Less lashing out, more calm: What happens to women’s anger during menopause

(Credit: Pexels)

Many women know midlife can bring big emotional changes, but a new study suggests one change might actually be positive: women tend to feel and express less anger as they get older.

The research, published in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society, analyzed self-reported data from more than 500 women aged 35 to 55 who participated in the Study of Midlife Women’s Health and Stress (SMWHS). This group was followed through different stages of menopause to understand how their experiences, including emotions like anger, changed over time.

The study found that most types of anger decrease with age, especially as women move through menopause.

“Anger expression indicators decreased with age, suggesting emotion regulation may occur during midlife,” the researchers said.

The study looked at:

• State anger: The kind of anger you feel in the moment
• Trait anger: To be anger-prone and experience difficulty letting go of it
• Anger temperament: A tendency to experience and express anger indiscriminately
• Anger reaction: Anger that flares up when you’re criticized or treated unfairly
• Anger expressed aggressively (anger-out): When you take your anger out on others
• Anger suppressed (anger-in): When you hold it in and keep it to yourself
• Anger control: Ability to calm yourself down and manage your emotions
• Hostility: Antagonism toward someone or something, or constantly being ready for a fight

What did they find?

The study showed that many of these anger types, like anger reaction and hostility, drop significantly with age. Women were less likely to lash out, feel easily provoked, or hold a combative mindset as they got older.

Only anger that was kept in (anger-in) didn’t seem to change with age. On the flip side, anger control actually improved, meaning women became better at handling difficult feelings.

The findings suggest that as women get older, they experience more complex emotions and develop better ways to regulate anger.

“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,” the study said.

Why it matters

Researchers say anger in women hasn’t been studied enough, especially during menopause.

“Despite evidence first published in 1980 linking dimensions of women’s anger to coronary artery disease, a leading cause of death for women, the study of anger in midlife women has been limited,” they wrote, adding that it likely reflects “the practice of discouraging women’s expression of anger.”

The researchers say more studies are needed to understand how women deal with anger day-to-day, and how that knowledge could support mental health and well-being.