http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8339647.stm
Feeling grumpy 'is good for you'
An attack of the grumps can make you communicate better, it is suggested
In a bad mood? Don't worry - according to research, it's good for you.
An Australian psychology expert who has been studying emotions has found being grumpy makes us think more clearly.
In contrast to those annoying happy types, miserable people are better at decision-making and less gullible, his experiments showed.
While cheerfulness fosters creativity, gloominess breeds attentiveness and careful thinking, Professor Joe Forgas told Australian Science Magazine.
'Eeyore days'
The University of New South Wales researcher says a grumpy person can cope with more demanding situations than a happy one because of the way the brain "promotes information processing strategies".
Negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking, paying greater attention to the external world
Professor Joe Forgas
He asked volunteers to watch different films and dwell on positive or negative events in their life, designed to put them in either a good or bad mood.
Next he asked them to take part in a series of tasks, including judging the truth of urban myths and providing eyewitness accounts of events.
Those in a bad mood outperformed those who were jolly - they made fewer mistakes and were better communicators.
Professor Forgas said: "Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, co-operation and reliance on mental shortcuts, negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking, paying greater attention to the external world."
The study also found that sad people were better at stating their case through written arguments, which Forgas said showed that a "mildly negative mood may actually promote a more concrete, accommodative and ultimately more successful communication style".
His earlier work shows the weather has a similar impact on us - wet, dreary days sharpened memory, while bright sunny spells make people forgetful.
Trigor,
ReplyDeleteVery good find. Very funny considering our dispositions. I find myself in a peculiar position in regards to this because it is contrary to my understanding of the universe. So I will take note of their study and disagree.
However, I know that is not what you are looking for in terms of a literary fight - so here you go....
People with "sunny" disposition do not take things seriously thus elevating themselves above the situation and are able to think clearer because they are not "weighed" down by the negative emotional baggage. Note they are also saying those that are mildly negative - what does that mean? If the person is working and then they are pissed off - they say "f-this" and move on? Then I agree that that is a good thing because they release the negativity.
In your case however, you don't benefit from your negativity. Case in point - tennis. When you are pissed off you play worse, when you think you are going to loose - you do. If their study was true you would be winning all the time :)
I would rather be positive all the time, but I amk not quite there yet. Being positive doesn't equal being stupid. Some people are positive because they are not smart enough to assess the situation, while others are positive because they are wise enough to see the bigger picture (much bigger picture then those in mildly negative mood). Masha G
ReplyDeleteAccepting positivity in its entirety is poison: just like everything else in life, all things are good in moderation. Virtually anything that is not limited will have negative impact in one way or the other.
ReplyDeleteEven our loved ones: it feels good to take a break from each other once in a while, right? The negativity does give you sharper focus: I am an expert on negative emotions! LOL Eternally happy people become weaker, and are unable to pull the trigger when face negativity from outside their little (or big) world. Sort of like Morlocks and Elois.
Also, negativity and anger are needed to rid the world of scum. You can't be happy when killing off human garbage, right? You need that focused energy to attack, kill destroy. In the name of peace of course.
Trigor,
ReplyDeleteToo many things in this world are done in the name of peace the way you are describing. Negative people start wars not positive ones. Negativity feeds on fear which is the opposite from love - the fuel of positive people. Also in martial arts, since you brought it up, you are taught against being angry or emotional because it tightens you and slows you down. One needs to be relaxed in their thinking thus they focus better and are able to react quicker.
As far as your earlier comments about negativity. It is not your loved ones that you wish to take a break from, but rather the negative chores that they are making you do. If you had nothing to do you would love to take your loved one on vacation - you wouldn't want to go alone - would you?
ReplyDeleteAllen, on the contrary: I would. I had an experience last week to spend two days alone, with virtually no contact with anyone (except a phone conversation or two). And guess what ... I really enjoyed the fact that I was by myself. If I was home, I would have enjoyed it just as much. Taking a break from your loved ones is great, and brings nothing but healthy results to the relationship. No matter how much you love you loved ones, and how perfect they are, after a while the every day and every minute spent with them drains you. You will be outright lying that you want to spend every minute of your free time with your wife. That is why an occasional time spent with your buddies feels so good. Then, after you are refreshed, you actually WANT to spend time with your family. Now, keep in mind that I believe it should happen occasionally, and if it does happen: enjoy the break!
ReplyDeletePS: you have done training outside your home town, remember? Do you recall how great it felt to see your family after you came back? You felt recharched, you actually missed them. Do you have the same feeling when you see them every day when you come from work? Or are you going to say that all those time when your wife kicks your ass for whatever reason does not drain your feelings?
Trigor,
ReplyDeleteThere is a sutlety that you may be missing here. It is very healthy for you and your partner to give each other space. Just because you are married doesn't mean that you wish to have one life and spend every moment together. However, that is quite different from draining you are talking about. That comes from disagreements which are usually about chores. That type of negativity makes you crave for a break. I am saying I would much rather have traveled everywhere with my wife where there are no chores and would have enjoyed it greatly.
When I go out with you and goof around it has nothing to do with my wife - it is a part of my life that I enjoy and when I return home I am happy because we had a good time. I am in a good mood (not negative) and seeing my wife is yet another positive.
Way too much sweetener there buddy.
