Anger management improves with age In women, study says

Miami Herald

02-07-2025

July 2 (UPI) -- Remember your sweet-hearted grandmother, who never seemed out of sorts no matter what nonsense landed in her lap?
That's a skill, and it improves during a person's lifespan, a new study says.
Women get better at managing their anger as they age, starting in middle-age, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Menopause.
That doesn't mean they're less angry. Researchers found that as women got older, they were more prone to anger and their anger became more intense, results show.
But women also became less likely to express their anger or act with hostility, researchers found.
'These findings are consistent with research on emotion regulation efforts during aging, such that efforts to control anger increase along with experiences of anger,' concluded the research team led by Nancy Fugate Woods of the University of Washington School of Nursing in Seattle.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from 271 women taking part in the Seattle Midlife Women's Health Study, a long-term research project that started in the early 1990s.
As part of the project, participants filled out a questionnaire related to their anger and hostility levels up to four or five times over the years.
Results showed that as women aged, they became more adept at managing anger even though they felt it more acutely.
Researchers said this might be because women feel more generativity - a sense of positively impacting the world by caring for others, particularly future generations - as they go through middle age and menopause.
'Implying greater emotional complexity among older adults, some of these changes may be seen in midlife and contribute to a sense of integration and maturity, supporting the development of generativity with aging,' researchers wrote.
Women also might become more tactical with their anger, expressing it in ways that are more positive and constructive to improve relationships, researchers said. Women who use anger in a positive way tend to feel better empowerment and self-regard.
More research is needed on women's anger in the context of everyday life, to provide more information on emotion regulation and anger management strategies, researchers said.
'The mental health side of the menopause transition can have a significant effect on a woman's personal and professional life,' Dr. Monica Christmas, associate medical director for The Menopause Society, said in a news release.
'It is well recognized that fluctuations in serum hormone concentrations during the postpartum period, as well as monthly fluctuations in reproductive-aged women corresponding with their menstrual cycles and during perimenopause, can result in severe mood swings associated with anger and hostility,' continued Christmas, who was not involved in the study.
'Educating women about the possibility of mood changes during these vulnerable windows and actively managing symptoms can have a profound effect on overall quality of life and health,' she said.
More information
The American Psychological Association has more on anger management.
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