Not Always Bad, Study Finds Anger And Emotions Can Improve Performance In Offices

JAKARTA - Usually we are taught to hold back anger. Don't sleep angry, don't send messages when emotional, let alone express anger in the workplace. But it turns out that anger is not always bad.

A new study shows that anger can actually help a person work more focused and productively.

Reporting from the Fortune page, research published in the Journal of Personality and Psychology found that anger can make a person more effective in completing challenging tasks.

The research team from Texas A&M University led by Professor Heather Lench tested how emotions affect a person's performance in various situations.

The results were quite surprising. When research participants were made angry, they actually performed better in completing difficult tasks such as puzzles in words and games that needed a quick reaction.

In certain tests, angry participants showed up to 40% better performance than those who were emotionally neutral.

However, this positive effect only arises when facing complex tasks. For simple tasks, anger does not have a significant impact.

According to Professor Lench, anger arises when you feel there is a distance between what you want and get there are obstacles in front of your eyes. The body will naturally react by increasing energy, focus, and vigilance to overcome these obstacles.

"The real anger can help us solve the problem and achieve the goal, as long as we know how to direct it," Lench said.

Anger is not just an explosion of emotion, but it can be a signal from the body that something needs to be fixed or fought for. Energy from anger can be a natural urge to act faster and firmer.

There are many great success stories in the world of business and creative industries that start from frustration or anger.

Brad Bird, director of The Incredibles, actually recruited animators who were disappointed with their old work system when they joined Pixar.

He believes that people who are angry because their ideas have not been heard usually have a great spirit to make changes. As a result, The Incredibles became one of Pixar's most successful films.

Likewise with Reed Hastings, founder of Netflix. He admitted that he was annoyed that he had to pay a late fine when renting a film on Blockbuster. From that annoyance came the idea of making streaming services without fines and without complicated.

Travis Kalanick created Uber out of frustration unable to find a taxi in San Francisco at night.

Although it can have a positive impact, anger still needs to be controlled. In further research, Lench found angry people can also be more prone to unethical actions such as lying or cheating. In the work environment, this kind of behavior can certainly damage reputation and career.

In addition, anger that explodes or is directed at other people can create a toxic working atmosphere and actually hinder productivity.

The company also generally does not tolerate aggressive behavior in the workplace. The key is controlling the direction of anger.

If used to face certain obstacles, such as frustration due to a stalled project or ideas being rejected, anger can be fueled to find solutions. But if directed to blame or bring down other people, the result is the opposite.

We live in an era that glorifies 'positive vibes' and happiness. However, this study reminds negative emotions such as anger to have an important role. Anger can help us recognize problems, demand change, and dare to take action.

As the researchers wrote, " Anger is often considered as an emotion that must be suppressed, whereas if directed correctly, this emotion can help us achieve our goal more quickly and more effectively."

If you feel annoyed at work, don't feel guilty right away. As long as you don't pass it on to other people, that anger can be fuel to make you more focused, creative, and productive.