Venting Your Frustrations Can Make Friends Like You Better -- If You Do It Right

Venting about your frustrations with one friend to another may feel good, but it doesn’t necessarily reduce anger.

Experiments showed tha t people who listened to a friend vent liked and supported that person more than those who were vented about -- but only if the person venting didn’t derogate or seem aggressive toward the other friend.

Venting backfired if the person venting was secretly competitive with the targeted friend.