Studies Show Prayer Works to Calm Anger

Brad Bushman : Mar 22, 2011
Ohio State University

"The effects we found in these experiments were quite large, which suggests that prayer may really be an effective way to calm anger and aggression. It may not benefit their enemies, but it may help them deal with the negative emotions." -Brad Bushman

(Columbus, Ohio)—Saying a prayer may help many people feel less angry and behave less aggressively after someone has left them fuming, new research suggests.

A series of studies showed that people who were provoked by insulting comments from a stranger showed less anger and aggression soon afterwards if they prayed for another person in the meantime.

The benefits of prayer identified in this study [probably occurred] because the act of praying changed the way people think about a negative situation, said Brad Bushman, co-author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University. (Photo by: Ryan Forkel)

"People often turn to prayer when they're feeling negative emotions, including anger," he said. "We found that prayer really can help people cope with their anger, probably by helping them change how they view the events that angered them and helping them take it less personally."

The power of prayer also didn't rely on people being particularly religious, or attending church regularly, Bushman emphasized. Results showed prayer helped calm people regardless of their religious affiliation, or how often they attended church services or prayed in daily life.

Bushman noted that the studies didn't examine whether prayer had any effect on the people who were prayed for. The research focused entirely on those who do the praying.

Bushman said these are the first experimental studies to examine the effects of prayer on anger and aggression. He conducted the research with Ryan Bremner of the University of Michigan and Sander Koole of VU University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It appears online in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin and will be published in a future print edition.

The project involved three separate studies. (To read about each of these studies, follow the source link provided.)

Results showed that those who simply thought of another person were more likely to hold the anger-related appraisals of situations if they were provoked, compared to those who were not provoked. But those who prayed were not more likely to hold the anger-related views, regardless of whether they were provoked or not.

"Praying undid the effects of provocation on how people viewed the likelihood of these situations," Koole said.

Said Bushman, "The effects we found in these experiments were quite large, which suggests that prayer may really be an effective way to calm anger and aggression. When people are confronting their own anger, they may want to consider the old advice of praying for one's enemies. It may not benefit their enemies, but it may help them deal with the negative emotions."