ReplyDelete"That comes from disagreements which are usually about chores." - NO. It stems from the fact that both of you are two different people. With different ways of doing things. Different views. Different genetic make up. Different ideas how to spend your time. Marriage involves work to make two people coexist in the same space. Chores or not, you have to compromise on what you do and how you do it. Vacations is actually a prime example: you have decide what to pack, where you go, where you stay, what you see. And then there are personal traits that you have to endure: your wife has to tolerate your "tsss" sound you make every 45 seconds. You have to tolerate her perfume.
Your wish to travel the world with your loved one is good. I want to do the same with my wife. But occasional break from each other's company gives you rest from each other, which is healthy and allows you to recharge.
Consider the feeling of jealosy. A small dose of jealosy is healthy, as it recharges your feeligns and reminds you how much you love your sig other. Same goes for their company. See them every minute: you will forget how special they are. You will get bored. Occasionally, spending some time on your own will help you remember it and love them even more.
What can I say, I am a sweet guy :)
ReplyDeleteTrigor, we are dancing to the same tune but using different footsteps. I am mostly in agreement with you but negativity has nothing to do with it. When you are negative you will find faults with your loved one and that will not strengthen your relationship. When you are positive you will not pay attention to the little stuff and focus on the big brighter picture which enhances your relationship.
I disagree with you on jealosy and always have - you show the other person how much you love them not how much someone else likes you. Doing so only makes your significant other feel on edge and become less trustworthy which is the oppostite of what you are after.
Dude, can you stop with starting every post with "Trigor,"? Besides you, Masha and that other dude noone else is reading this nonsense, so you can take off the official hat and relax your butt cheecks.
ReplyDeleteOn the subject, we shifted on the tangent a bit. You are right: negativity has nothing to do with what we are arguing about. We are dissagreeing about the fact that taking a break from each other in the relationship is a good thing. We disagree on the fact that no matter how much you love your sig other, you will eventually get tired of them and could use a short break.
Now let me make this clear: you two can look at things in the most positive manner, but you still will get tired of each outher's company eventually. Not because of chores, not because of big picture, but because you are human. And taking a short break will do wonders, it will re-energize you.
Regarding jealosy: you see, you are giving me the logical, american style doctrine on the analysis of love. Very well done. You will be percieved very well among the rest of hot dog eating, birkenstocks wearing, baseball loving imbicils. Your analysis would be Oprah show worthy.
If only you took your head out of your ass and read some of the classical books written in Europe, whose culture and history by far surpasses the crude and limited views of our local habitat, you would be able to dig into this matter a bit deeper. I have to admit, the view on jealosy I expressed earlier was not entirely produced by me: it was largely borrowed from a work by author named André Maurois (link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Maurois).
But hey, you are pretty much set on your views, right? You got the understanding of love pretty much down ... very well written american manuals have given you the list of what is good and what is not good.
I honestly have no desire to discuss this anymore. This level of ignorance just pisses me off.
Idiot :) (is that better than Trigor, lol)
ReplyDeleteJealousy, in Europe or US, is the same emotion. It is one of inedequacy. When someone is jealous they feel inferior to others. These feeling are ones of possession and the need to be loved by someone else. That stems from not loving yourself and not realizing that you need nothing but your self. (how's that for Oprah ready response :)
As far as your "classical European" literature please realize that it was written in a male dominated culture which if you try to practice -- your ass will get thrown out of your house faster than you can spell André Maurois.
Thus, let's move on to another topic you chauvinistic narcissistic nincompoop :)
Actually lets not. I have no desire to have any further discussions with someone who judges some of the greatest works of all times without reading a single one of them.
ReplyDeleteIgnorance is not bliss. Keep marinating in your limited world. I am out.
PS: I had my wife read these works. She absolutely loved them.
ReplyDeleteBS. Get off your high hourse. I didn't read the classics because I chose not to read them at this time. I didn't belittle them and you will be ignorant if you don't admit that the past thousand years or so Europe has been male dominated. This is the same Europe that didn't let women vote until last century and was burning midwives at the stake for "witchcraft".
ReplyDeleteI was adressing not the literary talents of the authors nor the classical significance of the writing - I was merely talking about your definition of jealousy derived from those books. So in your own words - Chill the "f" out and it's my turn to pick a topic.
Igor,
ReplyDeleteIf you really decide to stop discussing topics with me then that will suck. It will show me that for all of your talk about learning from your classics about the human condition you haven't learned shit. You will only show that you take things way too seriously and get offended at your best friend for trying to show you a different point of view. That is what this blog is about - you telling me what you think and me telling you what I think. All is supposed to be done with humor and without hard feelings. If you can't do that then you disprove the findings with which we started this topic - being grumpy allows you to deal with life better. Very sad indeed. Hope you reconsider because I value your oppinions regardless of my agreement with them.
Regarding desire to be alone once in a while, I have to say I only feel that way when there is a pending unpleasant conversation, or right after one took place. Otherwise, I am perfectly comfortable to igone my spouse for couple of hours and be ignored, so we don't spend every wakign moment with each other. And quite honestly, with full time jobs and kids, there is very little time to be together to begin with, so too much time togetehr is not a problem. The problem is too little time. Masha
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I was laughing out load reading these posts. Offensive and sarcastic Trigor, politically correct philosopher Allen and objective and wise Mashenka are an awesome combination to make this a fun read. Dave (or "the other dude" as Trigor called him above) is like a touch of spice added to the fine dish to make it better. I'll join you on the next discussion.
ReplyDeleteJeka