New research suggests that if you get angry, it could help you get things done and achieve your goals.
Even though it's often perceived as a negative emotion, anger can actually be a powerful motivator in reaching challenging targets.
The same cannot be applied to tasks deemed easy though.
That's according to the Irish Independent.
The research was carried out by Texas A and M University.
Heather Lynch, a professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Science at the University was the lead author.
"The majority of people consider the pursuit of happiness a major life goal," she said.
She added that, despite this, all emotions whether deemed good or bad are reactions to someone's environment and alert people to situations that need action.
How was the research conducted?
Over 1,000 people took part in different experiments.
In the experiments, researchers ensured that participants were either feeling neutral, angry, amused, or sad before being presented with a challenging goal.
Experiments included tasks such as word puzzles, ski video games in which you have to avoid flags and poles, and another ski game that was easier and just involved a jump.
Researchers found that across all games, anger improved people's ability to reach their goals when compared with being in a neutral state.
Anger not only increased participants' chances of success but also their desire to cheat in order to achieve a better outcome.
Data collection
As well as conducting experiments, researchers gathered data from 1,400 people who were surveyed during the 2016 and 2020 US presidential elections.
Before they took place, people were asked to rate how angry they would be if their preferred candidate did not win.
Once the elections were over, the same people were then asked whether they voted and who they voted for.
Those who said they would be angry if their preferred candidate did not win were more likely to vote.
"These findings demonstrate that anger increases effort toward attaining a desired goal, frequently resulting in greater success," Dr Lench said.
The study is published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
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