Boxing and Aggressive Behaviour: the Catharsis Hypothesis

So, tomorrow I have my first exam, and I’m definitely getting anxious about it.
But I always do, so it’s not really a surprise.

To deal with exam stress, I started going to boxing classes at the Danielle Brown Sports Centre on campus last week. They’re completely free, I just had to fill in a registration form before the first lesson. I’ve always wanted to do something like that, and I gotta say I really enjoyed my first lesson! The first part was mostly about techniques, how to move correctly and attack/defend yourself. Then, the last 10 minutes were pure training, with squats and pushups! I loved it, but then again I love going to the gym!
It also made me think of a topic I’m revising for the Social Psychology module: Aggressive Behaviour. In particular, I found it to be extremely relevant to the catharsis hypothesis.
This hypothesis argues that people will engage in violent but relatively harmless behaviour (e. g. boxing, but also playing violent videogames or listening to violent music) in order to vent out steam and stress; this way most people believe they’re managing their aggressive tendencies. Well, apparently, that is absolutely untrue.
On the contrary, research has found that people who punched a bag believing it would reduce stress were actually more likely to engage in aggressive behaviour towards people who transgressed them! Whether engaging in aggressive behaviour makes one feel better or not, that is another story; but it surely doesn’t prevent them from expressing their aggression in some other (and less socially acceptable) way. The more you know!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to panicking and planning mock essays from past papers.