart Rate

For most people who experience anger, the act of explaining it may have a major impact on the body's physiological response to the situation that extracts the emotion, according to a study published in the journal PLOS One.

The study was a collaborative effort by Karim Kassam from Carnegie Mellon University and Wendy Mendes from the University of California San Francisco.  

To proceed with the finding, researchers asked participants to complete a complex math task. They had to do this in the presence of an evaluator, who was trained to give negative feedback as the participants proceeded with the assignment.

The main aim behind giving negative feedbacks was to elicit anger in some of the participants and shame in the others. On completing the task, participants were given a questionnaire that evaluated their feelings (e.g. How angry are you right now?) or alternately, a set of neutral questions that did not evaluate their emotional state.

Those participants who were in a state of 'anger' filled the questionnaire with emotional states that had varied physiological responses, which was measured by changes in heart rate, when compared to those who answered the neutral questions.

Reporting about one's emotional state was linked to a small increase in heart rate when compared to not reporting the emotional state.

"What impressed us was that a subtle manipulation had a big impact on people's physiological response. Essentially, we're asking people how they're feeling and finding that doing so has a sizeable impact on their cardiovascular response," lead author Karim Kassam concluded.