In this episode of The Psychology Undergrad, we take apart one of the most common pieces of advice in modern culture: “just vent your anger.” Drawing directly from decades of social psychology research—culminating in Brad J. Bushman’s landmark experiments—we examine why punching pillows, hitting punching bags, or “letting off steam” doesn’t calm you down, but instead increases anger and aggression.

We trace the origins of catharsis theory from Freud’s hydraulic model of emotion to its widespread adoption in pop psychology, then walk through the experimental evidence that decisively contradicts it. Using cognitive neo-association theory, we explain how aggressive behavior functions as rehearsal, priming the brain for future aggression rather than releasing it.

The episode breaks down classic lab studies, including pro ...