From this, the researchers concluded that “‘People intuitively chose to become angry… They believed they would become more effective competitors.’” (Id.):

They were right. Anger is what psychologists call an ‘approach’ emotion—it makes us move toward or attack something. It can help us tackle problems, such as when we get mad about something political and rally to a cause. And getting made before a negotiation, competition or sporting event can fire us up. That’s why coaches trash talk rivals. (Id.)

But, the article also notes that anger does have its downside: it can harm relationships, “… be distracting, consuming and narrow our focus.” (Id.) It can boost persistence, drain our coordination and creativity as well as our emotions.  And… sometimes, it is not even warranted. It is certainly not useful if one is trying to be creative. (Id.)

Moreover, research by Maya Tamir, a psychology professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem indicates that “…our expectations influence the outcome.” In two studies she conducted, she found that participants who were told beforehand that anger would help them negotiate better, performed better in the subsequent negotiation for money than those who were told that anger would harm their performance before playing an aggressive computer game.  (Id.)

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