Angry? Say a prayer to stay calm

Washington: Praying may be the best antidote to anger, especially after someone has left you fuming.

A series of studies showed that people who were provoked by insulting comments felt less anger and aggression soon after they prayed for someone who has offended them.

The benefits of prayer probably occur because the act changed the way people think about a negative situation, said Brad Bushman, study co-author and professor of communication and psychology, Ohio State University.

"People often turn to prayer when they're feeling negative emotions, including anger," he said, the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin reports.

Results showed prayer helped calm people regardless of their religious affiliation, or how often they attended church services or prayed in daily life, according to an Ohio statement.

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.