It’s long long standing myth, perpetuated by tabloids and magazines, that getting things out of your system is cathartic, and generally good for the soul. One good rant and everything is ok, at least for a while.

But it has long been known that individuals who exercise personal restraint are more effective at work, and more successful in their careers.

Now comes Prof. Ian Williamson and organizational psychologist, Carol Gill, who have recently shown that people who lose their tempers are less likely to become leaders in a self-managed team. Their research discovered that people who can recognize negative feelings, defuse them, and then adjust their response tend to be rated as a higher performers by colleagues; and also self-report more satisfaction with their own performance.

On the other hand, people who over-react tend to be shot down by colleagues, especially during conflict situations. Carol Gill is quoted as saying that this is increasingly important with the current trend away from corporate hierarchy and divisional structures, toward flatter and less bureaucratic ones. She also notes that psychological flexibility is a skill that can be learned and that it can be achieved in sessions as short as four hours.

The research is based on a sample of 395 MBA students, comprising 76 self-managed teams at a large unnamed Australian university.